The employment landscape has undergone a transformation, largely propelled by the rise of remote work culture. What once seemed like a trend has become a significant feature of organizational dynamics. Executives find themselves at the forefront of this shift, navigating the complexities of leading teams across distances while balancing the needs of the organization with the preferences of their workforce.
Leaders should consider bypassing the return-to-office (RTO) versus in-person work debate to focus on aligning the intentions and behaviors of their workforce, regardless of where people are based.
Understanding the Rift Between Employer and Employee Wants
Executives are largely signaling their support of pre-pandemic ways of working. Many organizations that maintained flexible working conditions post-pandemic have begun requiring more in-office time. According to KPMG’s 2023 CEO Outlook, 64% of CEOs anticipate a full return to office by 2026. RTO mandates ease concerns around employee productivity and engagement. Company leaders also believe returning to the traditional in-person model will improve company culture.
The primary issue lies in the fact that employees have embraced flexible working conditions and are resisting RTO. In fact, according to FlexJobs, 57% of workers would consider leaving their current job if their employer stopped allowing remote work. This resistance underscores the profound shift in employee preferences and highlights the critical need for organizational leaders to navigate this paradigm change effectively.
Optimizing Employee Performance from Anywhere
To truly optimize performance, leaders must take a step back to focus on company goals and the actions needed to achieve them.
- Ensure employees understand and believe in the organization’s mission. Numerous studies indicate that employees perform better when motivated by a collective purpose beyond self-interest. To genuinely get your employees onboard, businesses should approach the development of their mission, vision and values with authenticity and discussion. Once established, leaders need to ensure those fundamentals are front and center of everything they do.
- Create a culture of autonomy and accountability. Highly self-sufficient individuals and teams are essential to maximizing productivity and delivering strong results. Leaders can leverage this strength with these best practices:
- Setting clear goals and objectives
- Checking in consistently
- Offering constructive feedback
- Removing obstacles for employees
- Providing visibility into big-picture matters
- Evaluating progress based on metrics and performance milestones
- Enable mechanisms that support alignment and communication. One of leadership’s primary concerns about virtual work is misalignment and communication, which is traditionally resolved by “water cooler” interactions or stopping by someone’s office for a quick discussion. These interactions are invaluable but not guaranteed to be productive. To ensure alignment and communication that drives performance, implement mechanisms that support connectivity wherever work takes place. Platforms such as Slack or Asana facilitate spontaneous interactions. When used properly, these platforms enhance intentional communications between teams without becoming distractions.
Leaders who opt out of the endless return-to-office versus in-person work debate can concentrate on ensuring the intentions and behaviors of their people align with their business strategy, which results in driving profitability, growth and value creation.
CBIZ Talent and Compensation Solutions provides world-class expertise combined with highly personalized service delivered at the local level. Connect with us, and we’ll partner with you to attract and retain best-fit, top-tier talent.