The demand for in-person working is on the rise. Over the past few years, companies have been itching to get their employees back together for that all-important in-person interaction.
For example, business giants like Apple and Amazon have issued “controversial” back-to-office mandates, whereas remote-first companies like Taskrabbit have empowered their employees to access workspace whenever needed, despite not having a company HQ.
Our Workspace Satisfaction Report revealed similar sentiments. We went out to 200+ business leaders in the UK to hear their thoughts on workspace strategy, and the survey highlighted some interesting results:
68% said they’d be shifting strategies over the next year — and of those companies ordering employees back into offices, 31% said they’d opt for a 2-day per week strategy. What’s more, CEOs are more likely to want an office mandate (79%) compared to workspace leaders (44%).
So, why are companies mandating return to offices? It’s not necessarily because CEOs see remote working as a complete negative. (We’re looking at you, Reed Hastings). One driving factor could be that money is wasted on an empty office, and they want a return on investment.
Below, Hubble outlines the key things to consider if you’re mandating staff back into offices. We also give some pros and cons to office mandates and offer alternatives to ensure you make the best business decision. Let’s go!
What does it mean to ‘mandate’ staff back into offices?
First things first, what does it mean to ‘mandate’ staff back into offices?
Simply put, an office mandate is where employers require or officially instruct employees to start working from the physical office rather than remotely or from home. This is not optional. Office mandates are a formal workplace policy that all employees must adhere to.
This could be a significant shock to the system for employees, especially if they were used to working under flexible or hybrid working arrangements. This was the case with Disney.
In January 2023, CEO Bob Iger issued a memo to Disney employees, announcing a shift in the media giant’s hybrid workplace policy. Instead of two remote work days per week, Disney issued a mandatory return to Disney offices four days a week.
Disney employees were quick to express frustrations with the new mandate. Soon after, a petition was created, which 2,300 workers signed in a clear protest against one of the strictest hybrid workplace policies since the pandemic started.
Flat-out mandating vs soft mandating
So, what Disney did here was something called ‘flat-out mandating’. It’s when an organisation issues a return-to-office policy with little to no room for flexibility or negotiation — and it’s often always met with employee frustration.
But, many of these ‘harsh’ mandates are born out of a need for better collaboration and communication. It’s understandable if CEOs are desperate to get their employees back into offices, especially if they’re spending money on office space and not seeing a return.
But to get to a happy medium, many companies are doing what’s called ‘soft mandating’.
‘Soft mandating’ involves creating an environment or culture that encourages individuals to behave in a certain way without explicitly requiring it. It’s a flexible and lenient approach to bringing employees back to work in person. For example, you could:
Set team days in the office
As a business leader or manager, you could decide to set team days in the office. This is a type of hybrid workspace strategy where employees have designated set days for office and remote work.
This form of soft mandating is often motivated by a desire to foster collaboration, creativity, or team cohesion — particularly for tasks and activities that thrive through in-person engagement. For example, team meetings, brainstorming sessions and strategising for the future.
Make office days about team building
Another way to gently encourage office attendance is to focus office days on team building.
By emphasising team-building activities and fostering a positive atmosphere through post-work drinks or game nights, you can provide a subtle incentive for employees to spend more time in the office.
“Belonging is such an innate need. We all have to belong to something, to someone, to an organisation, a team, or something, and everybody has their own different ways to belong.” — Florencia Tettamanti, People and Talent Lead at Primer.
The pros and cons of office mandates
So, now that we’ve covered the differences between flat-out mandates and soft mandates. Let’s briefly go through the pros and cons of each one — so you can feel confident in your choice.
Flat-out office mandates
| Pros | Cons |
| Solid desk utilisation rates Since employees are expected to work in the office, the likelihood of desks going unused drops significantly. With a flat-out office mandate, there’s no risk of experiencing “empty desk syndrome“. | Drop in employee flexibility There’s an increased risk of being seen as inflexible and unsupportive of employees’ autonomy, freedom, and preferences. This can damage employee morale and make them feel as though their preferences aren’t considered. |
| Stronger collaboration By issuing a flat-out office mandate, you’re giving employees access to a single physical environment where they can build organic connections. This means more opportunities for spontaneity and creative problem-solving. | Employee expenses increase By requiring employees to come into the office most of the time, they’ll have to fork out on commuting and additional expenses. This may harbour feelings of dissatisfaction among employees who need to save money. |
| Company culture occurs more organically A strict office mandate can help reinforce and sustain the company’s culture by bringing employees together in a shared physical space, fostering a sense of identity and belonging. | Talent retention challenges In competitive job markets, strict office mandates may make attracting and retaining top talent challenging — especially when other companies are happy to let their employees work from anywhere, anytime. |
Soft office mandates
| Pros | Cons |
| Increased employee satisfaction Soft office mandates allow for more flexibility, as employees can adapt their work environments to suit their needs. This can help promote employee satisfaction and a healthier work-life balance. | Potential for ‘presence bias’ If employees choose when they come into the offices, there is a small risk of unequal treatment. Those who regularly come in may be seen as doing more, whereas those working hard remotely may experience a lack of visibility. |
| Talent attraction and retention Offering flexibility through soft mandates can make the company more desirable to a diverse range of top talent from different locations — helping to enhance recruitment and retention efforts. | Communication challenges Soft mandates may lead to challenges in communication and collaboration, as employees working in different locations may find it harder to coordinate and communicate effectively. |
| Improved work productivity Soft mandates help employees feel empowered to work in environments where they are most productive. This level of trust and autonomy can lead to higher rates of employee productivity. | Improved work productivity Soft mandates help employees feel empowered to work in environments where they are most productive. This level of trust and autonomy can lead to higher employee productivity rates. |
Tushar’s thoughts…
Tushar Agarwal, CEO and Co-Founder at Hubble, recently took to YouTube to discuss back-to-office mandates vs incentives. Here’s a summary of what he had to say:
While 2021/22 saw businesses from startups to tech giants implement flexible workspace policies, we saw a big reversal of that trend in 2023. Now, more companies, like Deutsche Bank, are mandating office returns for their employees — and some are even facing backlash.
If you look at the mandates companies are adopting, you’ll see what’s called a “stick-and-carrot” approach. While “stick” policies threaten employees via pay cuts and lack of promotion opportunities, “carrot” policies are incentives that are good-intentioned but don’t hit the mark.
For instance, Salesforce introduced a policy to make charity donations on behalf of employees who increased their office attendance.
To strike a balance, you want to think about why people aren’t coming into the office. Here are the top three reasons, so businesses can be more intentional when creating mandates:
1) The commute
With most commutes in the City of London being an hour, it’s common for employees to go through all the hassle of commuting to the office, just to spend the entire day on Zoom calls.
This is a pretty bad experience for most employees, especially if they’ve been asked to come in. It’s a waste of time, a waste of effort, and also a waste of money!
2) Empty office syndrome
The second reason is ending up in an empty office when you decide to come in. This is what’s called “empty office syndrome”, and it leads to a pretty vicious cycle.
If this happens more than three times, you’re way less likely to make the effort to work from the office in the future.
3) Different job roles
The third reason is understanding different job roles. Sometimes, getting quite “tunnel vision” can be easy when thinking about other job roles. We assume people work similarly to us.
However, there’s a huge spectrum of job roles, from data entry to customer communication. While some software engineers may prefer a quieter space to deep work, sales teams may prefer to work alongside each other and ask questions in real-time.
The nature of people’s work will determine their appetite.
So, with all that in mind, here are our top three solutions to encouraging teams to work from the office in a way that doesn’t fall into the “stick-and-carrot” category:
1) Consider adopting a structured hybrid strategy
There are plenty of hybrid workspace strategies available, some I’ve spoken about before.
One that could be most effective is a “structured hybrid approach”, where employers set expectations for office attendance days, like Tuesday through Thursday.
This creates an alignment between employers and employees. While the employees benefit from reassurance that other people are going to be in, the employers benefit from regular office usage.
2) Move to a higher-quality workspace
The second aspect is the quality of the workspace. This is a really important one to get right.
Offices with poor atmospheres often lack natural light, attractive decor, and amenities and may be located too far from commuting routes. If this resonates, employees are less likely to choose to come in.
You want to ensure your office is an appealing place for people to work from. Whether it’s decent WiFi or free coffee, you want the office itself to be a real incentive for people to leave their homes to go in.
3) Create team rituals
The third way to encourage teams back into offices is to create team rituals. These could be events on a weekly, monthly, or ad-hoc basis.
For example, at Hubble, we do something called Fika, which is the Swedish tradition of coffee and cake. We do this once a month, and it becomes a big occasion for everyone to come in.
You can get creative with these team rituals. Whether it’s poker nights or board game nights, you really want to encourage your employees to socialise with each other and their relationships at work to go deeper.
Discover the future of work with our FREE report
If you’d like to gain deeper insights into return-to-office mandates and the future of workspace, download The Workspace Satisfaction Report! It’s completely free and covers more key insights, such as:
- The most popular workspace strategies: office, hybrid, or remote? 🏢
- Measuring employee satisfaction: Explore the methods leaders use to quantify employee happiness! 📊
and much, much more.
Don’t miss out; get the report to gain insights into 2023 office trends and beyond.
