What to know about RTO now

• Key insight: Learn why increasing return-to-office mandates require employers to redesign workplace benefits.
• What's at stake: Losing critical organizational talent by failing to properly execute transition policies.
• Expert quote: "There's still a lot of fear of distrust." — Kim Wylam, Baker Tilly
  Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review
  

With return-to-office mandates only increasing, employers need to assess how their benefits, operations, and even meal options can effectively transition workers back to their desks, especially those most reluctant to be returning.
Not everyone is dragging their feet on their way back to the building — 94% of workers say the office still serves a purpose, primarily as a hub for workplace relationships and connection, according to a new Hilton report, and that applied to 96% of Gen Z workers.

Still, those offices must bolster the kind of productivity that many of the younger generation cultivated over years of remote working. A recent YouGov survey of Gen Z office workers found that 53% of those employees feel more productive working from home, and 34% said their current workplace design does not allow them to focus effectively.

Read more:

• Gen Z cares most about the "O" in RTO
• Hilton research: Manager relationships fuel retention and RTO success
• RTO mandates aren't flexible enough for employees

Across all ages of remote and hybrid workers, nearly 70% said their work-life balance has improved over the past year, according to a CoworkingCafe survey earlier this year of 1,140 full-time U.S. employees working remotely or in hybrid roles. 

Meanwhile, 40% of job seekers would be willing to accept a lower salary if it meant that they could work remotely, according to a report from hiring platform Employ, and 22% said they would decline a job offer if the role came with no flexibility to work from home or to work remotely from time to time.

These numbers indicate a workforce in flux, and the need for employers' RTO policies to provide clear reasoning beyond mere badge swiping.

"We're in a stretch of genuine uncertainty, and when leaders run out of answers they reach for whatever they can still control," said David Grossman, founder and CEO of leadership and communications consultancy The Grossman Group. "Attendance is countable. It produces a chart by Friday. Best of all, it lets a leader look decisive without saying the hardest sentence in leadership, which is 'I don't know yet.'"

Employees also don't want to be returning to the same offices they left pre-mandate.

"When we ask employees to return to the office it's not a return to the old way — it should be a return to a new way," said Kim Wylam, managing principal of Baker Tilly's human resources consulting practice. "That means compromising certain things and understanding your workforce and [what] their needs are."

The best benefits to get them back

While flexibility and productivity are main factors in the work arrangements employees prefer, perks go a long way in easing people back into an office environment. 

A survey from food-tech company ezCater found that 76% of previously remote workers say they either expect or would welcome new perks when their work arrangement changes. But nearly half of employees who transitioned from remote to hybrid or fully on-site said they didn't receive any additional benefits following RTO mandates, causing 27% to consider looking for a new job.

Free meals are a popular in-person benefit, with 79% of hybrid employees saying employer-provided food would make them more likely to stay with a company that has an on-site mandate, according to the ezCater survey. 

Organizations calling for an RTO should also evaluate their commuting benefits, or lack thereof. 

"We encourage employers to offer the pre-tax commuter and parking flexible spending accounts (FSAs) as well as an employer contribution toward this benefit to lessen the perceived burden for employees," said Ellen Presman, SVP, benefit operations and brokerage services at HR services company Congruity HR.

Read more:

• Requiring RTO? Previously remote employees expect extra perks
• With commuting pains growing, these benefits can help
• Companies are betting on free food to lure workers back in office

These benefits have an impact, agreed Richard Huang, CEO and founder of office solutions company Reframe Space, which covers parking costs for employees. 

"It sounds simple," he said, "but makes a meaningful difference in daily stress, especially in areas where parking is expensive or unreliable. Removing that friction at the start and end of a workday matters more than people give it credit for."

While these benefits are attractive, Grossman cautioned HR leaders that incentives can only go so far. 

"When [an RTO] rollout goes badly, the request that lands on your desk is 'what can we add.' Backup care. A commuter stipend. Lunch on Wednesdays. Those are real benefits and I'm not knocking any of them," he said. "But sort the complaint before you buy the fix. Some of it is a benefit gap and that belongs to you. Some of it is a trust gap that belongs to whoever wrote the memo, and no vendor is closing that one for you."

The critical trust factor

The RTO policy itself is paramount, of course, but so is the messaging around it — and implication of trust. 

"There's still a lot of fear of distrust," said Wylam. "Organizations are still concerned if they don't know what their workforce is doing, and there's a lot of comfort in the idea that if everybody came to work and they're at their desk they'll know they're working [and can measure it accordingly.]"

Employer confidence in its workforce cannot be delivered via an RTO memo, but must be foundational — so it can be leveraged as policies change.

"Trust is where all of this gets decided, and I want to be careful with that word because it's a concept that's thrown around," said Grossman. "Trust isn't given and it can't be transacted. It's grown through consistent action over time. That means a mandate is a withdrawal against a balance you built earlier, and most leaders have no idea what their balance is."

The risk is high for employers that don't effectively roll out, communicate, and offer support for their RTO: 80% of employers have lost talent due to these mandates, according to a survey from workplace insights platform Byteiota.

Read more:

• Flexible work is now a core benefit as burnout and RTO resistance rise
• As AI boosts collaboration, employees resist office mandates
• Why 'flashy' perks won't keep employees at work

"Look at the rollouts that went sideways and almost none of them failed over the number," Grossman observed, "They failed because the reason given didn't hold up, or because the manager layer had nothing to offer beyond the memo."

"So here's the test," he continued. "Does this policy make you more predictable to your people or less? If they can tell you what you'll do next, you're building. If your last three announcements each caught them off guard, you're spending."