1. The impact of commuting
Employees may lose at least 45 min of their day or more to driving to work & back. Not to mention, gas prices are now high, so you just cut their pay. This is probably the worst time to tell them to do this unless you plan to give them a gas hike merit raise.
2. Work life balance
When we first went home during COVID we struggled to find the balance of working TOO much. We didn’t know how to do remote. But once we began to find tools, we learned we could do more AND balance our life. There are a lot of us who don’t want to lose that balance by going back to the cubicle.
3. Creativity
When people are happy & inspired, they do their best work. For some, that may be in an office around other creative people all day feeding off their common energy. For others, like me, who need uninterrupted focus to be creative, this can be a detriment.
4. Expense
It just costs more to have people in cubicles.
5. Water cooler gossip: remember this?
Employees see & hear a lot more when working around one another – it’s the nature of the beast. Get ready.
6. Pets
Both your employees and their pets have gotten used to being home together. By going back in to the office you are rocking their world. If you return to the office, unless you are allowing “bring your pet to work day” every day your pet loving employees (and their furry loved ones) are going to have a real struggle.
I know a lot of folks love coming back to work. I support you in that if you do. But don’t forget about the culture change and the impact it may have within your company by allowing remote work, followed by the whiplash you will create by forcing those folks to return when the job itself doesn’t support a reason to return.
