Social connection is why we all need to be in the office, according to CEOs rolling out return-to-office (RTO) mandates. 

Target is the latest company to go the mandate route, with employees required to work from HQ a minimum of three days per week. “More time together, in the office, will help us grow our business faster, solve problems quickly, and build stronger relationships across our Commercial team and with our partners,” said Target’s Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez. 

But do RTO mandates actually rebuild connection?

 One in five employees ignore RTO mandates, and 40% of managers let it slide. 

Employee engagement is also now at its lowest since the pandemic. Interestingly, manager engagement fell most steeply – the cohort that (coincidentally or not) has to enforce RTO mandates they may not agree with. 

And despite the forced water-cooler time, the social connection happening in the workplace isn’t the kind leaders actually want to see.

Social disconnect harms organisational performance, employee engagement, workplace wellbeing and retention. A staggering 46% of employees aged 25-34 would quit their jobs if their workplace was dull and uninspiring. 

Workplace leaders have a massive opportunity to turn things around. But how do you go about building stronger workplace relationships in the right way? 

Keep reading for three ways to boost social connection in the office.

1. Overcome remote work inertia

Whether or not an RTO mandate is in place, a remote workday in the life of a hybrid employee ends up being quite cyclical. 

It looks a lot like this: 

• Promising to go to the office tomorrow,
• Facing the reality of commuting and booking hassles the next morning,
• Finding out your work bestie isn’t going in either, hitting snooze and staying home, 
• Repeating in perpetuity.

This cycle of remote work inertia doesn’t come down to a lack of willpower. It’s caused by these two blockers:

1. The lack of a compelling event to make people want to come in.
2. The hassle of planning a day in the office.

Remote work inertia destroys social connection in the workplace. It takes 50 hours to transform a relationship from acquaintances to friends, and a further 200 hours to become close friends – the exact type of relationship that boosts engagement and job satisfaction.  

And while social connection can be built online, it doesn’t impact us in quite the same way as in-person connection does. 

 A study on the effects of different mediums of communication on bonding found that in-person produced more feelings of social connection compared to text, video and audio. 

While any form of social connection does us good, connecting in-person creates the kinds of relationships most beneficial to engagement and retention. 

How to overcome remote work inertia: 

• Create compelling events: Mentorship sessions, lunch-and-learns and after-work socials all work well here if they’re recurring.
  
• Make the planning part easy: From knowing exactly where your parking spot is to that reserved office pod for your 3 PM call, certainty banishes remote work inertia.

2. Figure out which workplace experiences make the office worth the commute  

Physical presence alone isn’t enough to facilitate social connection. 

It comes down to workplace experience, which is an employee’s perception of the interactions they have with their company’s physical and digital work environment.

If everyone spends the day immensely regretting the commute, they’re not going to be chomping at the bit to have a good chat and a brainstorm. 

Getting employees to give up the convenience of working from home is a huge ask. 

If people follow through and immediately regret it as soon as they walk in the door, it’s an automatic disconnect. 

Commute regret happens for different reasons because every individual employee has different habits, preferences and objectives when they come into the office. The task facing workplace leaders is figuring out what those are and providing more of them. 

How to figure out which workplace experiences banish commute regret: 

• Give people a preview of who will be in: Seeing colleagues and work besties in-person is one of the main reasons people come into the office, but it’s not the only one. 
• Create your hybrid work personas: Characterise your employee base by their motivations for coming into the office and their workplace preferences.

3. Lacking the data to create an adaptable workplace strategy

Rebuilding social connection requires an adaptable workplace strategy. 

This isn’t going to be a piecemeal, one-and-done endeavour, though – a successful hybrid workplace strategy will require completely different things for different groups of employees. And once you’ve figured out what it takes, everything will change. 

We also need to touch on all the other questions a hybrid work strategy should answer, like: 

• How many times a week should people come in?

• How can we make sure everyone feels psychologically safe in the office so they’ll connect and share knowledge?

• How can we be more sustainable?

• Should we invest in fancy espresso machines? (The answer to this one should always be yes)

The answers to each of these questions (save the last one) are going to change. And to create a hybrid work strategy that can handle this level of change, workplace leaders and innovators are missing one thing. 

Data. 

Specifically, data about how spaces in the workplace are being used. Without enough data, workplace leaders are building their strategies on sand with no way to measure success. 

Unfortunately, when your workplace strategy stalls, remote work inertia and commute regret start happening, destroying social connection in the process. 

How to get the data you need to create an adaptable hybrid work strategy: 

• Measure how office space is used: Many leaders make decisions based on assumptions rather than facts. Data from workplace booking systems, WiFi usage and even badge swipes give insight into how office space is being used – a solid basis for a strategy. 
• Create check-in points between decisions and outcomes: Get regular check-ins in the diary with stakeholders to understand the impact workplace or policy changes are having on space usage and employee satisfaction. 

Looking for more tips on boosting social connection without mandates? Check out this on-demand webinar.

Facilitating instead of forcing social connection is a huge part of an effective workplace strategy, but how do you balance that with stakeholder alignment, tight budgets and constant change?  Download this guide to Dynamic Workplace Strategy for six goals and four core capabilities every workplace leader needs in 2025. 

Hubstar is the proud Leadership Partner of Culture Pioneers – a campaign to both support organisations driving impactful culture change, and commend those who are leading forward and challenging the status quo at work.