Five common RTO challenges your employees face and how you can help them

Numerous organizations have mandated the return-to-office a few months ago. However, as Filipino employees complied, they were unexpectedly greeted by various financial and non-monetary challenges as they transitioned from remote to onsite work.

SAVii gathered five of the most common RTO challenges employees face and bring you tips on how you can help them overcome these hiccups.

1. RTO resistance
   For more than two years, employees have become comfortable with the work-from-home setup that some would declare that they would rather resign than go back to onsite work. Fret not because these things can still be resolved.
   Possible solution: Initiate a company survey to understand how the entire workforce feels about working onsite. When results are in, categorize your employees according to the type of resistor: active resistor, passive resistor, neutral party, passive supporter, and active supporter. Initiate a conversation with the active and passive resistors to get to the root cause of why they negate the move. Communicate all the advantages of returning to office and why it would be beneficial for them. Activate the active and passive supporters with hopes that they can encourage their fellow employees to move to the positive side.
2. Presence of health hazards
   It’s safe to say that COVID-19 is here to stay in some form, making some people wary of heading back to office. With most RTO schemes adopting a skeletal schedule if not 100% onsite, some employees are not keen on the increased exposure and risk of contracting the disease.
   Possible solution: As company leaders, it is your duty to ensure that your office implements health and safety measures to keep it a virus-free workplace. See to it that daily health checks, additional sanitation stations, mask-on mandates, or even a vaccination verification process are in place at your workplace.
   
3. Pandemic-adopted pets
   One of the many ways Filipinos coped during the pandemic was adopting pets. This could be one of the many reasons why employees are not fully committing to working onsite again. According to leading e-commerce aggregator in Southeast Asia iPrice, interests for pets, either for adoption or for sale, increased by a whopping 88% based on the region’s Google searches.
   ‍Possible solution:Consider allowing employees to bring their pets to work. If not possible on a daily basis, allocate a day when they can have their pets in the office. These employees who have had enough time and experience in taking good care of their pets during the span of the pandemic are responsible owners who know how to manage their pets in public places.
   
4. Holding onto work life balance
   Workers have had a taste of flexibility, work-life balance, and having control when the remote work setup began. Some have also had children during the pandemic and these employees highly favor hybrid setup as they balance parenting and work responsibilities.
   Possible solution: Examine whether your company is capable of offering a flexible RTO setup for your employees. If a full five-day workweek at the office isn’t attractive to your people, start with only one or two days per week.
5. Increased costs on transportation and basic goods
   A 2021 study by AIA Group Limited found that 53% of Filipinos have increased their savings by 50% in 2021, a year after the peak of the pandemic. This was driven by the absence of the need to spend for transportation, less expenses for food and after-office get-togethers. Now that we’re in the middle of global hyperinflation and a looming recession, workers find it diffIcult to shoulder increased costs on public transportation and basic goods.
   Possible solution: Tap into financial solutions that provide financial assistance to your people. SAVii has recently launched a tailor-fit solution to address this exact challenge. Through the RISE: Return-to-office Immediate Support for Employees, your people shall be given access to a borrowing facility where they can file salary loans to get financial assistance on their day-to-day living expenses, most especially transport and food expenditures.

‍‍Your employees deserve only the best. Through these proposed solutions, SAVii believes that you will be able to encourage your employees to return to office in no time. If you need to learn more about RISE, reach out to a SAVii representative.