No commute time, less money spent on grabbing lunch, and let’s not forget wiggling your mouse from bed to show you’re definitely active on Slack at 9am.
Most employees do want the option of working from an office – 52%, according to Forbes. They just don’t want to be there every single day.
But what happens when having the option of both fails to translate into office attendance?
You need to understand what makes your employees want to come in. If you've established your business is ready for a hybrid work model, you've likely found out that simply having an office to work from isn’t enough of an incentive by itself.
From outlining in-office benefits to building a positive work culture, here’s how to encourage your employees to choose the office.
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See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
Business advantages: Employees working together in person will motivate each other to complete tasks and be more productive.
Being in close proximity to others gives employees a chance to ask questions, expand their knowledge and spark creativity not found in a Slack channel.
Routine and structure help with focus and productivity
Employee advantages: Finding structure in your day is much more difficult when you have distractions around you.
Whether it’s the television, your dog, or a quick browse on your favorite online store. Without a routine, you’re more likely to suffer from stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.
Choosing to go into the office provides you with both a weekly routine and more structure within those particular days.
Business advantages: It’s no secret that routine is key to productivity. For managers, it also helps to establish predictability over employees’ output and workloads.
Structure helps businesses to understand how and where employees need more direction and support in their workday. With stronger awareness of this, realistic timelines and expectations can be upheld, and productivity can increase without overwhelming employees.
Employees have more access to professional development opportunities in the office
Employee advantages: Water cooler chat is important. It’s how you build rapport, develop relationships and meet new people at work.
While proximity bias is an issue all hybrid workplaces should be aware of, it is true that a presence in the office makes yourself known to those around you.
If you want to learn from a more experienced colleague or introduce yourself to the head of another team, being in the office is a great way to improve your prospects.
Business advantages: Employees want their employers to care about their professional development. In fact, Garner found that professional development is a key driver in employee attrition, with 40% of departing employees citing a lack of career development as a key factor in leaving.
Encouraging employees to network within your organization not only reduces churn but also displays awareness of what your employees need. Replacing an employee can cost up to 200% of their salary in time, money and advertizing.
There’s no doubt about it, a hybrid working model is advantageous for both employees and businesses.
But how do you ensure your employees come into the office to reap those benefits?
Whether it’s commuting compensation, team networking opportunities, or post-work drinks, providing motivation to go into the office is the best way for your employees to increase their office attendance.
Here's how to motivate your employees to increase their office attendance.
Try Officely Today
See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
Those who feel motivated and valued by their company are more likely to want face-to-face time with their colleagues, be motivated to increase collaboration prospects, and take part in any extra activities taking place.
If your office space is offering a welcoming environment to work from instead, attending the office is the natural solution to the feeling of isolation experienced when working from home.
If employees are able to balance work and other commitments no matter where they work, attending the office stops being a blocker to work-life balance.
Examples of this could be flexible hours or compressed workweeks. If employees are empowered to work flexibly, they can factor in commuting, school drop-offs, and healthcare appointments while also attending the office.
Flexible working shows businesses care about their employees, which in turn promotes productivity and boosts team morale. Employees are more likely to attend the office to build connections with colleagues and managers if they feel valued as individuals.
If you expect your employees to increase their office attendance, those at the top should be the first to set the example.
Companies that prioritize setting an example from the top down demonstrate inclusivity and avoid a culture of ‘do as I say not as I do.’
Not only does leading by example encourage employees to act in the same way as their seniors, it also enables employees to have face-to-face interactions with those they want to see in the office.
Whether to join team drinks, sync up with a team lead, or have a chat with a favorite colleagues, visibility is essential to incentivize your employees to attend the office.
People want to see people; if you’re working from the office alone you may as well be at home.
Booking insights provide businesses with the opportunity to identify underlying issues that may be affecting attendance. An employee whose attendance dramatically drops over a month may be experiencing problems with workload or job satisfaction.
Trends and data on teams and overall company attendance are also important to track how organizational changes or management styles are impacting employees' attendance rates.
If you’re choosing software for your office, make sure to find one with a data and analytics feature you can export and track.
Insights on attendance enable businesses to preempt employees quitting, address management concerns, and understand why employees come into the office when they do.
Offer networking opportunities
It’s up to your business to use the pull of networking to its advantage by providing opportunities for employees and teams to meet.
Incentivize attendance with team events that will encourage collaboration and introduce colleagues to one another.
Hosting team drinks, bringing in guest speakers, and hosting breakfasts are all ways to encourage participation and networking between employees.
As the Linkedin adage goes, offering socials should not replace work-life balance benefits. However, socials do increase office attendance and shows employees that you’re interested in their professional development.
View who's in and understand booking trends with Officely
If you want to increase office attendance, you need to understand what makes your employees come into the office.
From the most popular office days to individual attendance trends, Officely is a desk booking software that provides data and insights so you can make analytical decisions on how to encourage employees to return to the office.
To get started, simply head to the Try Us Free button, or Book a Demo to learn how to show your employees why the office is the place to be.
Try Officely Today
See who's in the office, organize socials and events, and increase your office attendance all within Slack.
Alice is Officely's content manager. When not spreading the word of Officely and hybrid work, you can find her feeding family, friends and strangers with her latest baking experiment.
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