HALIFAX – Ian McGrath clarified to his bosses: If the company forces staff to return to the office, he will give up his resignation.
The Halifax-area tech worker said he is thriving on working from home. His productivity has increased, his last annual review has exceeded expectations and he is now one of the company’s top performers.
“I also achieved a better work-life balance,” McGrath said. “I’m healthier, happier and more productive.”
Businesses are rolling out back-office plans across the country, calling white-collar workers back to their cubicles after two years of working from home.
As pandemic restrictions were lifted and the number of cases eased, some companies wanted workers to return to the office five days a week. On the other side of the spectrum, others are leaving expensive leases in key downtown areas and asking employees to work remotely for good.
Many others use the hybrid model, which varies from a flexible way of arriving-when-you-want to mandating on specific days that office workers must report for duty. .
But after more than two years of Zoom call and Slack chat from home, wearing comfortable “soft” pants and having more time for the kids or exercising or reading, employees may not be able to return to the office. .
“Some employers just want to flip the switch and turn back time to how things are,” said Catherine Connelly, human resources and management professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business.
“It’s wishful thinking,” he said. “If you look at any other past pandemics … the behaviors haven’t reset how things are.”
Returning to office will not equally affect all workers, said Connelly, also the Canada Research Chair on organizational behavior.
Many factors can influence how employees respond to the re-emergence of office life, from the comfort of their working conditions at home and personality type to their culture in the workplace and office set up. .
“If you have a nice big office with a door that closes and may have a designated parking space, that’s very different than someone being asked to work from a noisy cubicle with a lot of interference,” he said.
The key to a successful back-to-office plan is flexibility and slowness, experts say.
If workers feel they are being forced to return to the office, they will return.
“If people think you’re taking control of them, you’re going to have resistance,” said Paula Allen, global leader and senior vice-president of research and total well-being at LifeWorks.
“Two years is a long time for habits to be ingrained and people don’t want change,” he said. “It won’t change overnight.”
Some tech companies, formerly known for workplace perks like free office fitness classes and nap rooms, are once again turning to incentives to help lure workers back into the office.
ServiceNow Canada, an enterprise software company with offices in Montreal and Toronto and plans to open a location in Calgary soon, hopes to attract employees with free meals and team building events.
“We’re starting to hold some events to say,‘ Here we go, come down and have fun, ’” said Marc LeCuyer, vice-president and general manager of ServiceNow Canada.
The tech company held a Taco lunch Tuesday, a pop-up from a local bakery and a pizza-making event, he said.
“We want to go back to this mindset where human connection is important and healthy,” Lecuyer said. “We want to set the stage for returning to the office in a very positive way.”
The company does not plan to order a return to the office, he said.
“We give people a choice,” Lecuyer said. “If you work for an employer who is forcing you to do something you don’t want to do, there is no path to a positive experience.”
The desire to attract employees back to offices with perks like free food has been a boon for startups like Hungerhub, a corporate catering tech platform that delivers workplace lunches from locals. at the restaurant.
Sari Abdo, co-founder and CEO of the Toronto-based startup, whose corporate lunch program eases some of the burden of returning to an office.
“I think we’re seeing a carrot-and-stick approach to getting employees back into the office and it’s a carrot,” he said. “Companies say, ‘Don’t worry about food, don’t worry about meal planning, just come in.'”
While free lunch is a good gesture, companies have the right to call workers back to the office – no incentive required, says employment attorney Hermie Abraham.
“It’s the employer’s legal right and decision on how they want to implement return -to -work plans,” he said. “People may feel that they should have the right to continue working from home but unless there is a human rights consideration, they don’t.”
Many workers entering the office for the first time in years complain about a long drive, expensive parking and the rising cost of lunch.
But from a legal standpoint, Abraham said it was largely “very bad, very sad.”
“You may have realized the benefits during COVID because you don’t have to pay for those things, but that’s not your employer’s problem,” he said. “This is the job you signed up for when you were originally hired.”
However, Abraham said a best practice is to allow a gradual return to office – especially in the current red hot labor market.
“There will be a war for talent in certain positions and the more accommodating and flexible you are as an employer, the greater the chance you have of winning.”
Halifax-area tech worker Ian McGrath said he was aware of the low level of unemployment and competition for talent in many industries, including his own.
“I know what the market looks like right now,” he said. “I knew I could leave my job for somewhere else and earn more money.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on May 2, 2022.
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