Employees Say Working On-Site Is Not Worth The Commute

Redefining workplace principles for success in the post-pandemic era

As HR professionals, we have a once in a generation opportunity to take a leadership role in designing new ways of working. Since the pandemic, we have seen that working nine to five in-the-office is dead. Our long-standing expectations of going to the office, “to do our work,” and going to off-sites to “network with colleagues,” has been turned on its head. And never did employers have to justify why one should be present in the office and what types of work would ideally happen there.
 

The world of work is changed forever. In our “The 2023 Future of Working and Learning” survey, conducted among a global sample of 1,300 HR leaders, business leaders, knowledge workers and frontline workers, about half of knowledge workers (46%) report that their companies are not doing anything to make it worthwhile to commute to the office. This highlights a key workplace tension I am seeing; workers view going to the office as a choice they can make while leaders see this as a challenge to be dealt with.

We also asked our sample of about 250 knowledge workers, “what can your company do to make coming to the office “commute worthy?” Their open-ended answers as seen in Figure 1, highlight two benefits they see for the office. First, the office is a place to engage in professional development, peer networking and collaboration with peers. At the same time, workers want the choice of deciding when and where they work and even have the added benefit of shorter workdays to allow for a commute to work.
But are offering perks, shorter workdays and increasing compensation to entice workers back to the office the answer to successfully working in a hybrid fashion?

I do not think so. Instead, as companies grapple with returning to the office, they must realize the conversation is much more than deciding which days employees return to the office, is it Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday or Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday? That misses the point of what we have been going through over the past three years.

Leaders need to make coming to the office more purposeful and “commute worthy”. This will require employers to be clear on why and how working in the office can optimize their performance in their current job role while providing flexibility. Employers also need to ensure equal opportunity for advancement and development, no matter where the work gets done. This last point hit home when our 2023 Future of Working and Learning research found a majority of senior HR leaders (71%) and senior business leaders (62%) agree that there’s likely a “proximity bias” against remote/hybrid workers, making it difficult for those working off-site to get ahead in their careers.

In addition to making the office “commute worthy”, employers need to explore flexibility options desired by workers. Our latest research found the most desired flexibility option is access to a 4-day work week with no pay reduction. This is desired by 69% of knowledge workers and 56% of front-line workers, but is currently only offered to 16% and 29%, respectively.

As hybrid working becomes the permanent way of working, HR and business leaders need to set clear principles for success, rather than mandate policies. These principles need to ensure inclusivity by providing career development and advancement opportunities to all employees, regardless of where they work. And leaders need to communicate the “why” behind coming to the office. The answer, according to Phil Kirschner, Associate Partner, Real Estate, McKinsey lies in communicating a clear purpose for the office. Says Kirschner, “as we have seen during high levels of attrition, employees are leaving because they don’t know why to stay, much less commute.”

Most of all, companies must recognize the inherent push and pull of workers desiring flexibility in when and where they work and leaders wanting no impact on their job performance.

Leaders can start taking a proactive role by asking such questions as:
● How can our company optimize flexibility in work practices while maintaining performance levels?
● What is the new role and purpose of the office?
● What are we doing to listen to our employee needs for flexibility and what do they see as the benefits of returning to the office?
● What job roles are best performed primarily in the office?
● How can we prepare our frontline managers to have meaningful conversations with our workers about their needs for flexibility while maintaining performance levels?

Hybrid is here to stay, and companies and workers are still learning how to succeed with new ways of working and learning.

Author Bio

Jeanne Meister is Executive Vice President of Executive Networks, an HR peer community for human resource leaders working in global 1,000 companies. Jeanne is also a regular contributor to Forbes and author of the “The 2023 Future of Working and Learning Report” a research survey of 1,301 HR leaders, business leaders, knowledge workers and frontline workers across North America, India, and Europe.