FM newsroom – office, management. The tension between businesses wanting employees in the office and employees wanting more flexibility has long existed. A recent survey reveals how much this tension and the pressure to prove productivity have increased as RTO policies become one of the biggest workplace topics this year.
With employee engagement, retention, and company culture hanging in the balance, it’s important for leadership and HR to get hybrid and flexible working policies right. The report issued by BambooHR surveyed just over 1500 full-time salaried workers in desk jobs, with about 1000 of them holding managerial positions in the US.
Are RTO mandates “soft layoffs”?
The connection between RTO (return to office) mandates and workforce downsizing is not lost on workers, many of whom consider an RTO mandate to be a layoff precursor. Vague reasoning and missing productivity metrics leave employees to assume the worst, only fueled by already low employee happiness. One in four (28%) remote workers fear being laid off before their in-office coworkers, claims Anita Grantham, BambooHR’s head of HR.
Nearly two in five (37%) managers, directors, and executives participating in the survey believe their organization enacted layoffs last year because fewer employees than expected quit during their RTO. And their beliefs are well-founded, Grantham claims: One in four (25%) VP and C-suite executives and one in five (18%) HR pros admit they hoped for some voluntary turnover during an RTO, proving, in some cases, why RTO mandates are layoffs in disguise.
Visibility beats productivity
The report shows, among its other findings, that about a third of all managers (32%) admitted that tracking employees’ work habits was a primary reason for their office mandates, and 42% of all respondents feel they’re coming to the office only to be seen by their boss and other managers.
Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds (64%) of workers in the survey acknowledged that they make efforts to create a constant online presence, a phenomenon the report calls the “green status effect“. It describes workers using their Slack or Teams icons to suggest they’re online, even if they’re not working – Jena McGregor, a Forbes senior editor points out.
By using RTO mandates as a workforce reduction tactic, companies are losing talent and morale among their employees. Grantham points out that nearly half (45%) of the employees who have experienced RTO report significant talent loss within their organizations – talent that was highly valued and wished to be retained.
