{"id":9876,"date":"2021-05-12T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T14:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=9876"},"modified":"2024-08-30T11:07:49","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T15:07:49","slug":"bring-employees-back-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/bring-employees-back-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Strategically Bring Your Employees Back to the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bring<\/em><\/p>\n

I<\/em>t’s not an easy process to bring your employees back to the workplace. Some workers have been remote for more than a year, and some may be hesitant to get back to “normal.” However your organization decides to proceed, many factors must be taken into account. Our human capital management partner, isolved,<\/a> offers this advice for approaching return to work with a modern mindset that benefits both your business and your staff.<\/em><\/p>\n

Right now, here in the U.S., \u201creturn to work\u201d conversations are happening in every industry, but the phrasing being used doesn\u2019t paint an accurate picture of remote work throughout the pandemic. Despite not being in an office, remote employees have, of course, been working since the lockdowns began \u2013 even longer hours in some cases.<\/p>\n

While \u201creturn to office\u201d is certainly a better descriptor, the decision to get employees back needs to be a strategic one that takes both the employee experience and business needs into consideration.<\/p>\n

Prioritizing Employee Experience<\/h2>\n

In isolved\u2019s\u00a0Transforming Employee Experience report<\/a>, 92 percent of human resources (HR) leaders noted that employee experience is a priority this year. This needs to be accounted for when structuring return-to-office requirements.<\/p>\n

Leveraging\u00a0engagement tools<\/a>, like pulse surveys, can help department leaders get an accurate representation of employees\u2019 preferences. It is likely that some employees will express that remote work is ideal because it gives them more control over their schedules, while others may miss people and are keen to get back into an office environment.<\/p>\n

This highlights that even though the pandemic has been a shared experience for the world, it has also been very different for each individual \u2013 and the same is true for businesses.<\/p>\n

Assessing Business Needs<\/h2>\n

Essential business needs should take precedence when determining return-to-office plans. There are certain roles and operations that really do benefit from a bullpen-like atmosphere where employees feed off each other and celebrate success together. And for some departments, like sales, employees may actually be returning to the field rather than the office \u2013 swapping video calls with prospects for road trips or plane travel to take in-person meetings. For these roles, there is a clear business advantage to getting back to a working environment that looks similar to how things were before COVID-19.<\/p>\n

For the departments where there is not a clear-cut answer as to where employees should work from, productivity needs to be measured. Work tech that tracks\u00a0performance and goals<\/a>\u00a0can make a big difference in determining how employees have adapted to remote work and how it impacts their work in the future. With these insights, business leaders can make agile strategic decisions on what makes sense for the future of their enterprise.<\/p>\n

A Flexible Future<\/h2>\n

The past year has given us a glimpse into the future of work, and that future requires agility. A hybrid approach to returning to the office will be embraced by many organizations \u2013 empowering some employees and departments to decide where and how they work best. This means that the investments made in technology over the last year will be just as important \u2013 if not more important \u2013 moving forward. Not only do organizations need to be prepared for future disruptions, but in-office employees still need to collaborate with their remote colleagues.<\/p>\n

Engagement tools that have kept workforces connected over the last year will continue to be critical. From having the ability to interact quickly with colleagues via social media-style tools to being able to request feedback from supervisors virtually, these tools are essential for organizations that are committed to keeping workforces connected \u2013 regardless if employees are working in an office, on the road, or from their home.<\/p>\n

Shifting a Victorian Mindset<\/h2>\n

The concept that everyone should be in an office is no longer a given, which means that we need to shift the Victorian mindset that employees need to return to the office just for the sake of it, to a modern mindset where we recognize that the pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we live and work. The last year taught us that there is no right or wrong way to do things, but that agility is essential for the future. As such, return-to-office plans need to be developed based on a combination of what is right \u2013 and what works best \u2013 for both employers and employees.<\/p>\n

Download this comprehensive guide on returning to work and COVID-19 vaccinations<\/a> to ensure you have all your bases covered and are doing what’s best for your business and your employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Approach the way you bring employees back to the workplace with a modern mindset so you do what’s best for your business and your workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-9876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consulting-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9876"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9883,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9876\/revisions\/9883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9876"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=9876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}