Sharpen the systems, COOs! 🧠
Insights explore how return-to-office policies can be designed to feel valuable rather than punitive. Data shows that only 39% of employees believe mandated office days improve productivity, and 78% say they would consider leaving if flexibility were to disappear.
This issue previews Cisco’s findings on hybrid work, ezCater data on belonging and food programs, and the design features that employees value most: social spaces, outdoor areas, and clear communication that explains how in-person time helps advance careers and foster collaboration.
📰 Upcoming in this issue
🏢 Make Return-to-Office Appealing, Not Punitive
💙 Put Workforce Health at the Core of Strategy
🧭 Set Clear Employee Expectations to Boost Performance
📈 Trending news
Choose Employee Monitoring That Respects Privacy
Start With Role-Based Skills and a Clear Gap Map
Make Facilities Quality a Daily Operating System
🏢 Make Return-to-Office Appealing, Not Punitive
This guide shows how to win both hearts and attendance with purpose, flexibility, and perks. It highlights the messaging and amenities that make office days feel worthwhile.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Purposeful Days: Managers plan collaboration, training, and client interactions to make office time distinct from remote work.
🕒 Flexibility Wins: Hybrid schedules, core hours, and choice of days give employees control while meeting team needs.
🚇 Reduce Friction: Subsidized transit and parking, childcare support, and streamlined desk booking ease the commute burden.
🛋️ Spaces That Attract: Better lighting, acoustics, and focus rooms, plus wellness areas, good coffee, and reliable tech, make the office a draw.
💙 Put Workforce Health at the Core of Strategy
The World Economic Forum argues that employee health is not a perk but a growth driver. This article outlines how prevention, mental health, and data can turn wellness into a measurable ROI.
Key Takeaways:
🧭 Make it Strategic: Treat health as a board-level priority linked to productivity, retention, safety, and brand trust.
🧠 Prioritize Mental Health: Expand access to counseling, normalize seeking support, and train managers to recognize and respond early to signs of strain.
🩺 Prevention Over Repair: Invest in screenings, healthy work design, and flexible schedules to reduce chronic risk and absenteeism.
📊 Measure What Matters: Track participation, outcomes, and business impact with privacy-safe data to improve programs and sustain investment.
🧭 Set Clear Employee Expectations to Boost Performance
This guide shows managers how to define roles, set SMART goals, and create lasting feedback rhythms. It also warns of common pitfalls to avoid.
Key Takeaways:
🎯 Define What Good Looks Like: Use SMART goals and role outcomes to clarify priorities, decision rights, and measures of success.
🗣️ Communicate Early and Often: Set expectations during onboarding, revisit them in one-on-ones, and document agreements to prevent drift.
📏 Align and Measure: Connect individual goals to company objectives, track progress with clear KPIs, and use regular check-ins.
🤝 Balance Support and Accountability: Provide resources and coaching, clarify consequences for missed opportunities, and celebrate wins to reinforce desired behaviors.
Why It Matters
Getting RTO wrong wastes time, drives attrition, and inflates hiring costs. Unclear mandates also damage trust, which is far harder to rebuild than to protect. Thoughtful incentives and improved workspaces reduce friction and preserve productivity, which in turn lowers financial risk from employee churn and disengagement.
Transparent messaging and flexible policies also safeguard reputation. Employees notice intent in every decision -- and they vote with their feet when it is missing.
Until next edition,
Chloe Rivers
Editor-in-Chief
COO Intelligence
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