While it made sense for everyone to work on-site in the 1950s, as office equipment was only accessible at work, this hasn’t been the case for years now.

Some companies recognized this, and, even before COVID, allowed remote work, some, or all of the time.

But, for the majority of organizations, it took a pandemic to realize it.

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮.

In fact, a recent Gallup finding shows that 60% of employees want to be remote some of the time.

This does not mean a set number of defined days each week on-site.

💠 Instead, whenever possible, allow employees the freedom to pick their work location.

💠 If some on-site is really necessary, allow employees to choose when that will be.

Companies offering flexibility like this will stay ahead of the game in engaging employees, helping with retention and in attracting top talent.

There are some things for employers to keep in mind:

• Regular check-ins between employees and managers are critical.
  
  
• Burn-out is a factor, so create a culture where employees know they are not expected to be available 24/7.
  
  
• Some thought is definitely required to ensure that culture is maintained while everyone works remotely.

𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩.

Whether it’s candidates interviewing with you, or your employees currently working successfully from home.

When so many others have already recognized that the 1950s way of working needs to be abolished once and for all.

As a job seeker, company reviews are an important factor in determining where to apply.
 
Because, according to a recent survey:

• 83% of job seekers are likely to base their decision on where to apply on company reviews.
• 46% will weigh a company's reputation heavily before accepting a job offer.
• 69% of candidates will reject a job offer if they find out that a company’s workers are generally unhappy.

 
So, it is crucial for organizations to keep an eye on their Glassdoor reviews to maintain a positive reputation and attract top talent.
 
Yes, there are some issues with reviews, such as subjectivity and biased feedback from those who have had negative experiences.
 
𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚.
 
Since they remain a powerful tool for shaping public perception of a company.
 

• Including candidates deciding whether or not to apply for your open position.

 

• Or, even later, after the offer has been made, if that's the point at which they check them.

 
There are things you definitely should 𝙣𝙤𝙩 do to combat negative reviews.
 
Such as asking current employees to leave positive feedback.
 
Because there is just no way to avoid it – no matter how you frame it, they will feel coerced.
 
And as soon as they leave your organization, they will post the truth.
 
𝙄𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩, 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚.
 
Such as ensuring you have the right employee in every single seat.
 
And providing learning opportunities, as well as ongoing feedback and employee recognition.
 
So that people are excited and proud to write about what a great company they work at.
 
𝙄𝙣 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬.
 
There’s no other way to affect lasting change, other than organically like this.

I recently heard from someone I worked with in the past.
 
He was upset because his employer had just formally confirmed that everyone will be returning full-time, on-site, as soon as possible.
 
Since that is how things were before COVID.

• Despite the fact that everyone has worked very well remotely since March 2020.
• And more than 90% of employees said they would like to be either fully remote or to have a hybrid option.

 
He knows this because the results were announced at the most recent company-wide Zoom meeting.
 
Promptly followed by the announcement that they would be returning to 100% on-site.

• So, not only did the employer ask people for their opinion then blatantly ignore the majority, they also told everyone they were doing so.

 
Realize that any time employees are asked for their input, subsequently discounting it is worse than not having asked at all.
 
And it is detrimental to employee engagement.
 
𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚.
 
The world of work has changed and working five days per week on-site is no longer as acceptable as before, when the work can be done from anywhere.
 
Yes, there are jobs that cannot be done remotely, and those instance must be clearly communicated.

• But know that “because it’s always been that way” does not pass the ‘solid reason’ test.

 
My former colleague has started a job search, as have many of his co-workers, in search of an organization that respects and cares for its employees.

• Information that candidates can find by talking to current employees, or by reading Glassdoor reviews.

 
Yes, he is upset that the return will be 100% on-site, and he probably would have started a job search for that reason alone, albeit not as fast.
 
However, he is more perturbed at the way this was handled, and the disregard shown by leadership towards employees.
 
Pushing him to start his job search more urgently than he otherwise might have.
 
Luckily many employers have realized that as long as the work gets done, there is no need for a full-time, on-site presence.
 
So, he will no doubt find a job that allows at least some work-from-home.
 
But more importantly, he is looking for a job where employees will be treated with care and respect.

​Would you allow an untrained pilot to fly you somewhere?
 
Or an untrained surgeon to operate on you?
 
The answer, I’m sure, is a resounding ‘no’.
 
Why then do companies routinely promote employees from individual contributor roles, provide little-to-no training, and expect them not to fail at leading people?
 
This is an inexplicable gap in thinking.
 
At great expense to the organization, in many different areas.

• 𝙄𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚.

 
In fact, engaging employees should be a critical component of a robust business strategy.
 
And part of that is people leaders needing to learn how.
 
In the same way that people have to be trained to become surgeons or pilots.
 
For leaders, this means on-going training in basic management skills, but also in how to engage their employees.
 
𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙖 ‘𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚’ 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩.
 
Yes, the technical aspects of the role such as timekeeping, vacation approvals and scheduling are still important.
 
However, they fade in importance when compared to the coaching and engaging aspects of people leadership.
 
Because the costs of disengaged employees are enormous:
 

• Low employee engagement costs companies $450-$500 Billion each year. (Gallup)
• Toxic workplace cultures have driven 20% of U.S. employees out of their jobs in the past five years at turnover cost greater than $223 Billion. (SHRM) 
• 69% of candidates will reject a job offer if they find out that a company’s workers are generally unhappy. (Hibob)

 
It is one thing if a manager fails, having received adequate preparation for the role.
 
Quite another if they were thrown in at the deep end and expected to swim, with no training provided.
 
And the repercussions of that decision will be seen in the costs associated with disengaged employees.
 
Plus managers, who will feel they have failed, through no fault of their own.

Change can be scary.

Even when it is relatively minor, and to the benefit of employees, there will be some resistance.
 
𝙎𝙤, 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙟𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮.
 
But it is definitely not impossible.
 
People will always first wonder how the change will impact them, and it’s important to remember that everyone deals with it at varying rates:

✅ Some will be excited and on board right away
✅ Others will resist and never embrace it
✅ The majority will be somewhere in between

The worst thing you can do is to simply announce a change as a done deal.
 
𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.
 
And are now comfortable with the idea.
 
So, give everyone else that same chance to get used to the idea, and bring them along with you.
 
Handled correctly, even quite major change can be accepted by most people, if you keep some things in mind:

💠 Change is a process.
💠 It’s not something that is shared one day and done the next.
💠 It is critical to communicate early and often.

𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙, 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙩, 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.

The communication should include the good from what is being left behind.

Do that before talking about the advantages of the new, and people will more readily accept the change.

Next, don't focus only on the rational reasons, i.e. the business case, a very common mistake.

Instead, also address the emotional and the political:
 
𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹:
🚩 How is this going to feel? / How much effort will be involved?
🚩 Are there new skills to be learned? / Is there something to lose?
 
𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹:
🚩 What’s in it for me?
🚩 Is the change going to involve my role or responsibilities, power or influence?

Finally, involve and train your managers.

You want them to know what to say to their employees, who have questions.

In short, a systematic approach, involving up-front, on-going communication, including opportunities for employees to ask questions and express any concerns, plus trained managers will ensure a much greater chance of success.

There are no two ways about it.
 
𝙄𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨.
 
This, in turn, results in a great company culture.
 
Which has always been important, but is nowadays critical, with so many employees leaving their employers, in search of something better.
 
And they are not hesitating to do so.
 
If an organization is experiencing issues with employee engagement, some or all of the following will be present:
 
✅ High turnover
✅ Inability to attract great candidates
✅ Low productivity
✅ Lack of creativity/innovation
✅ Low motivation
✅ Absenteeism problems
✅ Quality issues
✅ Low customer satisfaction
✅ High rates of safety incidents
✅ Poor Glassdoor reviews
 
As a result, companies not only incur significant costs, but these issues also stop leaders from focusing on other important aspects of the business, itself a problem.
 
Turnover alone has been estimated by SHRM to cost between 1.5-to-2 times the departing employee’s annual salary.
 
However, the costs extend way beyond turnover:
 

• Low employee engagement costs companies $450-$500 Billion each year. (Gallup)

 

• Toxic workplace cultures have driven 20% of U.S. employees out of their jobs in the past five years at turnover cost greater than $223 Billion. (SHRM)

 

• 69% of candidates will reject a job offer if they find out that a company’s workers are generally unhappy. (Hibob)

 
On the other hand, there is significant ROI in engaging employees:
 

• Companies with highly engaged workforces are 22% More Profitable. (Gallup)

 

• Engaged employees have 18% higher productivity and 60% higher quality than disengaged employees. (Insync Surveys)

 

• 79% of companies with engaged employees had a significantly better customer experience than companies who didn't. (Temkin Group)

 

• Companies that ranked in the top quarter of employee engagement had 70% fewer safety incidents than companies in the bottom quarter. (Gallup)

 
The good news is that it is possible to change things, as long as leaders are committed to doing business differently from now on.
 
𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨.
 
In fact, according to Gallup, disengaged employees offer perhaps the greatest untapped potential for businesses to improve their profitability and performance.
 
It has a very real impact on business success, and it should be considered a part of a carefully planned business strategy.
 
Not only resulting in a more profitable business, but also one that any leader can be proud to lead.