By Sandi Mauro
In the early stages of the pandemic, the phrases essential worker and essential business dominated how we viewed working. Essential businesses had their doors open and essential workers were those critical to maintaining the core functions of public health, society, and the economy.
Business Leaders were forced to make rapid, life altering decisions about who could be ‘working’ and who could not, driven by how many people were allowed to be in close proximity. They also faced the cold reality that non-essential workers might risk the health of an essential worker, crippling the organizations ability to generate revenue and service their customers.
The unintended consequence? A workplace divided between those that mattered and those that mattered less.
Next, we faced return to work, which meant we were opening back up. Inadvertently, we offended remote workers who had been working tirelessly behind the scenes at critical business responsibilities, because they heard “you’re not working”. The workforce divide widened, as managers doubted employee productivity. The compromise? The hybrid work force.
Fast forward to February 23, 2025, Forbes published, that 60% of workers are expected in office 3+ days per week while 40% are expected in office 5 days. The key drivers are collaboration, teamwork, productivity, staff management and organizational culture. The good news – 80% of employees agree it’s the right thing to do.
If RTO is in your organizational plan, or you unsuccessfully rolled it out, articulating the why behind the change along with defining the value of RTO is critical. “It isn’t what you say but how you say it” has a real place here. Be open minded to employee concerns and work to shift the “If” to “When” with a well-defined, timely transition plans to the new way of working.
Don’t underestimate the support your managers need. Provide clear guidelines on creating a warm, welcoming return and allow teams to slowly and steadily collaborate and re-socialize that results in a positive, lasting RTO experience.
“Because I said so” rarely works and “I don’t believe you’re working” will not gain you any points. We’ve come a long way rebuilding trusting relationships and showing value for those once considered less essential. Be positive, acknowledge the bumps, adjust and move forward.
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as we break down 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝗥𝗧𝗢):
✅ How to take an objective look at your workplace
✅ The risks and advantages of RTO — or not — for your current and future workforce
✅ What’s working, what’s not, and how to find the right balance
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