Analysis: Employers forcing workers back to the office when they no longer have a desk (or office) are making some obvious and less obvious mistakes
Since the end of the pandemic, executives have been clamouring for employees to return to the office, but many employees who do come back find themselves without an office or desk. Sometimes, they come back to empty rooms with no lights or wifi. A deskless office can sometimes be quite workable and appealing, but it seems a little much to force employees to come back to the office, only for them to find that there is no actual office.
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An office and a desk not only give you a place to hang your hat and work, but they can also give you status. I found this out in a dramatic way when I spent a summer working as an intern at AT&T corporate headquarters. I arrived a day or so before the other interns, and the cubbyholes where interns were usually parked were not ready yet. The only office space that was available that day had recently belonged to a senior manager who had just retired, and I was assigned to that office.
Even though it should have been obvious that I was a poverty-stricken student, I was in an office with a Level-4 desk. The only thing that distinguished a Level-4 desk from any other desk was an extra two inches of overhang. But for that entire summer, I had an easier time getting resources and was treated with surprising deference by many employees. It was a case of the desk makes the man.
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In many organisations, job titles do not mean much and anyone not engaged in sweeping the floors is a vice-president so status is often conveyed by your office and office furniture. A corner office conveys high status while an office next to an elevator conveys low status. Similarly, an office on or near the executive floor is a sure sign of status, while an office on the ground floor is usually a kiss of death.
In the same way, the amount, size and quality of your office furniture is often a sure sign of power and status. A large, completely spotless, and completely uncluttered desk is a sign of high status, while a small desk crowded with papers and files is a sign of low status.
Executives who are forcing their employees to come back to the office when they no longer have an office, are making both obvious and less obvious mistakes. The obvious problem is that bringing employees back to the office after you have sold off most of the furniture conveys an unmistakable message about how little upper management cares about employees.
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The less obvious problem is that getting rid of offices and office furniture disrupts the non-verbal cues employees have long relied on to tell them who matters and who doesn't. A manager who does not have an office and a set of office furniture that conveys a message about their importance may find that they have a harder time managing. Employees who can no longer use the language of offices and their accoutrements to figure out who matters and who doesn't may end up concluding that status does not matter in their company.
In some organisations, traditional offices are giving way to shared spaces in a conscious attempt to remove arbitrary status differences. Yet most organisations are intensely hierarchical so removing status cues may lead to confusion and resentment. Rank has its privileges, even if the privilege is limited to a desk with an extra two inches of overhang.
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Smart executives might use changes in office layouts and furniture as part of efforts to install more egalitarian and less hierarchical structures. However, there is little evidence that the executives who forced their employees to return to the office while at the same time getting rid of offices, office furniture and the infrastructure needed to get things accomplished (e.g., wifi, lighting, lockers etc) did this a part of a well thought out plan.
Return to office mandates can work, especially if there are compelling reasons to believe that bringing people back to the office increases productivity or creativity. But such mandates in companies that have already sold off their office space and office furniture seem foolish at best, especially in companies where hierarchy is thought to be important. If you want your employees to come back to the office, perhaps make sure there is an office to come back to!
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
