10 Incentives to Make a Return to Office Exciting

People who don’t even work at Amazon are up in arms over its newest workplace policy: Return to Office (RTO).

Employees everywhere who love their hybrid or remote gigs fear Amazon’s RTO edict — everyone at corporate back in the office five days a week with or without incentives – will set a precedent for companies big and small.

It’s not a popular decision at Amazon: Ninety percent of the employees told Blind researchers they weren’t happy. And nearly 75% said they’d look for new jobs.

It’s a sentiment felt across industries and companies. In fact, Dell quickly followed suit, giving sales employees just two days to adjust to a five-day week in the office.

But could the right incentives make RTO not only bearable but exciting?

Could Incentives Bring Them Back?

It’s possible, especially if employees and leaders get aligned on why everyone should be in the office more.

For instance, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees they need to be back on-site to strengthen culture, collaboration, learning and connection.

Meanwhile, researchers at MyPerfectResume found employees believe their companies want them on-site five days a week to have more control over them, increase productivity, and improve communication and collaboration (they agreed on one angle, at least).

“To counterbalance these concerns, employers can focus on why they believe RTO will be beneficial to their specific organization, highlighting how it can lead to improved collaboration, a stronger company culture and enhanced innovation,” says MyPerfectResume career expert Jasmine Escalera.

So if a return to office is in your future — either a full-time one or a move from fully remote to hybrid — the right incentives could make employees less reluctant to come back.

Here are 10 ideas.

1. Alignment

Seeing the misalignment between why leaders supposedly want employees back and what employees think are the real reasons, perhaps the first incentive to give employees is aligning expectations.

“By connecting the benefits of an RTO to employee growth, employers can illustrate how RTO may increase employee visibility within the organization, create more opportunities for career advancement and support individual performance,” says Escalera. “Companies need a justifiable case for making such a major shift. Employers should begin to explain how RTO aligns with their long-term goals and offer tailored support to employees during this transition. It can help avoid potential dissatisfaction and burnout and show employees that their well-being is prioritized.”

Try an all-hands-on-deck meeting to align expectations and degree of flexibility.

2. Fuel Reimbursement

The MyPerfectResume survey found fuel reimbursement was a compelling motivator to commute again, with 50% saying they’d consider that perk a good reason to return to the office full-time.

3. Transportation

While we’re on the subject of transportation, consider employer-sponsored transportation.

Depending on your area and size of company, that might be contracted buses or commuter line tickets.

4. Unlimited PTO

Some companies offered unlimited PTO as an incentive to attract employees long before COVID-19 created a need, then huge desire, for remote and hybrid work. 

Nearly 50% of employees said they’d consider unlimited PTO a perk that could get them back in the office full-time. This incentive offers them the flexibility they often experience in a hybrid setting.

5. Child and/or Adult Care

Some companies have started before- and after-school programs where employees can have their kids on-site getting academic help, snacks, exercise and transportation to and from school. Other companies offer tuition assistance for nearby facilities for child and adult care to lessen employees’ concerns while in the office.

6. Pet Care

Along the lines of care, don’t forget pet care. They’re part of employees’ families. And many people adopted more pets during the pandemic because they were home.

So consider flexible pet care stipends to help ease your employees’ burdens with leaving pets at home when they return to the office. Then they can use the stipends to pay for dog walking, pet sitting, toys, food, dog training, etc.

7. Home Services Stipends

Employees who must commute to an office will lose valuable time they likely used to take care of home chores and errands. Help them recoup that with home services stipends. They can use that for things such as dry cleaning drop off and pick up, lawn care, appliance repair, etc.

Point is, it gives them back time. 

8. Lifestyle Spending Accounts

Similarly, to give employees back time they’ll be using to commute now, consider offering lifestyle spending accounts.

These allow them to invest money (and time) in lifestyle choices that interest them and improve their well-being, such as fitness, family, pets, professional development or mental health.

You can give employees lifestyle spending stipends at a regular cadence to spend as they wish.

9. Donations

At one point, Salesforce offered to make $10 donations to employees’ favorite charities for each day they showed up in the office for a set period of time.

Along those lines, consider giving employees time to pursue their charitable passions. Offer a certain number of work hours per month for them to volunteer in their favorite ways.

10. Food

Pizza parties are cliché. That’s not the food incentive that will bring people happily back to the office. However, catered meals for busy times and special projects help. Or give employees gift cards to food delivery services so they can have meals for and with their families.

Finally, Go in for the Win

Who will win this battle on the return to office? Escalera gives us insight on that:

“Rather than a single ‘winner’ for the RTO battle, wouldn’t it be ideal for employers and employees to come out feeling their needs were met?” she says. “Companies that approach RTO not as a universal mandate but as a more well-thought-out strategy focusing on role-specific in-office requirements offering flexible work options, and prioritizing employee productivity can turn what seems like a dream into a reality. This approach fosters a work culture built on trust and mutual understanding, making achieving business goals easy with an employee-centric approach that increases satisfaction. A more collaborative approach to RTO where everyone’s needs and input are considered ensures a win-win for everyone involved.”