Why Are RTO Mandates Backfiring — and What’s the Alternative?

Across the country, employers and employees are engaged in a tug-of-war over return-to-office mandates. Companies’ tolerance for the pandemic-era days of working from home has waned, with businesses from the New York Times to Microsoft calling for in-office attendance the majority of the week.

The problem? Workers are resisting. According to the Wall Street Journal, RTO mandates have had little effect on actual attendance, with many simply opting out. “There’s a lot more pressing things for companies to be worrying about right now,” Beth Steinberg, a tech-industry human-resources executive, told the paper.

Here’s the thing: Employers should care if their employees want to be in the office. Moreover, if getting them to do it is harder than dragging a stubborn mule up a hill, then maybe the problem isn’t the workers. Going to work in an office shouldn’t feel like a punishment; at its best, it should feel like a community. The real question leaders should be asking isn’t how to enforce attendance, but why people would want to show up in the first place.

Why mandates fail

On the surface, an RTO mandate looks easy enough: Tell employees they need to come back, and they will. The reality is not so simple. Many no longer want a starring role in what’s known as “productivity theater,” in which the appearance of putting in effort is prized more than actual accomplishments.

RTO detractors are also quick to point to data that shows the benefits of working from home — one study found that 61% of employees report having higher levels of productivity at home, to say nothing of the time gained from commuting, avoiding office chit chat and purportedly improved work-life balance.

But the truth is, heavy-handed policies erode trust. RTO mandates aren’t a conversation; they are orders, with a clear underlying message: Leadership doesn’t believe employees can be productive without being physically observed. That lack of autonomy chips away at morale and wreaks havoc on engagement and loyalty. Rather than fostering collaboration, a mandate can leave workers feeling micromanaged and undervalued.

What makes an office worth the trip

Judging by the above, you may think I’m a WFH evangelist. Actually, I’m not. At Jotform, we returned to office life as soon as it was safe to do so after pandemic restrictions were lifted. But calling my employees back to the office wasn’t a decision I made because I didn’t think I could trust them, or wanted to micromanage their daily activities.

Quite the opposite: In discussions with my teams, I learned they actually missed collaborating with their colleagues face-to-face, and were less productive and more isolated at home. Jotform uses a system of small, cross-functional teams, where lively brainstorming sessions have produced some of our most successful ideas. Our weekly demo days push teams to innovate on tight deadlines, and so much momentum was lost when dealing with WFH hurdles like fuzzy connections or barking dogs. I’m not saying everyone was chomping at the bit to get back to the office, but once they did, the difference was obvious: productivity surged, morale lifted and collaboration flourished in ways that simply hadn’t been possible on Zoom.

That’s the point that too many leaders miss. People don’t reject the office because they dislike working; they reject the office when it adds no value to their work or lives. If the trade-off for a long commute is fluorescent lighting, endless dull meetings and little autonomy, of course, they’ll resist. But when the office amplifies what can’t be replicated remotely — true collaboration, mentoring and a sense of shared purpose — it becomes worth the trip.

How leaders can reimagine the office experience

Mandates may be failing, but the alternative shouldn’t be to give up on in-person work altogether. Instead, it’s to redesign the office experience so employees genuinely want to be there.

First off, in-person days should have a clear purpose. Employees shouldn’t be asked to commute just to sit on video calls they could have joined from their living rooms. Even if you don’t have cross-functional teams, leaders can still anchor attendance around events like product demos and mentoring sessions — the types of experiences that lose their luster when done through a screen.

Community matters, too. While not everyone loves water cooler chitchat, culture thrives in small, unplanned moments. It can be something as simple as asking a colleague for quick feedback on a draft, or grabbing a cup of coffee after a meeting. These aren’t the sorts of interactions that can be dictated from the top down, but they can flourish in an environment that promotes camaraderie. If dragging employees back to the office is like pulling teeth, it pays to find out what your employees need. Test, iterate and adapt — the same way you would with any product.

The old adage that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar applies here, too. Rather than issuing mandates and threats, make the office a place where people are inspired to do their best work.

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Across the country, employers and employees are engaged in a tug-of-war over return-to-office mandates. Companies’ tolerance for the pandemic-era days of working from home has waned, with businesses from the New York Times to Microsoft calling for in-office attendance the majority of the week.

The problem? Workers are resisting. According to the Wall Street Journal, RTO mandates have had little effect on actual attendance, with many simply opting out. “There’s a lot more pressing things for companies to be worrying about right now,” Beth Steinberg, a tech-industry human-resources executive, told the paper.