Policies requiring in-person work have increased 10% since the first quarter of last year, but actual attendance has risen less than 2%, according to an analysis by Stanford University economist Nick Bloom and Flex Index.
As more companies draw lines in the sand, workers are bucking official policies and, in some cases, employers are closing their eyes to noncompliance.
When setting or changing policies, companies should be transparent about their reasons for wanting people back in the office, according to Crucial Learning’s Justin Hale. “More communication around the ‘why’ of a company’s specific policy and better transparency overall could improve compliance, rather than an opaque decision-making process that makes employees feel like they’re being babysat,” he wrote.