Drawbacks Of RTO
Remote models of work have materially yielded positive results due to the sole advantages of WFH. It’s assumed that these benefits could disappear upon RTO.
Loss Of Flexibility
A Gartner survey of more than 10,000 digital workers revealed that workers count flexibility as the key to their productivity. This shows that, contrary to what most employers initially believed, the same level of focus was possible for WFH employees.
That’s because employees achieve a more comprehensive image of their everyday tasks and will multitask, or otherwise deal with each of them based on priority. This was critical among working parents who used their newly-found work flexibility to bond with their children throughout the day as motivation for their careers.
With RTO, employees have to stick to a strict work schedule under the scrutiny of a supervisor and potentially nosy colleagues. This can impact performance and contribute to a lower rate of overall output in a worker’s life.
Increased Expenses
Research from Owl Labs estimates that RTO will cost a worker an additional $51 a day. That’s because RTO means having to travel to the office amidst the rising prices of public transit and gasoline. A once-remote worker may also need to set aside a budget for lunch and other expenses.
Additional expenses are also incurred by the employer, who will have to spend on office space and other utilities. When they permanently transitioned to a hybrid work model, insurance company Nationwide cited the necessity of cost-cutting when planning for a prolonged global economic slump. Industry experts agree with this analysis, citing how RTO on its own may be a costly expenditure that doesn’t balance out productivity.
Overcoming The Drawbacks
It’s important that companies avoid issuing an RTO call for the sake of returning to the “old normal.” This is a step back. Companies need to aim for progress and this can be done by assessing what benefits of RTO your company hopes to maximize that WFH was unable to fulfill. From there, it’ll be easier to mitigate the common drawbacks.
Hybrid workplaces have become an easy middle-ground between RTO and WFH that provides employees room for flexibility and social activity while minimizing expenses. To help maintain this balance, hybrid workplaces need good leadership to set boundaries among employees. An example of an explicit boundary would be how no emails are expected to be answered outside of work hours. This makes it easier for workers to keep their work and personal lives separate.
On the financial side, many companies are improving their employer-provided programs for employees. Clif Bar & Company implemented a program that paid employees to exercise 2.5 hours a week on company time. This had an extremely high participation rate and increased productivity levels too. Otherwise, workers can take advantage of transportation stipends or simply choose to drink free coffee in the workplace.