RTO mandates are causing organizations to lose employees in large numbers and though the loss is not very apparent, there is a distinct possibility that this could grow into a very serious problem. S&P 500 companies that have enforced RTO policies have seen a dip in employee retention with “abnormally high” employee turnover.
Not only is it difficult to retain existing employees, RTO mandates have also had an impact on hiring, making it harder to fill vacant positions at the same rate as before. The data was uncovered by a research project initiated by the University of Pittsburgh, and it shows why it is important to plan ahead before enforcing any further regulatory changes.
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RTO Mandates May Cause You to Lose Employees Faster Than Ever
Employee dissatisfaction is an obvious consequence of the return-to-office mandates, but employers have long assumed that after the initial resistance, employees will fall in line with the policy and go back to pre-pandemic work. Workers have threatened to quit and switch jobs ever since these mandates first began to arrive on the scene, however, most accepted that after the initial round of exits, the attrition numbers would be stable again.
Now, the study revealed that the RTO mandates are causing companies to lose employees at abnormally high rates. The high turnover rate was more significantly noticed among senior employees as well as highly skilled workers. Those who are more certain about their chances of finding a new job are more likely to quit and find a company with competitive benefits. This is why mid-and-top-level managers saw a turnover increase of 9% while skilled professionals saw the number go up to 11%.
The turnover rate increased considerably for female employees as well, going up over 12% as a result of their struggles to balance the innumerable familial responsibilities with their rigid and demanding work schedules.
Considering that the S&P 500-indexed companies are at the top of their game, one might expect that they can enforce RTO mandates without having to worry about employee retention, however, this does not appear to be the case.
RTO Mandates and the Impact on Hiring
With the return-to-office brain drain increasingly becoming a problem, organizations are forced to turn to hiring more workers to fill the available positions. Unfortunately, the time to hire has increased for organizations that have pushed for employees to return to work.
The rate at which organizations can convert an application into a hire has also been affected by RTO mandates. Most job hunters are on the lookout for positions that allow them to work from home or at least provide them with a hybrid opportunity.
Attracting top talent requires a company to provide competitive benefits that align with what potential hires want. With individuals putting WFH and hybrid models on top of their list along with other benefits like stable career progress, a diverse workforce, and mental well-being support, employers who want to attract the best of the best have no choice but to cooperate.
Employee Surveillance Emerges as the Central Reason for Chasing RTO Mandates
If RTO policies make employee retention harder, why are organizations pushing for it so actively? Employers claim that workers are more productive when they work in the office and they also believe that it is easier to build a community and culture at work when people interact with each other regularly. While there is some truth to the claims, it is also apparent that easier employee surveillance is one of the reasons for bringing employees back to the office.
Employers do not trust that employees work on their assigned tasks when they are not supervised, which creates a distrustful relationship with the worker. Another study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh earlier this year found that managers use “RTO for power grabbing and blaming employees for poor performance.“
Considering that employee surveillance tools are continuing to grow in popularity among organizations, this provides further evidence for this theory. With such a negative perspective tinting RTO mandates, it’s no wonder organizations are losing employees.
HR concerns about RTO policies continue to grow as organizations witness extreme resistance from employees over these mandates. All things considered, the return-to-office brain drain may grow into a very serious problem over the next year if organizations are not careful about how they roll out these policies.
