RTO Is Stoking Stress. Here’s What You Can Do About It.

Employees may be surprisingly afraid of returning to the office (RTO). Allaying those fears can be important both for employee well-being and for the health of an organization’s RTO efforts.

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According to Fears & Remote Work, a survey of nearly 4,000 American workers conducted by LiveCareer, sizable percentages of employees said the prospect of working in an office full-time for the rest of their professional lives was more frightening than:

Climate change (53%)
Getting a divorce or losing a romantic relationship (43%)
Getting into a car accident (41%)
Experiencing natural disasters, such as earthquakes or hurricanes (41%)
Developing a chronic illness (24%)
Losing their retirement savings (23%)

Organizations seeking to bring employees back on the premises should take into account how anxiety and fear can affect well-being, and how well-being factors into a host of metrics for total rewards and organizational leaders.

What can employers do to reduce employee stress related to RTO? Alicia Scott-Wears, a compensation content director at WorldatWork, provided these thoughts.

Account for workforce well-being. “Keep your employees’ well-being top of mind when approaching an RTO strategy,” said Scott-Wears. To that end, she said, make sure you have mental health and well-being tools in your rewards portfolio – and that you show employees how to use them.

Focus on the why. “Be honest and transparent in why a return to office was determined,” said Scott-Wears. “Authentically communicating such a policy goes a long way in building trust and acceptance.” Perhaps you have organization-specific data that shows a decrease in productivity from working remotely; or, there is a sense that creativity and innovation have dropped and can be boosted with more in-person interaction. Be sure to share these reasons with employees, Scott-Wears noted.

Do your research. “Survey your employees to gauge their interest levels in RTO,” she suggested. The feedback you receive may help guide your approach. For example, you may find that employees consider a five-day RTO setup far more stressful than working two or three days a week in the office. In that case, “your organization could begin with a hybrid model and determine if it achieves the desired results,” she said. “Or, you could stagger an increase in days to help adjust everyone to a five-day in-office setup.”

Build around the positives. What, if anything, do employees miss about the in-office experience? Is it collaboration? Camaraderie? “Use those insights to build up more of what employees enjoyed about being at the office. That may ease the transition,” she said. “For instance, have specific areas designed for collaborative work or have a ‘social time’ that offers the opportunity for connectedness.”

Address specific employee concerns. Look to solve or reduce concerns or barriers that employees anticipate with RTO. “For instance, childcare routines may become more difficult to manage with a reintroduced commute,” she said. “For that, you may consider offering flexible schedules or setting core work hours. If workers have concerns about pets with separation anxiety, consider offering a stipend or reimbursement allowance for pet daycare or even pet-sitting drop-ins.”

Be flexible. “Allowing grace periods and clearly communicating the availability of flexibility will help to reduce anxiety and stressors associated with a return-to-office approach,” she said. “Research is showing that flexibility is winning over employees.”

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