Most Companies' Return-to-Office Requests are 'Fairly Passive'
CBRE survey says 19% have no set guidelines for workers’ return.
Roughly 58 percent of companies reported employees were working in the office less often than executives expected, according to an August survey from CBRE.
It’s a noteworthy metric given the reported post-Labor Day push for bosses to expect more in-office time for their staff members.
This leaves open the question of whether employees will actually return at a regular cadence that endures over time, CBRE writes.
By comparison, 39 percent of companies said attendance was ideal and 3 percent that said it was more than anticipated. The survey was conducted by CoreNet Global on behalf of CBRE.
Digging in Their Heels – Kind Of
Managers are digging in their heels to various depths, the survey showed.
It found that 36 percent of companies have set corporate expectations for office attendance, 25 percent have allowed managers and teams to set attendance expectations and 19 percent have set no guidelines.
A further 16 percent have allowed a combination of managers and employees together to set the guidelines and 4 percent have left it to employees to decide for themselves.
CBRE writes that because most companies aren’t enacting strict attendance mandates, the methods and tools managers are using to encourage employees to come into the office are more important. The survey suggested those methods “so far are fairly passive.” As such:
- 62 percent send memos to employees about policies and expectations for office attendance;
- 41 percent explain why a return to the office matters for their company;
- 29 percent survey employees about their needs and preferences;
- 18 percent train managers to guide and evaluate employees’ behaviors around office attendance.
Julie Whelan, CBRE Global Head of Occupier Research at CBRE said in prepared remarks, “To change organizational behavior, companies need to focus on creating new practices and implementing new tools to help drive a new normal. This is less about iterating on what was. It’s about working to change behaviors based on a new set of norms and principles.”