Should remote employees be able to occasionally go into the office?
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In New Zealand we've got some restrictions, but we're not doing lockdowns or anything like that at the moment. And a trend that we are noticing is that when people are being employed they want to know that there's an office they can go to. They want to do remote work for two or three days, or whatever the right balance is for them. But they also want an office to go to because they want to be with people. They want both, which I thought was interesting because when we began remote work, everyone said, "Remote work's great and I love the flexibility." But they still love being with each other as well.
Initially, we were going to go through phase three of our back-to-work plan, where folks had to pick whether they were going to be hybrid full-time or fully remote. Most of the team came to me and said, "I want to be remote, but can I still come into the office when I want to come in?" And I had to tell them no — you stay remote because they need to know who's coming in for space planning purposes. People were really taken aback by not having the ability to go into an office if they wanted to. And to the credit of my company, they quickly heard that feedback and responded. They scrapped that plan and decided to figure out what works best department by department.
During one of the parent-teacher conferences that was over Zoom, one teacher shared something that is applicable to us in the workforce too. She explained that part of the emotional challenge for kids during remote learning was that they didn't have the ability to share the cerebral load. One of the teaching tools they use is to put them in groups and have them teach each other, even though they don't realize that's what they're doing. Their group time is around sharing ideas so that they feel like they've got a mini community around them to logic through a particular idea or a problem. I believe this applies to all of us sitting behind the screen as well; at the end of the day, it’s difficult to sort through all the information without the benefit of peers around you.
Depending on local mandates, public health concerns. However, assuming Covid19 is in a safe down cycle. The enterprise has implemented safety precautions. I believe allowing your FTE’s/teams to visit/return to the office is a great team building/motivational opportunity. Helping the employees reconnect on several layers.