GOOD QUESTIONS
How to Retain (and Strengthen)Your Culture As You Return to the Office
Advice on making a smooth(ish) transition
As an HR consultant I work with companies of various sizes across tech and media sectors, but over the last few months they’ve all been most curious about one thing: their office. In fact, how to return to the office safely and smoothly is something they’ve been asking about since last year. Some companies are staying fully distributed (or already were pre-COVID), some have employees coming to the office on a voluntary basis, and some are requiring their employees to come back, either full-time or a few days per week. This means we’re moving away from “Will we go back?” and into something more nuanced: “What will it be like when we go back?”
There are of course many logistical questions to answer, but one client recently hit at something more fundamental when they asked:
“How do you bring a company back into the office smoothly from a culture perspective?”
Good question. Here’s some advice on how to think things through.
Have your (good) reasons
Simply put, there is no maintaining or building a good company culture without having — and sharing — a solid, reasonable explanation as to why you want people to come back. That doesn’t mean all employees need to agree with your decision, but they should at least understand why you made it. No matter how well decorated or stocked or equipped the office is, if you haven’t made clear the reasons why you want people to come back, your culture will have issues at its roots.
Focus on clarity
One thing I’ve seen over and over at clients: ambiguity breeds anxiety. Now more than ever your employees are going to have questions about the company’s stability, their own safety, if their jobs are going to change, what’s expected of them, and if things are going to shift again. Your managers are also going to have their own questions about how to manage through yet another change.
You’re not going to be able to resolve every issue or answer every question, but you can be as transparent as possible — even if that means saying there are some things you’re still figuring out. And there is likely always some clarity that you can provide. Focus on whatever info you have and be very purposeful about bringing everyone into the loop. For example, you can share if/when performance reviews will happen and let people know what they’re being evaluated on, what your hiring plans are(even if they’re short-term), and details on your COVID protocols along with info on how you made your decisions.
Regularly ask people what they’re wondering about and answer those questions head on.
Acknowledge and accept that things are going to be weird for a while
A reality: There is no version of coming back to the office where everything goes back to the way it was. Even if you are working with the same people in the same space, everyone is different. It would be very strange to act like nothing has happened and you all have just been at home while the office was under construction. You need to acknowledge that everyone has been — and are still — going through an unprecedented time. It’s going to take time to settle back in, re-build trust and norms, and get back to being able to focus fully on work. People have likely created completely different routines over the last two years, and those routines are being reshaped once again as they return to the office.
Have a “wet clay” attitude
I know a landscape designer who works on college campuses. I once asked her how she decides where to put walkways and she said the best practice is to wait a bit and see where people naturally walk across green spaces — then put the walkways there. Take this same attitude and remain flexible as you reopen — probably more flexible than you’ve ever been. I’ve seen a number of CEOs want to return to the office “strong” — they make assumptions about what people need and decide they must have a firm structure to operate. But like a campus landscape designer, you likely need to let your employees lead the way as you all navigate how your processes, modes of working, ways of meeting, etc. have shifted. This doesn’t mean you should completely change your planned ways of doing things, but rather that you should be “soft” during this time and have the patience to let new ways of doing things unfold as you navigate the new needs of your team.
Listen to what your employees tell you
A “wet clay” attitude is not only about having the patience to wait and see how things go, but also about asking direct questions that allow you to make plans that connect what your culture was to what it will be. Talk to your employees about this transitional time and their experiences, how they want to maintain some of their new routines, and how you can accommodate that. Find out what makes them proud to work at your company. What’s exciting or what have they missed about being in the office? What keeps them working for you? Many return-to-office decisions are based exclusively on what executives want and it’s critical to be mindful of the gap between their interests and those of most employees. As you talk to your leaders and your employees, keep a close eye on where they align and where they don’t — that overlap or gap is where your culture has the opportunity to thrive or wane.
Loop in your (middle) managers
While senior leaders may make the final decisions on how return-to-office works, your middle managers are going to be the ones handling the day-to-day realities. They have more insight into the employee experience, and are a group that needs to be bought into your plan if you want their teams to be highly engaged. Make sure to talk to them as you establish your strategy, both to hear their ideas and to find out any concerns they have so you can address them as part of your initial plans. Once you are back in the office, have frequent check-ins with your managers — more than you did before, most likely — so you can keep a good pulse on how things are going and proactively work on small issues before they become big ones.
Focus on (re)connection
Many leaders think their company culture is their values, or office amenities, or how they run their all-hands meetings. Those are all components, but the core of any company’s culture is right in front of you — it’s your people. It’s also the part of your culture that most benefits from coming back to the office — the lower barrier to connecting with each other. Don’t waste this advantage. As you return to the office, make sure your people come together (in formal and informal ways) and use that as the foundation of retaining or rebuilding your culture. Instead of focusing on how to revive your culture, focus on how you can foster connections, and a natural culture benefit will emerge.
Don’t forget about those at home
The final part of retaining your culture as you return to the office is remembering that not everyone is in the office. While you may be eager to have much of the team working together in person, it’s very likely that you’ll still have a distributed staff, whether that’s because you have a satellite office, some people are on a flexible schedule, or because some team members have been hired as permanently remote employees. Don’t over-index on the people coming in, even if that’s the majority of your team. Poll your remote employees as much as you poll your in-office ones, make sure you’re communicating in a way that’s easy for everyone to access, and make sure your practices and processes thoughtfully include those who can’t or don’t come to the office regularly. Bottom line: a culture is only good if it’s good for everyone.
