Workers and employers may be at an impasse. Businesses want people back in the office, citing concerns about productivity, work culture and team bonding (and sometimes commercial real estate leases).

But many workers, having enjoyed working from home and hybrid work arrangements first made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t want to give up the flexibility such working conditions brought.

It’s leading to divisions and, in many cases, workers quitting, possibly in favor of another position that offers remote work — leaving HR stuck in the middle.

Here’s what the department can do to help both sides connect.

Push managers from falling back on past experience

A lot of pressure for workers to return to the office comes from management, because they want to have the people they’re in charge of in their physical view, one expert said.

“Managers are used to managing people they can see,” said Denise Rousseau, professor of organizational behavior at Carnegie Mellon University. If they can’t see a person — and haven’t adjusted to managing people remotely — they’re going to assume flexible work arrangements don’t work. “They’re anchored in that other experience.”

And it can be hard for someone to pull up anchor, even when presented with studies that show that people are less stressed and more productive when they work from home. Workers know from their lived experience that being able to work partly or full time at home is better for them, but managers are still relying on subjective data to assume otherwise, Rousseau said.Getting objective data from within the company to show workers are productive in flexible arrangements can help, as can organizations training and developing managers to manage people at a distance, said Rousseau. “That is one the best training opportunities right now.”

Companies may also discover that some workers do want to be in the office so they can feel less isolated. “That’s an issue for the individual worker,” Rousseau said. “What kind of work situation do you want? The issue is you cannot force people back.”

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