“I always liked coming into the office…but after a while I realized the people I wanted to see were never there. So I just stayed home.”

We’ve heard versions of this over and over in our hybrid workplace research this summer. Flexibility is a great thing. It gives employees autonomy and sends a powerful message: “We trust you.”

But flexibility has an unintended consequence. Every time someone drives to the office, they’re taking a chance.
·     Who will be here today?
·     Will my manager be around?
·     Will it be worth the commute?

If the answer is “probably not” a few times in a row, people stop taking the chance. The fewer people who come in, the less valuable the office becomes. The less valuable the office becomes, the fewer people choose to come in.

It’s a cycle.

One of the lessons emerging from our research is that flexibility alone isn’t enough.

Employees also need PREDICTABILITY.

They need confidence that when they make the effort to come into the office, the people and conversations that matter will be there. Otherwise, the office slowly becomes a place where no one expects to find anyone, and eventually, no one does.