Are Blanket Back-To-Office Policies The Best Approach?

New hybrid work research from The Myers-Briggs Company sheds light on trends and misalignments in the new hybrid workplace.

Prior to the pandemic, most people worked in an office or on site at a physical workplace. Then Covid-19 hit, and working from home became the norm for many whose job duties allowed it. As we move toward a post-Covid world, many organizations are planning to or have returned to the office — but some workers question the need to come back at all and prefer remote and hybrid working.

New research from The Myers-Briggs Company investigates workers’ attitudes to remote, hybrid, and non-remote working. The “Remote and Hybrid Working” report includes analysis regarding MBTI® personality type, managerial support, and other factors.

Back-To-Office Policies
Going back to the office? It’s complex. New research from The Myers-Briggs Company warns that blanket back-to-office policies negatively affect employees.

Here’s a look at some of the findings:

Mismatch in remote working preferences leads to employee turnover.

A strong predictor of whether an employee was intending to leave their job was the mismatch between their remote working preferences and the actuality of current job demands. Many entirely office-based workers wished to work for a least some time at home.

Other groups who were more likely to be thinking of leaving included middle managers, and individuals with an Intuition and/or Perceiving preference.

Open office plans disappoint.

Those working in fully open-plan offices were the least likely to say they really enjoyed their job, those in private offices the most. When asked “what one change would make the biggest improvement to your office or other working environment,” the most common theme concerned having greater privacy and doing away with open office plans.

Don’t default to sweeping back-to-office protocols.

“The overarching theme of the research was that blanket back-to-office policies are easier, but not preferred,” says John Hackston, Head of Thought Leadership at The Myers-Briggs Company. “Ask your employees how they work best, and then develop policies. Don’t assume.”

You can download the full research report here.

Click here to read more facility management news about Workplace Culture.