Back to Office - The Work Place Challenges

The corporate world seems to be getting back to normalcy, after spending two years in an unprecedented era in modern history. Unless any unexpected variants are back to haunt the business and people, most of the organizations have started planning their strategies on employee work models and communications.

As mentioned in my earlier blog,The Next Wave , one of the biggest challenge, management should be ready is with millennial as the future work force and ways to manage. Nevertheless, there is one bigger challenge which also should be dealt with – the Current Work Force.

Yes, while we may need to think about the future work force, are we ready with the task in hand now, the present employees of the organization, the very pillar on which companies need to run. This blog is not about the great exoduses happening, which was already covered in one of my earlier posts in August 2021 The Great Exodus

Till Feb 2020, companies had built their own process, procedures, culture and employees had amalgamated themselves by accepting the way the system and job works.  However, the pandemic made companies to scramble its resources to ensure business continuity and employees had got adjusted to this ‘new normalcy’.

While the experts in the industry are predicting the hybrid model is here to stay (at least for some more time), even calling people back to office for two to three days will have its own tests, especially from people management.

Below are the few challenges Managers need to be ready:

1. Integrate of New Joiners - One of the biggest test will be to integrate the (new) joiners to the organization, in person.  Most of the companies have hired huge workforce in past two years and they were working remotely with limited in person contacts.

With back to office, those who have virtually interacted but not completely merged with organization way of working, will need attention and support on various issues which might arise when the new set of associates starts meeting those who had seen the organization  before pandemic.  

2. Cultural Assimilation - Every company will have its own defined and few undefined cultural aspects. People were working in office, spent time in person and over a period of time an air of culture and way of working would’ve got built. This is also one of the core essence on which employees get connected with their organizations

The virtual work has changed the demand, time lines, people interactions etc. This change in culture will be required to re-calibrate to the earlier values / established values. This is not only for new joiners but also for everyone working.

   3. Policy Readiness – Although the virtual working made companies to change its policies, the hybrid work model will need a whole new thought process of defining the organization policies, encompassing life cycle of an employee, to avoid any ambiguity  leading to employee issues and conflicts in understanding the process.

4. Benefits – How do you define the benefits given to employee who prefers to work partly in office vs. someone needs to work daily in the same office due to the nature of the role? Will organization be ready to differentiate the benefits and support, given to its own set of people? This will be a larger issue leading to change in the enter work model, forcing all to come to office or introducing different policies / models for each set of people.

    5. Employee Well-being – Most of the people managers may need to become counselors addressing the employee issues, work life balance topics, coming to office, managing commitments, apprehensions on meeting people etc. Companies need to train and develop the Managers on making them empathetic without losing focus on business, which will a big challenge.

Also, companies need to redefine its well-being programs like yoga, motivation talks, and hobby clubs covering hybrid work models since not all employees are available in one platform now.

 6. Workplace Support – Past two years didn’t have much challenges on the physical work place requirements. With people back in their campuses, companies will have to start reinventing on the application systems, seats, breakout areas, transportation, food etc. With the headcount of most of the companies grown unprecedented, they need to be ready with this infrastructure, accommodating all of them.

 7. Managerial Development Programs – one of the greatest challenges will be on the people management, especially millennial and trainees who have joined organizations in past two years and didn’t work with larger team in office premises, thanks to virtual world. Those who have become managers to handle people for first time in this past two years will also need managerial programs, to manage employees.  

 8. Redefine the Work Expectations – One of the most debated topic in this two years was on the extended working hours and productivity levels during WFH. With team members back to office or on hybrid model, managers need to reset their expectations and outputs, considering the working hours. Leaves will also increase, since employees will not be able to manage minor household issues from office and will start applying leave (like pre-covid era). Thus it becomes a much required activity for all managers to reorganize their project plans and timelines.

 9. Recreating the Vibrancy at Work Place - Activities on Floor, Traditional Events, and Fun Fridays etc. will need a reconsideration and checks, if those activities are still valued in new normalcy. How do we engage people who are in different sets of work mode – complete WFH, Hybrid, and Complete WFO?

Though the list may be still long and looks tough to handle, every challenge will also come with an opportunity to explore, to create unique ideas. Organizations have evolved from the unanticipated historical event and grown multi-fold times becoming stronger and bigger in past few years. In such situation even this will be addressed successfully.  

How it will be addressed? It will be yet another important paradigm shift in Human Resources Management, which we will be witnessing, soon.

Disclaimer:  None of the above points are related to any particular organization. This write up is based on authors understanding through discussion in various forums, interaction with people managers, reading of articles on evolving situations and experience gained in people management domain.