The long pandemic has created remote and hybrid work models where new concepts are applied within the workforce. As we are looking, returning to the office or back to the office will bring more to the workplace and be more collaborative. 

Many are now increasing their return-to-office mandates to bring back their employees into the office with correct implementation to reverse the cycle of remote working. Corporations like ZOOM, Disney, Amazon, and Google have already mandated employees to return to the office. These are tech firms and top corporations mandating the change, which is still adaptable for many employees.

👉The Wave of Return to Office Mandates 

Productivity & Collaboration 

Executives of top corporations have said it is not always about productivity and collaboration. Executives of several top corporations have seen a 15% to 20% decline in productivity and collaboration. 

The hybrid and remote work model that several companies and corporations follow has brought “creative thinking” as there was a higher amount of attention to ideas when there was no COVID. 

Culture 

Well, Culture is the next vital part of the company and even executives have pointed out it's all about the impact of being in person “as it is best to form TRUST”. As flexibility has come it has its downfalls as executives mentioned more involved workforce is often a sign of a stronger culture, and an engaged workforce produces more.

To improve the culture of management, the CEO of Amazon, Jassy, called the employees back to work in the spring, he reminded them that "it's easier to learn, model, practice and strengthen our culture when we're in the office together most of the time and surrounded by colleagues." Many Amazon employees disagree, as seen by the hundreds who staged a walkout at the company's Seattle headquarters while holding posters that read, "Say No to RTO." 

As culture and trust are the foundation of any company, we are looking at the improvement of many employees of Zoom who are returning after a huge conversation with the CEO of Zoom. Business Insider discusses the approach of returning to the office and how to get more innovative and tech-savvy.  

Learning and Career Development

New insights have shown that “work-life balance” was great at the beginning and after the pandemic but because employees “prioritize to learn and develop” themselves for these situations. What I mean is situations like this never occurred and stopped the workforce when the pandemic was happening. 

Now that we have experienced this, we know that the priority is to always learn. Learning is a lifetime skill that is needed to bring up skills for these situations and it showcases many employees' potential to keep learning new developments in technology or even studying. 

Getting back into the office brings the “opportunity to grow professionally” by having assistance and guidance from well-experienced mentors and leaders. Many corporations are getting back into the office or having to return to the office to create the foundation for working in the office. 

As BBC mentioned Disney employees returned to the office back in February 2023 and also pointed out tech firms' office mandates increasing every day. This impacts how their work arrangements with new learners are also shifting their balance day to day.  

As we grow back into office, we can see the development of AI being a useful tool to learn. And as we are adapting to change with the advancements in our work ethics and technology in educating others. 

New Ways To Adapt ….

As mentioned, it is for employees to return to the office. Also not sabotaging the hybrid work model we still need to consider how returning to office can be more beneficial for them. 

Here are new ways that we can introduce for employees: 

1. Building on our Communication Strategy
2. Incentives that will bring more to employees' table such as well-being and company round table events 
3. Brings new work environments into action rather than the traditional office-centric model 
4. Keep maintained process for all employees to upscale their learnings so that they can become problem solvers 

Leaders must adapt by creating a culture, encouraging cooperation, strengthening team ties, and promoting communication to flourish in a hybrid work environment. Traditional office-centric models shouldn't be forced on companies; instead, new avenues should be opened up so they can have the best of both worlds.