During the pandemic, organizations were forced to quickly change operating procedures. One of the main changes for many was to allow employees to work remotely. Once life calmed down, hybrid work (a combination of remote and in-office) became common as most employees appreciated the agency and flexibility.
Fast-forward to 2025 and many corporations— including Amazon, Boeing, and Walmart—have implemented return-to-office mandates as a response to issues with remote work such as deterioration in performance, collaboration, teamwork, and culture. Organizational culture is critical because it influences how people behave and perform. When the culture is unhealthy, people feel disconnected, and collaboration and learning suffer. It makes sense for people to spend enough quality time in the workplace to develop relationships that enhance commitment and loyalty and decrease social isolation.
TRANSITIONING BACK TO THE OFFICE
Based on their extensive research, Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh concluded in the July-August 2025 Harvard Business Review that “Hybrid Still Isn’t Working.” As companies continue to bring employees back to the office, the authors identify action steps and policy changes leaders can make during the transition from a remote or hybrid model back to a full-time in-office model. A few of these steps include:
- Create and enforce rules. Require meeting participants to turn their camera on. Record attendance and make sure employees are adhering to the new rules.
- Revise performance appraisals. Connect the new policies to the key performance indicators. People tend to behave in ways that are rewarded.
- Build social relationships. Create cohorts of new hires when onboarding to enhance connection and communication. Develop working relationships across teams, integrating working lunches and intentionally mixing up the members to encourage learning from each other.
- Establish in-office anchor days. Such days should be mandatory, not optional, in order to help relationships develop.
Cappelli and Nehmeh admit, “Employees today see remote work practices as the new normal, and resistance to the changes we have recommended may be great.” They advocate that if the workplace remains remote or hybrid, leaders need to “institute new rules and practices—and enforce them… Redesigning how hybrid work functions is the only way forward.”
