Returning to the Office Could be Causing Anxiety to your Team Members
By: Cassandra Le
Tags: Leadership Development, Diversity And Inclusion, Working From Home, Belonging, Remote Work

Quarantine 2020 and the Transition to Working From Home

As we all know, in 2020, the world stopped due to Covid-19. Offices shut down, stores closed, and teams who used to work every day in the office transitioned to working from home.

Adapting to this situation varied for different people, depending on their home/life situation, the identities they hold, and how they best work.

A parent may have found this transition difficult, especially if they were also expected to manage virtual school for their children.

A person who holds a marginalized identity may have been grateful for this transition because they no longer had to deal with microaggressions at work (something I feel grateful for now working from home).

While others might have enjoyed the option of working from home every so often but missed the social interaction in the office because they lived alone.

The conversation of returning back to the OFFICE (not work), is happening more frequently, as offices are reopening and the vaccine is being implemented.

We want to highlight that when one says “returning to work”, it assumes and implies that people haven’t been working their assses off during the pandemic (not true). Speaking to team members who transitioned to working from home, some have shared that their workload increased drastically and there was no separation of “in the office” vs. “off hours”. There’s no “return” to something you’ve never stopped.

And while your office building hasn’t changed, the culture, policies, guidelines, and work environment that your teams are returning to are not the same.

We’ve all just lived through a global pandemic, immense loss of life and grief, environmental catastrophes, social justice uprisings, and political movements. All of this affects what folx need to feel safe and like they belong in a place where they spend most of their time — work!

On top of that, folx with marginalized identities have been dealing with racial trauma, bias, microaggressions before this, but now with the added stress of everything that’s happened in 2020 and 2021.

Adapting and co-creating belonging for folx returning to the office — whether it is required or an option moving forward — is what we’re covering next.

How to Co-Create Belonging for Folx Returning Back to the Office

For us, co-creating belonging means involving your employees in the creation process!

This looks different for each company and organization because it involves creating from your core values, business mission, and your people culture. Below we’ve highlighted 3 ways to start co-creating belonging for your teams who are returning back to the office.

As a reminder, this is a resource and a small step forward. To create sustained change within your organization and company culture requires continuing this work and constantly asking for feedback from your employees to improve.

So, here are 3 ways to start the co-creation process for belonging regarding returning back to the office after COVID-19.

The work schedule and workweek drastically changed during 2020. People’s priorities shifted, self-care and mental health took the forefront, and capitalist standards of productivity were, very seriously, starting to be questioned.

Ask for & adapt to flexible work practices in co-creation with people

Working from home has most likely given your employees the time and space to experiment with their own productivity and learn what they best need to produce great work. Folx have had the opportunity to learn about what helps and hurts their productivity and what habits and behaviors help them mentally and emotionally.

Thanks to this time for introspection, requiring employees to return back to the office like everything is the same, overlooks the very difficult 2020 and 2021 we’ve all experienced. We invite you to revisit and explore your company’s policies around the work schedule and the option of what “flexi-work” could look like.

Can you create a different work schedule? A hybrid work-from-home model? What paid-time-off or sick days could look like? Exploring these options with your team can help ease the anxiety of returning back to the office and jumping directly into “how everything was” before.

Offer diverse benefits packages

We’re sure your priorities have shifted and changed over the past year and a half.

This means, your employees’ priorities have shifted, as well.

The “average” benefits package may not cover what folx are looking for anymore — causing a sense of anxiety for job candidates, that they might not receive what they need. From a company perspective, this also puts you at a lower competitive advantage as the talent market is increasingly skewed towards PEOPLE, not companies.

Instead of offering benefits packages that don’t take into account these changes in priorities, needs, and more — opt for offering diverse benefits packages or a buffet-style where your employees can choose what best serves their lifestyle and priorities.

This could look like offering an additional budget for parents for daycare, or a budget for someone who prefers working from home, the opportunity to purchase their own office equipment. There are various benefits and perks you can look into for all the diverse needs and priorities for your team.

This doesn’t mean you need to offer everything to everyone. which is why A buffet-style benefits package allows employees to choose what is best for their needs — empowering them to practice their self-agency.

Engage in DEIB Trainings to foster belonging in the office and virtually

The world of work is changing. We are currently in the midst of a period of profound change. The desire for a different way of working — a way that focuses on the human being and all our nuances is happening right now.

We’re living through a global pandemic that has changed the entire world, immense loss of life and grief, environmental catastrophes, social justice uprisings, and political movements. On top of that, most of us are still showing up for work in the best way that we can. The difference is, folx with marginalized identities are watching what their companies are doing and others are digging deeper into what they can do to make the world a better place.

Another way to co-create belonging for folx returning to the office is to engage in a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) training to foster belonging in the office and virtually.

If the world of work is changing — companies and organizations have a responsibility to their employees to adapt and change with them. And to include them in the conversation for that change!