By Ms. Yogita Tulsiani, MD & Co-founder, iXceed Solutions (Global Tech-Recruiter Provider).

Free from covid curbs, people are wandering all across the world. Returning to restaurants, concerts, and even fitness centers but there is one thing where many of them are not convinced of moving forward is the office. Companies are rethinking their work-from-home strategy and HRs are calling the employees back to the office, leading to a Great Resignation wave. Many business leaders and employees who once craved, demanded and waited for the office to reopen are now disappointed in rolling back to their routine.
In today’s hybrid world, employees are required to work from any part of the world. Unlike in 2019, employees want to have a greater degree of flexibility to maintain a work-life balance. Currently, this approach is in the middle ground. Many companies are still experimenting with the hybrid work approach with the desire to get their employees back to the office, providing them with the right reason for understanding the distinguished value of working from the office.
Organizations’ emphasis on work-from-office strategies
With two years of zero commuting time and the ability to effectively manage work-life balance, employees look for a better reason to return to the office. On the other hand, business leaders are scratching their heads, considering the concern of getting the employees back into the office. As a result, leaving behind the hype of boosting productivity, leaders are focused on building a purpose-driven organization. They are making their employees recall the purpose of the business and why their skills are valuable to the organization. To accomplish such goals, working from the office helps the teams to decide on the work better. In a creative agency, for instance, building a successful brand campaign requires all to have strategists, copywriters, and graphic designers to be in the same room. Working cohesively can expedite operations and help enhance employee engagement, recognition, and networking.

Creating new rituals to bring back the workforce
Organizations strongly desire to satisfy their appetite for seeing “bodies in seats”. To enable that, HRs need to prioritize building the connection between people to stimulate creativity and boost teamwork spirit. Unlike the pre-covid work era, HRs need to understand that no one wants to come to the office to spend the day on the laptop, be on calls, answer emails and report to bosses. Work-related tasks need to be paired with in-person time and space to reconnect.
Repudiating the old adage, in-person time and socializing never lead to reduced productivity. Instead, it spurs creativity and innovation in the workplace. Encouraging employees to socialize in the office certainly helps them foster professional bonds between team members that further makes them meet the deadlines. Furthermore, new-age talent leaders are also leveraging the idea of instituting team meeting-free days for completing deep-focus work. This way, employees get uninterrupted time to focus on work by blocking off their calendars.
The future of new work culture
Many HR leaders are grappling with the aftermath of work-from-home policies with a half-full and half-empty dilemma. From meeting the employees’ needs to fulfilling the employer-employee contract clauses, HRs are introducing meaningful changes in the recruitment contracts. On one hand, they are focusing on keeping the employees motivated, engaged, and fulfilled more than ever before. Business leaders, on contrary, are instilling their trust in employees’ capabilities to achieve the best outcomes and help them with career growth.
Bottomline
As a result, organizations need to embrace the new desires of their employees and redesign talent strategies consisting of onsite, hybrid, and remote working. The imperative is to understand the value of people working, not the place. This will help organizations foster the connection with employees that will play a key role in a smoother transition to work-from-office culture.