Freedom Day: how do businesses encourage employees back to the office?

Workers will be able to return to the office after 19 July when Covid restrictions are due to end, Boris Johnson has said. Whereas bosses are keen on a return to the office, those expecting employees to welcomingly return could be in for a shock, with data by Future Strategy Club revealing that 57% of Brits do not want to return to their previous 9-5 office role post-pandemic.

With almost all Covid restrictions expected to lift in two weeks, it is essential that firms make the office more appealing to the UK workforce after the lockdown provided a forced career hiatus for many employees who went from the traditional work schedule to flexible working practices.

If firms want to attract and retain talented employees, they must manage this upcoming transition period successfully. This means balancing the external environment – from new government guidelines to a rise in COVID-19 cases – with an internal strategy that puts employees needs first and foremost.

Now, private sector leaders can guide and assist businesses struggling to do just this. Support from Future Strategy Club’s experts such as Gareth Tennant, the former Head of Intelligence at the Royal Marines, Hector Arthur, former Digital Director of The Times or Karl Weaver, former CEO of the Data Practice at Publicis, can now be affordably accessed by businesses and will bring fundamental changes to the way they operate, from improving workplace culture and enacting change, to bringing new styles of leadership as all restrictions are lifted.

Justin Small, CEO of Future Strategy Club, discusses how firms can support and entice staff back:

“Though bosses are keen on a full return to the office, 57% of the UK workforce are in disagreement. If top talent decides to leave their place of employment when lockdown restrictions lift, firms will face a talent crisis and run the risk of losing their competitive edge because of it. This means it is now essential that the UK workforce becomes more enticing for its employees.

Yet short-term solutions and office perks are simply not enough to encourage the UK workforce back to the office, with the benefit of these perks often short-lived. What really matters in a firm is cultivating a culture of innovation and autonomy – this is the key to preserving employees well-being post-pandemic and retaining your best talent.

Yet how should firms plan ahead in a continuously disrupted world? How can they be certain the decisions they are making now will be right in the next few months, let alone the next few years? Firms right now cannot predict the future, but they can look forwards and shape it. Now, businesses can source creative freelancers who are unphased by the acute challenges in how we are doing business today. This will not only enrich a team and drive fresh results, but help businesses recalibrate and survive the effects of the Covid pandemic.”