The unexpected surge of the Delta variant has complicated and delayed many accounting and tax firms’ plans for returning to the workplace. As firms deliberate what comes next, it’s important that they recognize — and avoid — some of the common pitfalls that create anxiety and confusion amongst employees and require constant updates as the return-to-office horizon shifts.
Here are five mistakes to avoid when you decide what return-to-office looks like for your company:
1. Taking an all-or-nothing approach
Don’t assume all workers feel the same about working from the office. One recent
2. Adopting an ‘office-first’ mentality
Your plan will be more successful if you make it clear that working in the office is not necessary to team members’ success — even if your management team works entirely in the office. Failing to do so risks creating two classes of workers, including one that feels slow-tracked and disadvantaged by their choice to work remotely.
3. Overlooking the need for teams to collaborate in-person (even if only occasionally)
If, for example, you want your sales team to come into the office one day a week, decide what day that will be. Bringing entire teams together in the office on the same days will support knowledge-sharing opportunities, improve the productivity of the team, and help new people soak up the culture more quickly. It’s also critical for collaboration and innovation.
4. Having the entire firm work from the office on the same days
If you’ve shrunk your firm’s real estate footprint since the pandemic, your office may be too small to hold the whole team, especially given sensitivities around social distancing. Designating specific days for certain departments is a way around this. For instance, management might come in on Monday, marketing on Tuesday, sales on Wednesday, and so on.
5. Being unrealistic about which jobs can be performed remotely
Allowing team members to work remotely in jobs that require face-time can set them up for failure. Instead, be realistic about which roles can and cannot be done remotely. Certain departments can largely operate from home and may lend themselves to an 80/20 rule: Employees must come into the office 20% of the time, while working remotely for the other 80%. Other roles that require on-site oversight or daily, in-person collaboration may not be suited to hybrid work.
The bottom line
Stakes are high for firms — they need to strike the right balance of certainty, feasibility, and flexibility in their back-to-work plans. Open communication, thoughtful decision-making and strong leadership, coupled with a willingness to listen to and respond to employee’s needs and concerns, will set your company up for success.
