When we look at the Return-To-Office "Mandates", we have only seen Extreme Problems and Utter Failure.
From Increased Workplace Toxicity to Decreased Productivity and Innovation, and more.
Companies that made "Mandates" were hit with Insubordination, Mass Quitting, and new Problems like Coffee-Badging.
Truly, it is some of the Most Epic Levels of Leadership Failure I have seen across Multiple Companies, Simultaneously, in quite some time.
The Data Never Supported the "Mandates".
The Psychophysiology Never Supported the "Mandates".
The Quoted Reasons Never Made Sense for the "Mandates".
The Employees Never Supported the "Mandates".
Even Leaders at the Highest Levels still wanted Remote-Work, and made Hypocritical Exceptions to the "Mandates" (which only made their Relationships with Employees Worse!)
Truly, the "Mandates" have been Complete Failures.
How Badly have they Failed?
Well, currently rates of Enforcement of these "Mandates" have Dramatically Dropped to only 3%.
It seems that 97% of Companies have become Wise to Reality.
They were "Never" going to work, which is Why Companies are No Longer Enforcing these Ridiculous "Mandates".
On top of this, Companies Choosing to Offer "Completely Flexible" Arrangements (ie Employees' Choice) have Dramatically Increased to Nearly 80% of Companies.
These Organizations are making the Smart Decision to Not "Require" their Employees to come into an Office "At All".
All of this seems to Indicate that, Indeed, the "Mandates" are Finally Dead.
Employees Rejoice, for you have won the Battle.
And if your Organization is in the dwindling 3%, just Realize... 80% of other Organizations Do Not Care where you work anymore, and you could likely take your Employment to them.
This all Forces us to ask another Question though...
Is the Return-To-Office Dead?
This is "Different" than the "Mandates".
Yes, the "Mandates" have Absolutely Crashed and Burned, but is "All" Office Work Dead as well?
Will 100% Remote Work Be the Future for All Organizations?
Well, this may not be Accurate to say either.
Just because "Mandating" has Failed doesn't mean that "All" Employees "Only" want to Work Remotely.
Indeed, there are many people, especially those Newer to the Workforce who are looking for Mentors, who would "Prefer" to be in the Office.
Some people Enjoy the Water-Cooler Talk and going places after work with Colleagues.
The Key Differentiator is that these Individuals "Choose" to go into the Office.
A large part of the Reason these Mandates have Failed was simply that it was "Forced" on Individuals when it Made No Sense to "Force" Anyone.
People generally "Despise" their Leaders taking away their Freedoms - it's a Fact of Humanity.
This is made Especially True when the Freedoms being Taken Away are not Explained Well or Fail to Make Any Sense, as was the case with the "Mandates".
This should be a "Very" Important Leadership Lesson going into the Future...
Leaders should "Always" think twice about Removing Freedoms from their Employees.
Now, back to the Topic of whether Office Work is Dead, there is another thing we must consider.
"Why" did Employees "Not" Want to Return?
Well, we can go back to Psychophysiology to Understand this.
One Challenge that many Employees faced, and continue to face, In Offices is that the Offices are Detrimental to Focus and Peak Performance.
As Humans, we "Seek" to be at our Best, and if something is "Physically" Preventing Us from being at Our Best, we Avoid It.
Most Modern Offices, in their Design, "Block" Peak Performance, so Unconsciously Employees want to Avoid It.
When Employees began to Achieve Peak Performance at Home, they Naturally Wanted to Keep It.
Now, if Leaders wanted to Change this, they Could.
In fact, it is Easier to Accomplish Office Redesigns "When" there are No Employees in the Office!
Congratulations Leaders, you have just been given a Perfect Situation to Fix one of the Largest Productivity Blockers that have Haunted Leaders for Decades!
Why Else Have Employees Avoided the Office?
Some of them have Legitimate Life Situations that are making it more Difficult to Leave their Homes.
Rising Costs of Transportation.
Rising Costs of Caring for Children.
Rising Costs of Caring for Elders.
Rising Costs of Food.
For many people, it didn't make "Financial" Sense to go into an Office anymore, especially when it also Added Mental and Emotional Stressors.
However, these same Individuals still "Wanted" to Work!
Many of them "Enjoy" being Incredibly Useful and Providing Extremely Beneficial Work to Organizations.
Remote Work was giving them a Better Opportunity to take care of other Life Challenges.
Forced Mandates "Only" Made their Lives Significantly More Challenging.
For a Significant Level of these Employees, the Dis-Stress caused by Mandates was "So High" that it made "More" Sense to Completely Ignore Them and Risk Consequences, or just Quit.
Now, if these Challenges Decreased for Employees, there is likely a decently sized percentage who would "Choose" to come into The Office at a later time.
But until their More Immediate Problems are Fixed, it just Doesn't Make Sense to Return to the Office, at least Not Yet.
The Leadership Lesson here is that You "Must" Understand the Realities of your Employees "Before" you make Decisions.
When you Fail to Understand those You Lead, they will Choose to Not Work for You (Even if you still end up paying them!)
There is still Another Major Problem that Leaders need to Understand around this as well.
Burnout.
80% of Employees (Including Leaders) are Experiencing Burnout, with more on the Way.
When Leaders Fail to Address Burnout, it leads to a Toxic Workplace.
From a Productivity Perspective, Burnout is on the Opposite End of the Spectrum of Peak Performance (or Flow States as Scientific Literature calls it).
The Problem with Burnout is that when you force people who are Experiencing Burnout all into the same Place, it "Only" Magnifies Burnout.
This was another Subconscious Reason many people Hated the Mandates.
For Many People, this was the "First" Time in a Decade (at least) that they were Moving in the "Opposite" Direction from Burnout.
This means that their Bodies, Physiologically, were Finally beginning to Heal from the Stress Damage that is Magnified by Burnout.
Subconsciously, if you are starting to Feel Better from a Wellness and Wellbeing Perspective, you will "Crave" that until you are No Longer in Burnout.
The Problem?
Employees are not "Yet" out of Burnout.
Until they Escape the Clutches of Burnout, they will Subconsciously Avoid the Office.
Quite Literally, Employees have a Survival Reaction to even just the "Idea" of being in the Workplace, which is Why they have Fought so Strongly and Vehemently "Against" the "Mandates".
But what happens if they No Longer have Burnout and are Finally back to their Best Selves?
Well, it is also likely that a percentage of these Individuals would "also" choose to Return to Offices.
People "Need" to be around other People for their Health and Wellbeing, but this is Not Possible when "Everyone" in a place is in Burnout.
If Leaders Solved their Burnout Problems, I know that "Significantly" more Employees would "Choose" to Return to Offices.
If Leaders Truly Want their Employees to Return to Offices, they would be Wise to Fix the Burnout Problem First.
The more Frequently that the Workplace "Causes" Burnout, the Fewer Employees you will see "Choose" to Stay in that Environment.
But, if you have an Environment where people Achieve Group Flow Together, it will be Difficult to get them "Out" of the Office.
As the saying goes, "You Attract More Bees With Honey Than Vinegar".
The Vinegar "Mandate" Approach Obviously Didn't Work.
But a Honey Approach?
That has a Lot of Potential.
If Leaders Improved Themselves and their Offices, specifically with a Regenerative Legacy Design Approach, then the Workplace would become Honey to Employees.
Office Work is Not Dead, but the Office "Does" Need to be Completely Revamped to Attract People, including Leaders.