California-based video and audio products provider, Poly Inc. has collaborated with software company Worktech Inc. to deliver a report outlining measures expediting a successful return to the office (RTO).
According to the report, both technology and culture are fundamental to driving an organization, and departments like information technology (IT) and human resources (HR) need to work holistically to ensure a successful RTO.
In addition, organizations need to consider the individual functions of each employee when determining their work model, instead of imposing one.
“If you don’t at least understand there needs to be some level of flexibility in the workforce, you’re probably gonna lose some of the best talent and you’re not going to attract the best talent”, said Carl Wiese, executive vice president and chief revenue officer (CRO) of Poly.
With changing expectations, employees require a powerful reason to RTO that beats the inconvenience of commuting, the comfort of their home and their flexible work hours, said the report, noting that this “suggests that nearly seven out of ten office workers now accept that 9-5 has been replaced by anytime working, and four out of ten are prone to ‘noise rage’ if colleagues are too loud”.
The report also emphasized the importance of equity during meetings in a hybrid working model: “I’m in the room or out of the room, I should have an equal capability from a technology perspective,” said Wiese.
The report further said that with the growing presence of the TikTok generation in the workforce, organizations should work to make meetings less ‘transactional’, and to extend video capabilities from meeting spaces to social spaces to capture insightful impromptu interactions, and experiment with virtual spaces and avatars as a face-saving solution for employees who do not like to see themselves on video.
“Standing silently on the sidelines and just hoping people will come back to the office, or clumsily mandating their return, won’t work. There will be misaligned expectations, growing employee concerns and dysfunction across different parts of the organization,” the report noted.
