How HR departments can make the return to office a success

Following long periods of enforced remote working due to pandemic lockdowns, many UK employers have been bringing staff back to the office for at least part of the working week.

Since Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged workers in the UK to get back to company workplaces in early October 2021, the return has been gradual. Most managers now expect at least some of their employees to have returned to physcial locations for part of the week, by the end of 2021. This is something we disucssed at length in our recent Talent Trends in HR eBook, which you can access here.

With office stints slowly but steadily returning to workers’ schedules across many sectors, HR managers are considering the benefits and challenges, and how to make their transitions smooth and productive.

Making the most of meetings

For many corporate employees, remote working offers big benefits beyond those related to Covid-19 safety. The removal of commutes saves time and money, and many find that working from home fits well with family life.

However, after long periods of potentially isolated home working, many employees have been looking forward to returning to an office environment. Nathan Ross, Business Manager at Michael Page Human Resources, said: “It’s been difficult for some people, because they saw this shiny new penny in the chance to be the master of your own destiny. For many, that’s now waned.”

Opportunities to network and collaborate in-person are obvious benefits of returning to the office. Ross said this had become more important in Q4 2021, since many companies went through recruitment drives as the economy drew closer to pre-pandemic levels.

As companies have started hiring more, many people joining new organisations have felt disconnected if they’ve had to work from home during onboarding. They've not been able to do the usual meet and greets or get a feel for the environment.

- Nathan Ross, Business Manager, Michael Page HR

Furthermore, Ross pointed out that while Zoom meetings were helpful when remote working, some professionals found their schedules being filled by long online meetings covering issues that would normally dealt with by quick in-person office chats.

Juliet Paul, Manager at Michael Page, said that the best option is often to split the working week between remote and office work. She said that her conversations with clients and candidates had suggested that motivation and productivity can be improved by having well-timed in-person meeting schedules. Paul also mentioned that many employees were keen to engage in office meetings more than they might during a standard nine-to-five office schedule. 

“Teams often do much more together when they get to meet in the office and in person because they’re not seeing each other day in, day out,” she said. “They absolutely make the most of it.”

A welcome return

While the benefits of at least partially returning to the office are becoming clearer to many, not everyone wants to abandon remote working. 

Paul said that to encourage employees to make the return, companies needed to make it a safe and attractive proposition from the off, even if they couldn’t control elements such as commutes.

Companies can't control everything when it comes to commuting to work, but they can control the office environment. With social distancing and cleanliness measures, if people say on that first visit back, ‘Yes, I’m comfortable with this’, then they'll come back.

- Juliet Paul, Manager, Michael Page 

While some employers may find it difficult to trust employees to remain productive when unsupervised, that shouldn’t necessarily be a reason to force staff to return to a fully office-based schedule. The onus should at least partially be on companies to inspire productivity in their employees.

“If you trust people and you give people the right tools, they will do the job,” Ross said. “If you give people the ability to make choices themselves, most people will do the right thing.”

Based on experience with Michael Page clients, Paul and Ross said that companies that offer flexible work schedules with potential for both office and remote work tended to get most out of their employees during this transition period.

Striking a balance

There are good reasons beyond employee wellbeing to embrace remote working, even at a time when many firms are encouraging a return to the office on some level. One of the most significant trends in recruitment througout 2021 has been candidates demanding at least some potential for remote working – this is often a red line issue for them.

As a result, companies that insist that all their staff are in the office, all day every day, severely limit their hiring talent pools. “Many candidates just aren’t interested in those roles”, Ross said.

Firms that can allow some remote working while making their office environment safe and an attractive place to be, can navigate this problem better.

Speaking of her own role, Paul said that a ‘best of both worlds’ result was achievable. “As long as I’m  constructive and I do my job, I can be wherever I need to be. My company being okay with that is a massive thing for me, and it means that when I do go into the office I really embrace it.”

At Michael Page, our expert consultants regularly advise clients on remote and hybrid working, and help candidates find great roles where they can work in whatever way they prefer. You can schedule an introductory call with one of our expert consultants.