2025 and the Return to Office Push

How to Avoid the Talent Exodus and Build a Thriving Workforce

Is your company pushing for more office time in 2025?

You’re not alone.

One participant in my upcoming workshop on Inclusive Hybrid Work and Office Design shared:

"As the Head of HR, I’m tasked with supporting and driving a back-to-office strategy - 3 days per week starting in the New Year."

This trend is gaining traction. A recent LinkedIn poll I conducted revealed:

• 44% of companies are increasing in-office mandates.
• 11% are still debating.

Smaller companies (under 25 employees) are more likely to move to remote-first, but the majority are revisiting their hybrid work policies.

The question is: Are these mandates worth the cost?

The Hidden Costs of RTO Mandates

Companies mandating office returns may not fully understand the risks. Employee Experience is key for attracting and retaining top talents and enforced mandated office-time might be counter productive and even lead to long-term business critical risks.

A recent study tracking over 3 million tech and finance professionals found that mandated office time is driving critical talents away:

• Higher turnover following RTO mandates, especially among women and senior employees.
• Firms faced longer hiring times and a decline in hire rates, losing their best talent.

These findings highlight the unintended consequences of RTO mandates, even for some of the world’s largest companies.

Is Office Time the Solution—or a Band-Aid?

Remote and hybrid work are here to stay, but they’ve made workplace challenges more visible—particularly around culture and leadership.

Mandating office time won’t magically solve these issues. As one HR Director put it:

It is not like I am suddenly being a nicer colleague just because I am spending 2 days per month more in the office.

In considering a push for employees to spend more time at the office we should ask:

• Are we addressing the root causes of culture and collaboration challenges?
• Is more office time the right solution—or just band-aid leading to more costs down the line?

Cultural issues must be addressed directly, regardless of your hybrid work policy.

However, the workplace itself can play a key role in fostering engagement, collaboration, and connection.

The real question is: How do successful companies balance office time with a thriving workforce and an amazing employee experience?

5 things for a succesful Workplace Experience strategy:

If your company is rethinking its hybrid work policy, remember: it’s not about days—it’s about employee experience.

Here’s how to get it right:

1️⃣ Design an Office That Attracts, Not Mandates Conduct a thorough workplace assessment to understand:

• Employee preferences and personalities
• Collaboration patterns and activity needs
• Remote vs. in-office preferences

2️⃣ Define Cultural and Strategic Goals Your hybrid work policy should align with your company’s unique goals. For example:

• Do you need to enable innovation?
• Encourage interpersonal relationships?
• Fit a results-driven leadership style?

3️⃣ Calculate Your Optimal Hybrid Work Policy Use data-driven tools to create a policy that balances individual preferences with company culture and strategic objectives. A science-backed methodology - such as developed by Workplaced - ensures alignment across individual, teams and organization.

4️⃣ Empower Employees with Personal Productivity Passport The Workplaced Assessment gives Employees access to a Productivity Passport that shows their optimal hybrid schedule, their personality and their optimal office-workplace based on their roles, activities, needs, and collaboration styles. This creates buy-in and reduces turnover risk.

5️⃣ Continuously Monitor and Adapt Hybrid work isn’t static. Use feedback loops to adjust policies as your workforce and goals evolve.

Avoid Losing Your Top Talent in 2025

Mandated office time without employee input can damage engagement and retention. But with the right strategy, your workplace can become a powerful driver of culture, collaboration, and performance.

Upcoming Workshop: Inclusive Hybrid Work & Office Design

Want to create an inlcusive Workplace Strateg that truly works? Join us for a hands-on workshop where we’ll cover:

• Designing a workplace experience that employees love.
• Balancing cultural and individual needs.
• Using data-driven tools to prevent talent loss.

💡 Don’t miss this opportunity to gain practical insights, share ideas, and drive real change in the way we work.

📅 Tuesday, January 14th, 2025 ⏰ 3:00 PM GMT | 4:00 PM CET | 9:00 AM PST | 12:00 PM EST

👉 Save your Spot Today!

Book a Demo: Workplace Experience Made Easy

Looking for tools to craft a data-driven hybrid policy? Discover how our software can help you:

• Reduce turnover.
• Align individual needs with company goals.
• Build a thriving, engaged workforce.

Book a Demo