Are Return-To-Work Mandates Actually Working?
In 1940, Author Thomas Wolfe famously wrote, You Can’t Go Home Again. Eighty-four years later, it seems you can’t go back to the office, either. At least, not full-time.
Since the retreat of COVID-19, many companies have rescinded their pandemic-era remote work policies only to find productivity stagnate or even fall. A study included in the software company Scoop’s 2024 Flex Report found that between 2020 and 2022 companies that were “fully flexible”—that is, offered full-time work-from-home options—had industry adjusted revenue growth of 21 percent compared to just 5 percent for companies requiring full-time in-office attendance.
A related survey from FlexJobs polling more than 8,000 professionals found 56 percent of respondents either quit, planned to quit, or knew someone who planned to leave their jobs due to return-to-office mandates. Likewise, a survey by Unispace found nearly half (42 percent) of companies mandating office returns experienced higher-than anticipated levels of employee attrition, while a similar study by Greenhouse Candidate Experience Report also found a massive 76 percent of workers were ready to put in their two-weeks’ notice should flexible work schedule options be eliminated.
Clearly, many employees are pushing back against the old way of doing things. For context, during World War I, the public lament was: “How you gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paris?” Today, an updated version might go: “How you gonna keep ‘em commuting to work after they’ve worked from home?”
It seems for the majority of white-collar workers, the traditional 8-to-5, five-day-a-week grind is no longer an acceptable paradigm. But how do companies manage a geographically dispersed workforce and yet stay productive? Hybrid work models offer one solution. These usually involve schedules allowing employees to work from home a set number of days. However, it’s still required to come into a central office on other days for meetings, training, etc. Well-known companies that have adopted some variation of such hybrid schedules include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Microsoft, Altassian, and SalesForce.
Yet perhaps one of the most unusual examples of a successful “flex” policy comes from J.M. Smucker Company, the Orrville, Ohio-based maker of Smucker’s jellies, Jif peanut butter, and Folgers coffee. There, some 1,300 of the company’s corporate workers only have to be on-site for as little as six days a month. They usually accomplish this by coming in during 22 “core” weeks a year, periods when employees get together to attend meetings, receive training, share ideas, and collaborate on major projects.
(Note: This schedule applies only to the company’s white-collar workers. Being a manufacturing company, Smucker’s also requires people on its assembly lines 24/7, and these plant workers—who are unionized by Teamsters Local 436 in Cleveland—don’t have such flexibility.)
So, how is Smucker’s able to make this arrangement work? And could the Smucker’s model work for your company, too? First, we must point out Smucker’s starts out with two unique advantages:
Low Real Estate Costs. Being headquartered in a small midwestern town and owning, rather than renting its physical plant, Smucker’s doesn’t have to worry about maximizing every square foot of office space 365 days a year. The situation will likely be different for companies that lease space in expensive downtown office towers and don’t like the idea of offices sitting empty for days—or even weeks— on end.
A Centralized Location. Employees who prefer not to live in little Orrville can live and work in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo or even Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and still be within just a few hours’ drive of the company HQ. In fact, it’s possible to live virtually anywhere east of the Rockies and be within easy reach of central Ohio by plane. Employees working for a company headquartered on the East or West coasts would necessarily have fewer options.
Even so, Smucker’s success with remote working and the core weeks model shows that companies, even large ones, can give white-collar employees the physical leeway they demand while simultaneously maintaining or even improving productivity. With the internet now providing instant connectivity to employees anywhere in the world, there is simply no justification for insisting workers endure the expenses and aggravation associated with daily commutes other than to exert some kind of dominance over one’s workforce. (If you believe your people can’t be trusted to perform adequately without constant supervision, perhaps you’re hiring the wrong kind of people?)
Of course, finding the right kind of hybrid work plan can be challenging. No two companies are alike, and Smucker’s-like flexibility isn’t going to work for everyone. But if your company is going to compete for top talent in the post-COVID world, you can’t just return to conducting business like its 2015. The world is moving on. Either you move with it, or it will pass you by.
I can help you devise a flexible work plan that meets the needs of both your workers and your bottom line. As a seasoned leadership, corporate culture, and compensation specialist, I can assist with customizing a plan that will help you attract and retain high-value employees. To get started, contact me at laura@conoverconsulting.com. I too, can be reached…anywhere!