Rethink RTO with this benefits dashboard

Employers can't seem to crack the code on the return to work, but tapping into customized data and insights could guide them in the right direction. This organization created a tool to make it possible.

Seventy percent of companies now have formal RTO policies requiring some in-office time, according to a recent survey from employee management platform Archie, with 93% of business leaders believing employees should be in the office at least part of the week. Yet 80% of companies admit that they've lost talent in the process. In an effort to assist companies with their strategies, workplace platform Envoy launched their Actionable Analytics service. 

"A lot of employers are  a little bit lost on how to handle coming back into the office," says Jacqueline Sharma, the VP of people at Envoy. "How do you do it gracefully without losing that balance between business needs and the human element? Keeping people and their needs in mind can be really tricky." 

Read more: RTO, flexibility and DEI: Why leaders are caught in the middle

After integrating successfully with an organization's network, Actionable Analytics can break findings down into six dashboards that focus on office occupancy, attendance, desk layouts, room availability, visitors and workplace deliveries. The idea is that by using those figures, employers will be able to make more informed and focused decisions on the kind of strategies they're choosing to roll out. In turn, it should help organizations create solutions that are more effective, keeping  employees satisfied with the trade off. 

Most importantly, leaders will be able to tell whether a strategy is working or not earlier, and then address the pain points faster, which could be the difference between an engaged and disengaged workforce.  

"If we're going to hold people accountable to adherence to a policy, we've got to have a really accurate way to measure its success," Sharma says. "We're going beyond the policy and asking employers, how many people do you have in the office? Are you utilizing your space correctly? Do you have enough snacks?"

Sharma shared an example of the tool in action where one of the organizations they work had a three-day in-office policy that employees were adhering to consistently. The problem, however, was that employees were choosing different days of the week, meaning that collaboration and productivity took a hit.  Envoy's tool helped them track the days with the most crossover among teams and tailored the policy so that everyone was in the office Tuesday through Thursday.  

Read more: RTO mandates and surveillance software won't keep employees productive

"It's  giving employers enough information to craft these policies with time for adjustment and flexibility for their population," Sharma says. "One of the biggest mistakes that we've seen employers make is rolling out these changes and not giving enough time for people to really make those adjustments that are critical for their personal and professional lives." 

The RTO movement will not only continue, it may even escalate, according to Sharma, meaning that data is going to be increasingly important in getting it right. The benefits of having a well-rounded comprehension of their workforce's wants and needs are a worthy investment, ensuring  that organizations are well equipped for whatever change the future may bring. 

"If we look at the corporate world 15 years ago, the concept of returning to work didn't even exist — you just went into the office five days a week and that was it," Sharma says. "We still have to try and understand how to get people back into the office productively and give them the time and space to do their jobs."