Employee Engagement and the Return to Office Shift

05.18.2021

By Natalie Hords, Associate Strategist, InVision Communications

Employee Engagement and the Return to Office Shift

March 2020 came in like a wrecking ball as COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Almost the entire population was forced into quarantine, separating families, friends and coworkers like never before. What we thought would be a two-week stint turned into a marathon of the unknown, forcing most of us to adapt to survive. One of the most significant aspects of life that changed was our work life as 65% of employees began working from home compared to pre-COVID-19 rates - 16%. 

The Workforce Pivot
Employees stayed connected through the screen and made make-shift offices in their homes. The professional setting became more human and empathetic as barriers were broken down. Employees were virtually invited into the personal lives of their clients, coworkers and bosses. Despite being physically separated, many silos and formalities were broken as employees adjusted to this new virtual setup. 

Companies realized that as quarantine went on without an end in sight, the show had to go on to keep employees engaged. From Zoom karaoke with their teams to multi-day virtual experiences to educate and inspire employees, companies shifted their approach to internal events with the help of InVision and companies alike. 

Now, as the world starts to open back up to more in-person engagements, new challenges arise, and companies will have to adapt once again. 

Growing Pains 
As the vaccine rollout gains momentum, companies are making plans to safely welcome employees back into the office. Most leaders are targeting a return to the workplace within the next 7-12 months (52%). Six months is the target for 30% of executives surveyed, and 13-18 months (13%) and 19-24 months (1%) is when the remainder plan to return.

However, the world has changed significantly, making the return to office a delicate matter. Some of the major pain points are: 

Finding the balance between in-person and work from home: 73% of workers surveyed want flexible remote work options to continue, while at the same time, 67% are craving more in-person time with their teams.

Health and safety concerns: 40% of executives have health and safety fears regarding their employees. There is still a lot of uncertainty, and people are afraid to get sick or feel unsafe going into work. For employers, this is a moral, ethical, and legal concern. From a business perspective, keeping employees safe is crucial because no plan to resume normal operations can succeed without them.

Maintaining culture and inspiration: While some companies were able to embrace change, others struggled to keep their employees happy and inspired. 44% percent of employees feel overworked, and 39% percent feel exhausted, which comes as no surprise after learning that Microsoft Teams meeting times have increased by 148% since February 2020.

Providing empathy and equity: Management teams should lead with compassion and understand that their employees have experienced this crisis in different ways. For example, only 46% of workers say their employer helps them with remote work expenses. This is a matter of equity as “technical difficulties can be very exclusionary… and if you can’t hear them and they can’t hear you, people can’t contribute,” says Dr. Sean Rintel, a Microsoft principal researcher focused on socially intelligent meetings.

Suggestions on How to Adapt (Again) Successfully: 

As the world slowly reaches a new normal, we must approach returning to the office with a strategic plan that embraces the fact that we have collectively gone through a life-changing experience, and the workplace will not look like it once did. We’ve heard from clients and seen in reports that there is more empathy, a deeper desire for connection, and an emphasis on flexibility in the workplace. 

At InVision, we recommend our clients build out an employee engagement plan that focuses on three key areas: compassion, motivation, and connection to help drive a smoother transition. Other things to keep in mind as we start to think about this shift are:

Transparent communications: Encourage 2-way communications between leadership and employees through moments like town halls and one-on-one check-ins to foster a culture where people can openly share their reasons for returning to the office or staying remote.

Communications and engagement plans: Build an ongoing cadence that communicates your company’s return to office policies and procedures. This can be a centralized hub for crucial information that is updated as conditions change. To ease employees back into the workplace, think about ways to show them how the office has changed, like making a Welcome to My Crib style video, showing the office tricked out in the latest sanitary gear. Once employees return to the office, give them the space to share how they’re feeling and what their needs are. Also, identify moments that spark inspiration and motivation like hosting meetings outside or in unexpected places, guided meditation moments, lunch and learns, and so much more.

COVID-19 safety planning: Create a flexible plan that outlines office policies (around vaccines, testing, etc.). Consider signage and branding to address social distancing and take additional safety precautions like sanitization stations, protection shields, etc.

Address “hybrid working”: Listen to your employees’ needs through surveys, phone interviews, social listening, etc., and consider what is also in the best interest of the company when strategizing a plan for a successful hybrid workforce. With this new hybrid landscape, it’s important to be more inclusive and mindful of people joining virtually and giving them a space to respond and interact as if they were sitting in the room. Also, consider a plan to interact in-person with employees safely and engage with each other.

“Decisions that CEOs make over the next few months will set the tone for how work will be done in the future, impacting the relationships employees have formed and their emotional connection with the company. They should be made carefully.” – Harvard Business Review

InVision is here to help make this transition back into the office as seamless as possible. For further information on how we can help deliver an employee engagement plan for your company, please contact your InVision account director or email us at info@iv.com.