DEAR READER: The pendulum of work from home to hybrid to return to the office (RTO), continues to swing. If your company has mandated a return to work full-time, as a worker, how can you best handle it and how should employers implement the change to get everyone on board?

Let’s start by saying employers are making decisions about what’s best for their company and their workforce. In some industries, you may hear of some employers remaining fully remote, whereas others require everyone to return to the office full-time. They have every right to do what’s best for them — it’s their business and their workforce. We’re not judging — whatever decision a company makes, we need to trust it is the best decision for themselves.

That being said, it’s understandable workers are pushing back especially if they’re productive and working efficiently without sacrificing quality. According to a study published in 2024, hybrid working from home boosts retention without damaging performance.

Jason Walker, Psy.D., Ph.D., program director and associate professor of industrial-organizational and applied psychology at Adler University, said the back-to-work mandate culture may feel like a loss of trust and autonomy to employees.

“The rising cost of commuting, child care and work-life imbalance make return-to-office (RTO) policies even more stressful. When employees feel they don’t have a say in how they work, morale drops and engagement tanks,” said Walker.

The good news? There are more options for workers than in the past, so if their company does go fully back to the office, they may want to consider looking for another job — one that is hybrid or fully remote. Employers who want a fully in-person workforce may be able to attract workers who do want that in-person schedule full-time, but the key to creating a culture of trust involves authenticity.

Not all return-to-work mandates may be a bumpy road for employers. Walker said, “Like most things, (a return-to-work mandate) depends on how it’s implemented and communicated. In-office time purposefully used for meaningful collaboration, innovation and relationship-building can be beneficial, but it has to be genuine. Often, old-school and authoritative leaders want to see people at their desks, keeping a watchful eye on them during ‘work’ hours, creating a culture of resentment and toxicity.”

Communication is key, as is listening to employees. When trust disintegrates, morale and engagement can plummet, leading to turnover. In addition when current workers are unhappy and word-of-mouth spreads (especially on social media), this can create a challenging recruiting environment to attract top talent.

“It’s 2025, not 1995,” said Walker. “We have the technology and the work culture has shifted — the pandemic proved that we can be as efficient and productive working from home or in a hybrid model as we can doing the 9-to-5 grind at the office. Culture eats strategy for lunch, so companies should think long and hard about blowing up the hybrid model because it works at the end of the day.”

Tribune News Service