Wawanesa Mutual Insurance

Lisa Osachoff

There is tension these days between what employers and employees want in this ‘post-pandemic world. Throughout the pandemic, if you were one of the workplace privileged, you may have been able to work remotely from home. Identifying that ‘privileged’ part is important because this was not the case for all employees. According to Statistics Canada, about 37% of employees could work remotely as of May 2020. By December 2021, this number had fallen to about 22%.

Since then, many employees who could work remotely have declared that they wish to remain to do so. At the same time, many employers have signaled and even mandated that employees return to the office anywhere from a couple of days a week to all five. So, who is right?

That’s the tricky part, and it is hard to say with absolute certainty that anyone knows for sure. We do know that it is a complex situation that will require a more nuanced solution and not likely a broad-brush stroke. Both sides of this equation need to consider each other, and this will likely mean both sides have to give a bit to get a bit. 

Understanding the reasons that many employees wish to remain with the flexibility of remote work is important for employers.

1. Employees find the flexibility of working from home or remotely contributes significantly to a better work-life balance. They can better schedule life activities more effectively, frankly, without considering a commute.

2. Improved work-life balance. The opportunities to schedule more active time, less sad lunch time at your desk, and better autonomy of structuring your day.

"Understanding the reasons that many employees wish to remain with the flexibility of remote work is important for employers"

3. Outright savings when it comes to expenses related to work includes commuting expense. However, they choose that, eating out more, there can also be savings on clothing and things like dry cleaning. These have become tangible savings that many of those privileged to work at home or remotely have experienced and don’t want to lose.

Employees overwhelmingly maintain that they are also more productive in the flexible, remote working environment. Numerous surveys and data sources show remote working is generally more productive, not less. So, before employers mandate time back in the office, they need to be clear on the reason or problem they are looking to solve. Your results will tell part of the tale; many employers have had at least one if not two, years of data on what your current working arrangements have done for your overall results. This can be a point that employees go back to, we’ve had good results; why are you changing it? It is a fair comment, and employers must have a good answer before they simply mandate or risk losing some talent to other employers willing to be more flexible.

All these advantages are certainly not to be ignored, but this conversation has a flip side. Employers are deciding to bring people back for several reasons as well, be that full-time or a hybrid model.

1. The ability for people to have spontaneous collaborative moments. This may be a solid point to consider. While employees may say that they have managed to still have collaboration, it is more challenging to be spontaneous in a virtual world. Arguably, when we were in the office, we could do the desk drive-by or see the person trigger a thought or something you needed to connect with them. There is a reason there is a saying ‘out of sight, out of mind.’

2. In-person interaction is an important part of the culture. After all, organizational culture can be defined as the collection of values, expectations, and practices that all team members live in. So, to say that time in person doesn’t contribute in some way to this would be naive. Keeping a thriving organizational culture is an important part of the success equation. If there is a risk of losing that, at any level, you must understand why an executive may pull the trigger on something they know worked. Now that is assuming it did work, and leaders have to truth tell on this. What was your culture prior to this shift? Is this something you do want to go back to?

3. Training and learning opportunities provided in person are hard to ignore. There was value in having colleagues talking amongst each other and hearing conversations that help inform your growth and development. Not to mention the knowledge pieces that you often picked up in those common office spaces. Many organizations have not been great at onboarding and new hire training. Historically some of this was managed by the proximity to the experts. You can’t provide that same level of informal access to experts to help new employees or newly promoted employees get up to speed in a remote, virtual environment.

So, in a nutshell, there are reasons and arguments on both sides of the equation. What my personal experience as an HR executive managing through this is that I can hardly remember an issue that has been more influenced by individual bias. People on both sides are using their preferences and frame of reference to inform their views, often stating them like a fact. As one of my leaders says, your anecdotal perspective does not replace the actual data that should be used to make a decision. I think executives and leaders at all levels need to take a hard look at the complexity of the workplaces they manage and make very informed, specific, and in some cases, micro-decisions based on the type of work and the expectation of outcome. As I said in the beginning, there will not be a one size fits all answer to this new workplace situation.

If there was one piece of advice I would leave with executives and employees, I would be open to considering the other side. If you want flexibility from your employer, you may need to understand their perspective and give a bit. Likewise, if employers want dedicated, effective employees, they will have to trust and listen to the needs of their employees. We all need to practice a little give and take in this complex world of work.