Insights & Events

Hollingsworth LLP associate Stephanie Salek authored an article for Bloomberg Law discussing the challenges relating to recent back-to-the-office policies and suggests some potential solutions to address these challenges based upon the concept of mandating the interaction, not the location.

Return-to-office mandates can influence employees’ perceptions of their employers. A recent University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business study reported that S&P 500 companies’ mandates caused “significant declines in employees’ ratings of overall job satisfaction, work-life balance, senior management, and corporate culture.” Working remotely provides employees more flexibility in their schedules, but the Covid-19 pandemic’s limited in-person interaction and screen-only communication created challenges in ensuring employees developed necessary skills, built professional relationships, and felt connected to their employers.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to balancing concerns on both sides. But employers and employees must take steps to foster professional development and allow for scheduling flexibility while accounting for the workflow needs of their organizations. One potential solution may be to mandate the interactions rather than their location—employers could require a certain level of in-person interactions but let the involved employees decide when and where.

Endless permutations of activities are possible. The point is to blend mandatory rules (interactions must occur) with flexible opportunities (employees determine the logistics of the interactions) to foster learning, collaboration, and relationship-building. When employers and employees share this interest, everyone benefits.