Return-to-office policies are often controversial and emotionally charged — but do they have to be?

Two tech leaders recently shared their approaches to hybrid work mandates that try to weave in trust, incentives and messaging that emphasizes the benefits to workers themselves.

Matt Oppenheimer, co-founder and CEO of Remitly, and Rasha El-Malki, chief of staff and chief operating officer for Morgan Stanley at Work Tech, spoke at a private event this week in downtown Seattle that brought together dozens of entrepreneurs and investors. It was hosted by GeekWire and Calgary Economic Development.

Remitly, a Seattle company helping people transfer money globally, expects workers in the office 50% of the time, whether it’s a few days a week, alternating weeks, or another schedule. The 2,700-employee company has offices internationally.

El-Malki works at a Morgan Stanley office in Calgary, which requires workers to come into the office three days a week. She supports a technology team of more than 760 people located across the globe.

“The three days is extremely flexible,” El-Malki said. And she flips the messaging. Instead of telling people their presence is required on-site three days a week, she said, “We like to say, ‘you’re allowed to do whatever you want for two days, as long as you’re productive.'”

As with most organizations navigating office policies post pandemic, Oppenheimer and El-Malki offer return-to-office justifications that are hard to quantify but significant. They include:

• opportunities for collaboration and spontaneous interactions, including cross-departmental conversations;
• mentoring and career development, particularly for junior employees;
• and absorbing a company’s culture.

The pair acknowledged that it makes sense to create incentives for coming in, and not just forcing employees to show up. Both companies, for example, offer free lunches on certain days — but the draw isn’t just comped meals.

“Folks don’t want to go to into an empty office, so they were looking for a signal of when will my team and other folks be around,” Oppenheimer said. “There’s kind of a self-reinforcing component to that because when people come in, they want to actually get the value of why they’re in there, which is being able to interact with colleagues.”

Both companies have reorganized their workplaces into “neighborhoods” where employees are grouped with team members to facilitate interactions.

El-Malki noted the professional perks for employees themselves when they come into the office, including networking and exposure to roles they might not have otherwise known about or considered.

She encourages people to see their role not just as a job, but as a career, “and what that means is you’ve got to be present, you’ve got to show your face, you’ve got to interact,” El-Malki said. “And make a reputation and a brand for yourself, because your profile extends with your career.”

The two leaders described workplaces with cultures that make being in-office sound like a pretty nice option.

Both emphasized being personally, readily available for engaging with employees, including those in very junior positions. Both companies offer robust and easy-to-access mental health resources. The businesses support workers volunteering in their communities.

As they expect employees to show up at the office, the leaders described showing up in meaningful ways for their employees.

“In environments or instances where there is chaos or uncertainty, I do think that a lot of employees are looking to companies and leadership of companies to kind of lead through some of those situations,” Oppenheimer said.