Return to work mandates are happening. Here’s everything managers need to consider when bringing employees back to the office.
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00:00 Return to work is top of mind for a lot of people
00:02 because it is important and it's happening.
00:05 The mandates are rolling out.
00:07 I'm seeing largely negative reactions to mandates.
00:11 There sometimes is a lack of clarity around the purpose
00:15 and value of being physically back in offices.
00:19 Folks that have been called back into the office
00:22 question the reason because they're not doing
00:23 anything differently than what they would be doing at home.
00:26 They're just physically at a desk,
00:28 typing on their computers, answering emails.
00:30 The most important piece of this is backing it up.
00:32 We can't just say it, send the memo,
00:34 and then have everyone come back.
00:35 It is because of this, because of this purpose,
00:39 collaboration of connection,
00:41 and we see these results because of that.
00:43 That's more of the conversation
00:45 I think leaders should have.
00:46 I think the burden of proof sits with leaders
00:48 that are unveiling these transitions.
00:55 Something that leaders should be really cognizant of
00:58 is not stopping at just bringing people
01:01 physically back together.
01:03 How are you cultivating the social proximity,
01:06 a social connection, a social thread, a fabric of trust,
01:09 particularly amongst diverse teams,
01:12 diverse groups that are gathered for your organization?
01:15 How do you create spaces that social proximity can thrive?
01:20 Leaders assume that the happy hour, the events,
01:23 the yoga, the wellness, whatever it may be,
01:26 is doing its job, and that's just frankly not the case.
01:29 I think social proximity is built on authentic experiences
01:33 in team building exercises and retreats
01:36 in difficult conversations around collaboration
01:40 and really honoring the authentic contributions
01:43 of every team member in a space.
01:44 Anything that builds that fabric of trust and connection
01:49 builds social proximity,
01:51 that when you go to the happy hour,
01:53 you wanna be there with the people that are there,
01:55 not necessarily just assuming that because we have
01:58 a happy hour, people are connected.
02:00 The in-office experience is not the same for everyone.
02:07 We have a lot of conversations around black professionals,
02:11 leaders of color, who for them, remote work,
02:14 offered a moment of respite away from microaggressions,
02:18 navigating workplace bias,
02:20 even some hostility in some cases.
02:22 And then we can also think about caregivers,
02:24 which is largely still women who carry that load.
02:27 Remote work offered flexibility to be able to juggle career
02:32 and those caregiving responsibilities
02:35 in a way that's sustainable,
02:36 that actually could benefit them
02:39 in their career trajectory.
02:40 And so that hesitation towards coming back into the office
02:44 is not just because someone wants to work
02:47 in their PJs at home.
02:49 It can really mean a lot of different things
02:52 for different people.
02:53 In order to really make effective organization-wide policies
03:00 and practices, you must understand the totality
03:04 of the context within which folks are working.
03:07 In that, you then better design ways that all can thrive,
03:12 that is aware of the different experiences
03:16 and isn't the kind of wide swath change
03:19 that a lot of times I see
03:21 that doesn't have any consideration
03:22 of those that might be experiencing this
03:25 with marginalized perspectives.
03:26 That's gonna be the challenge of today's leader.
03:29 And I encourage leaders to really be thoughtful
03:32 and aware and grounded in the context
03:34 that all team members are coming into
03:36 to experience a workplace that they can succeed in.
03:42 We're all feeling this as the potential
03:45 of a future of work moment.
03:48 I feel like we'll look back on this
03:50 and think this is where things shifted.
03:53 We have some opportunity to really change things
03:55 and shift the direction of what work can look like.
03:58 (upbeat music)
04:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]