Hybrid and remote work policies continue to dominate a global conversation about work. What is less talked about is companies who have decided to return to an office-first model (full-time in-person working) and how they are going about it.

Some organizations have publicized re-adopting an office-first approach, such as Goldman Sachs and Netflix. In a survey conducted by Microsoft in March, 50% of company leaders said they want employees to return to the office full-time in the next year.

While office-first organizations may think they are reverting to a normal and familiar state, in reality, they are instituting a change. Why? Because bringing people back to the office will require a shift from what they have become used to. Kurt Lewin, a German-American psychologist, proposed a three-stage model of change that helps to explain this phenomenon.

His theory asserts that people are “frozen” in their normal behaviors. As change becomes necessary – such as lockdowns and remote working – people are obligated to “unfreeze” their familiar behaviors and move toward change. With tens of millions of people “frozen” in the normality of remote work since 2020, returning to an office-first policy will require yet another “unfreezing” of now customary behavior.

The physical and mental shifts of pandemic times are deeply entrenched. Studies consistently show employees favor some form of hybrid model – 87% said they would choose to work remotely when offered the option in a 2022 McKinsey survey. Health, family, and cost of living, including the cost of commuting, are all prevalent concerns post-Covid that are influencing people’s sentiment about in-office work.

In this climate, if an organization has determined that a full-time in-person work policy is essential for its success, how can they implement it appropriately for how employees think and behave now? This is where communication, trust, and a solid company mission all have an important role to play. We encourage companies to approach office-first, even if this was their policy pre-Covid, with a change management mindset. This could incorporate any of the following:

Re-connect employees with a clear mission.
If company leadership has determined full-time in-office work is core to the organization’s success, chances are, a serious exploration of company mission, goals, and values has already taken place. In that case, employees need to be brought on board. The point of re-connecting employees with the company mission is to remind them that they have an active role in driving the organization’s progress. Without that sense of purpose, justifying another change may be difficult in people’s minds.

Returning to the office is an opportunity to double down on strengthening company and office culture. After a period of being dispersed, re-emphasizing the team aspect of work through a confirmation of collective goals can give employees the feeling of connection with the larger organization that they may have lacked working from home.

Focus on community.
Pandemic lockdowns drastically reduced social opportunities for people across the board. While Zoom and instant messaging kept work teams digitally connected, it was no substitute for in-person interaction. Our recent research found that 77% of Gen Z wants to return to the office in some capacity, whether full-time or for a few days per week, seeking social connections they were missing from home. Focusing on the community aspect of in-person work and its many facets – from work friendships to organized social events – is a strong way of demonstrating the value of in-person work.

Re-activating the community aspect of work on one hand will happen naturally, with spontaneous collisions, collaboration, and meetings as a matter of course during the day. But beyond that, workplace community needs cultivation from HR and leadership. Ramping up social gatherings, events, happy hours, and celebrations will help revive personal and professional connections and provide an in-person amenity people have missed from home.

Scrutinize the employee experience.
If the office is where a company needs its employees most, then it is worth taking a detailed look at how the space is working for people. Home environments offered advantages such as privacy, quiet, and convenience. Is your organization’s space addressing the whole human? Many of the benefits of working from home can be replicated in the office.

To find out more, employee engagement is key. Listen to pain points. For example, if returning to the office full-time makes childcare more stressful, is there a subsidy that can be introduced? If people found it easier to focus at home, what office spaces can be reconfigured to provide more privacy? In-person engagement – face to face conversations versus issuing surveys – can help shed light on what employees need and how their in-office experience can improve.

Don’t assume a blanket policy is best.
An organization with dozens of offices nationally may be tempted to introduce a blanket office-first policy. Before doing this, it is worthwhile to consider regional and local differences. Office cultures in a multi-location company can develop independently. Geography can impact how that happens – employees may have different concerns across urban and suburban markets. Functions across locations may drastically differ – for example, an administrative or accounting-focused office versus a location that houses research and development.

If one uniform policy does not make sense for all locations, then variable policies that best fit each office culture need exploration. Engaging with employees in each location is the route to understanding this better.

People Make the Office
If there is one mantra we’d ask companies to remember in adopting office-first, it’s that people make the office. If the return-to-office pivot does not prioritize people’s needs and ways of working, especially in light of pandemic shifts, retention and recruitment may prove challenging. With the right change management mindset, bringing people back to the workplace should not just deliver on leadership’s goals, but improve the culture and infuse a new sense of motivation among employees.

Opinions expressed by the author are their own.