Hybrid Office

If your company is offering employees a hybrid work schedule, with some days in the office and others working remotely, your leadership team may have concerns about how that will impact employee engagement and culture. Here are five ways to give employees a reason to come back to the office — and maybe create some FOMO for those who opt for being completely remote:

Volunteer activities

Give employees a meaningful reason to come in — like an on-site volunteer activity. Employees can gather at the office to stuff kids’ backpacks with school supplies or build bicycles for children in foster care. Or there are several organizations that will bring in all the materials for packing meal kits of dry goods for disasters or emergencies. Your company supplies folding tables and employee volunteers.

Fitness at the office

Get those corporate gyms reopened and give employees a reason to plan a workout there. That could be group runs or lunchtime walks, yoga classes, a fitness competition, or team training for an upcoming 10K race. Or add some new exercise equipment that employees will be excited about, like Peloton bikes or treads with online classes ranging from boot camp to strength to barre to meditation.

Leadership meet and greets

In Tribe’s national employee survey on remote work, respondents said they missed being visible to management and liked the idea of online leadership talks. Enlist one or more members of your executive leadership team to host an in-person weekly or monthly get-together that’s open to any employees working in the office that day. Frame the events around a certain topic that employees would like to know more about, or just let them ask questions.

Diversity events

Your employee resource groups have likely been quiet, if not inactive, during the pandemic. As your offices begin to reopen, you might encourage them to host on-site events or activities in their areas of interest, from LGBTQ+ rights to working parents. In-person speakers, panels, roundtable discussions, fundraisers or other activities can give employees a reason to get together at the office around causes or issues they’re passionate about.

Food

Don’t underestimate the power of food, preferably free food. Provide a catered breakfast in all the break rooms on certain days of the week. Pick one day a week to have a handful of food trucks show up on site. Spring for a weekly happy hour juice bar. Or even a real happy hour with beer and wine on one Friday each month. Food gives people a reason to show up, and then keeps them around long enough to talk with colleagues.