Your guide to data-driven distant workforce management within the “latest normal”
Hybrid work schedules have been a hot topic for many of this yr, and we don’t imagine that can change in 2024. Quite the opposite, the hype around hybrid work is probably going only just starting.
Nevertheless, not everyone seems to be as excited. Because the dust settles on a tumultuous few years, many corporations are pulling back on the reins. They’re issuing “return-to-office” (RTO or return-to-work) policies to recall teams back to HQ.
RTO policies are tricky. Although useful for some teams and essential for some roles, a poorly communicated policy – or one which falls wanting employees’ expectations – can do more harm than good.
The crucial ingredient that decides whether an RTO policy succeeds or falters is productivity analytics. Simply put, in case you don’t know how one can measure worker productivity, there’s little probability of cultivating a productivity culture or making decisions based on greater than a hunch.
Greater than some other factor, reliable workday data is essential since it:
- Builds a business case for hybrid schedules
- Reveals insights about where and the way people work
- Reinforces the mutual value of a productivity culture
- Creates accountability and offers employees agency
- Gives managers and leaders peace of mind
But all of that continues to be to return. First, let’s have a look at the role of productivity analytics in designing, communicating and optimizing a hybrid RTO policy.
Employees don’t think the Great Office Return is so great
Before the pandemic in 2020, many big cities were running out of office space. Three years on, half the seats stay empty greater than half the time. European office occupancy rates were 15% below 2020 levels at 55% in early 2023, and the common across 10 major US cities was exactly 50% as of late October.
In each cases, Tuesday is the busiest day while Friday stays unilaterally unpopular. Wednesday and Thursday are Europe’s second and third favorite office days.
Now that in-person restrictions have been lifted within the US, Europe and most other countries, individuals are free to work within the office as often as they need.
The one problem? They don’t wish to. At the least, not full-time.
OwlLabs’ latest State of Hybrid Work survey found nearly two in three US employees (59%) can be unhappy a couple of forced five-day-per-week RTO policy. One in three (31%) said they’d immediately start on the lookout for one other job, and 6% would quit.
What these figures highlight – they usually echo countless surveys, studies and think pieces from the previous couple of years – shouldn’t be a rejection of return-to-office policies but a desire for flexibility and autonomy.
Forcing employees who can work remotely to spend five days within the office is bad for culture and productivity. Transitioning to 100% distant work is best, but still not most individuals’s preference.
The ‘Goldilocks zone’ appears to be a 50/50 split between in-office and distant working.
Let’s review what we all know to date
- Most employees don’t wish to return to five-day office weeks
- Hundreds of survey respondents tell us that 2.2 to three days per week is the sweet spot for in-office work
- People appear to prefer working within the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as a substitute of Mondays and Fridays
Based on these three insights, you is likely to be beginning to see how RTO policies and hybrid work schedules are the identical. This is probably going the insight that led Google to announce A hybrid approach to work and Citi Group to brand their three-day-per-week RTO policy as a hybrid work model.
Even though it might appear to be splitting hairs, these corporations select “hybrid” over “RTO” because they know what employees want. It’s a choice based on data, insight and feedback.
Positioning plays a very important role in implementing a policy that works for everybody.
The query stays, though: does it work for your organization?
Constructing the case for a hybrid work schedule
We is likely to be champions of distant and asynchronous work, but we’re also realistic. Hybrid work schedules are effective for most up-to-date teams, at the least in the present climate.
Whether 50/50 is step one towards 100% distant workforce management or the ultimate balance relies on an incredibly nuanced evaluation of culture, worker preferences, distant readiness and productivity potential.
Make clear the aim
Step one is constructing a business case for RTO or hybrid work schedules based on organizational goals. That is an unskippable step: employees worldwide feel increasingly disconnected from their company’s purpose, and a “because we said so” return-to-office policy is prone to be the purpose where people walk away.
- Work with leaders to define how hybrid work or RTO is imperative in achieving organizational goals
- Stress-test RTO outcomes using productivity data to see whether hybrid or distant working can achieve the identical objectives
- Discover gaps, weaknesses and opportunities in current practices, tech and communication
Returning to the office should only ever be a strategic initiative. Should you can prove with data that distant workforce management or hybrid work schedules achieve higher results, now’s the time to advocate for leaning into hybrid work.
Survey employees, managers and leaders
Much of the strain that plagued RTO policies in 2023 (and is prone to proceed next yr) arose from a mismatch between employers’ and employees’ preferences. To grasp the inner context that may lead to conflict, gather data on:
- Individual work preferences (distant, in-office, or hybrid)
- Productivity and job satisfaction
- The challenges employees face in several environments
- Communication and collaboration preferences
- The perceived impact on work-life balance and mental well-being
The goal is to discover and analyze the spectrum of preferences, expectations and concerns regarding hybrid work schedules. To read the room, in other words.
This survey data helps to border a hybrid work policy and becomes useful when checking in down the track.
Use workday data to measure worker productivity
Surveys help to set the frame, but it should likely throw up questions that may only be answered with productivity analytics.
For instance, line managers might inform you their preference is for full-time paperwork – but is that actually where individuals are most efficient? By collecting and analyzing workday data from across the organization, you may begin to:
- Construct a case for policy decisions
- Shape the hybrid work schedule to match when individuals are most efficient
- Discover coaching needs and process weaknesses
- Encourage accountability amongst people trusted to work remotely
- Prove to clients and partners that distributed work is working
- Optimize working schedules to cut back overheads
- Plan workspace requirements
Productivity analytics provides insights that turn one-dimensional survey responses into actionable strategies. It also helps to grasp the nuances of productivity in a way that in-person statement is commonly blind to.
Most significantly, though, productivity data gives managers and employees peace of mind.
What happens when RTO policies exist in an information vacuum
Firstly of the pandemic, a lot of the world transitioned to working from home with no real guidelines or guardrails for distant workforce management. We figured it out as we went – to various degrees of success.
Although we hoped to have learnt something, it seems many leaders are repeating the identical chaotic mistakes.
A recent survey of over 1,100 senior execs in the US found that 80% “would have approached their company’s return-to-office strategy in another way in the event that they had access to workplace data to tell their decision-making”.
The issue is twofold:
- Productivity data was fragmented and time-consuming to collect
- Gaps and cumbersome processes meant lots of guesswork was involved
It’s not an absence of knowledge that results in short-sighted RTO policies; 96% of respondents reported accessing it. It’s the undeniable fact that 64% needed to drag data from multiple sources, 48% needed to contact external vendors, and 45% relied on manual spreadsheets.
No wonder nearly one-quarter (23%) admitted to creating return-to-office decisions based on gut instinct. And no wonder 80% would have done things in another way.
When the dust settled, Executive Mosaic asked nearly 100 staff whether or not they desired to return to the office. A whopping 0% said yes.
What data do we’d like?
| What you must know | Which metrics to trace | Why it’s useful |
| Comparisons of distant vs in-office productivity | Productivity trendsOffice attendanceBreaks, distractions and unproductive timeWebsite and app usage | Every strategy needs a start line, and regular check-ins help to grasp whether the policy is working |
| Individual and team benchmarks | Productive vs non-productive timeProject and task completionClient satisfaction scores | Hybrid work schedules give employees the flexibleness they need, and self-management tools like Time Doctor make them accountable for his or her time |
| Worker engagement metrics | Productivity dataAbsenteeismTurnoverCustomer satisfactionFinancial results | Measuring engagement over time tells you ways individuals are responding to the RTO policy, even in the event that they’re not willing to talk up |
| Work-life balance data | Extra time hoursWeekend workLong daysAbsenteeism and unscheduled breaks | Declining work-life balance is a demonstrated downside of forced RTO, and an enormous reason employees don’t want to return back full-time |
Next steps: What else you must design a hybrid work schedule that works for everybody
Research industry trends
Assessing what others in your industry are doing provides a broader perspective on how best to adapt to the fashionable work environment. Desktop research of competitors and corporations you admire is generally sufficient to grasp the highlights, like how they’re positioning the RTO policy and what tech they’re using to transition.
Just keep in mind that examples are useful only for guiding high-level policy discussions. Differences in culture, workforce composition, customer expectations and market make it not possible to repeat an RTO policy with any success.
Involve representatives from all levels
An RTO policy (slash hybrid work schedule) that works for everyone seems to be built by everyone. Select representatives from each major working group to contribute to the policy to forestall a top-heavy design process.
How this works in practice relies on the organizational goals in focus, in addition to the myriad requirements, limitations and capabilities unique to the organization.
In other words, it will possibly be complicated.
To enable you to transition to hybrid work seamlessly, we’ve developed a step-by-step guide to designing an RTO policy that works for everybody. The guide includes actionable insights and practical frameworks to guide decision-making at every stage.
Download it for free here when you’re ready to co-create a hybrid work schedule.
Communicate clearly, consistently and concisely
In a 2023 survey, Asana’s Work Innovation Lab learned that 24% of employees didn’t know who created their organization’s hybrid policy. Almost half (43%) couldn’t find the policy on the corporate’s intranet, and 19% couldn’t find it in any respect.
This aligns with McKinsey data from 2021 that showed 40% of organizations hadn’t communicated a post-pandemic plan in any respect and 28% only vaguely.
In our latest article about RTO within the media, we glance into why corporations like Apple, Zoom and Amazon copped backlash after announcing hybrid policies.
As a teaser, their fault was a failure to speak the aim, plan and impact, and involve employees in decision-making.
Measure success – and be open to suggestion
RTO policies are hard to get right the primary time. But with good data, people-first management and clear communication, the policy can adapt and improve.
It’s no surprise that roughly the identical proportion of corporations are leaning into hybrid work and using productivity analytics tools. Hybrid work schedules can’t achieve success without close oversight and transparent data.
| 50-75% | 60-78% |
| of corporations are leaning into hybrid work. | of corporations use productivity analytics tools. |
| Coincidence? It could’t be. |
Productivity analytics isn’t just helpful for maintaining a tally of performance. It’s essential for bridging the chasm between worker and employer expectations and stopping miscommunication in distant work environments.
Greater than anything, reliable productivity analytics provides a transparent answer to the inevitable criticism that comes from each side with RTO policies.
Turn RTO policy pains into hybrid work success stories
Returning to the office after years of working remotely or flexibly is a shock. Organizations that rush the transition, impose harsh penalties on non-attendance, or fail to read the temperature of the room will see a few of their best people walk.
While surveys and managers’ experience offer guidance to beat return-to-office resistance, productivity analytics provides the business case, evidence and progress data.
Bottom line? If you should know your hybrid work policy is working, you must know the way, where and when people are working.
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