Return to the Office After the Holidays: 7 Incentives That Actually Motivate Teams
As many organizations reconsider remote work, the return to the office becomes a sensitive issue.
Hello,
January is always a turning point. The return from the holiday break often comes with a reset of priorities—for both organizations and employees. This year, another challenge is added to the mix: the gradual end of remote work in several sectors.
Much of the current discussion focuses on the difficulties of bringing employees back to the office. Far less attention is given to a more critical question: how to motivate teams to return—rather than forcing them.
The distinction matters. Mandates may achieve short-term compliance, but incentives build long-term engagement.
Here are seven practical incentives to help organizations turn the return to the office into an opportunity rather than a source of tension.
Enjoy your reading, Marketers.
7 Incentives To Motivate Teams
1. Give employees a clear reason to come back
Resistance to returning to the office is rarely about the physical space itself. More often, it stems from a lack of purpose tied to being present.
When office days simply replicate what could be done remotely, the pushback is understandable. However, when presence supports collaboration, creativity, decision-making, or team alignment, it becomes meaningful.
Organizations that succeed clearly explain:
why certain activities are better done in person
what value presence creates
how it connects to the company’s broader vision
The office becomes a place of contribution, not control.
2. Turn the office into an experience—not an obligation
Returning to the office should feel like more than a commute. It should offer a distinct work experience. This can include intentional collaboration days, structured team moments and spaces designed to support real interaction.
Employees did not abandon the office arbitrarily, they left an experience that no longer evolved. Simply reverting to old habits rarely works.
3. Choose clarity over vague flexibility
Flexibility does not mean the absence of rules. It means predictability. Hybrid models work when they are:
easy to understand
consistent across teams
applied with discipline
Organizations struggle when expectations constantly shift. Uncertainty erodes trust faster than firm but transparent guidelines. Clear flexibility is perceived as respect.
4. Acknowledge the effort of returning
For many employees, returning to the office carries real costs: commuting time, family logistics, and personal energy.
Recognition does not always require major financial incentives. Simple actions can have meaningful impact: adjusted schedules, targeted benefits, and explicit acknowledgment of the effort involved.
Motivation often comes from being seen, not just being compensated.
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5. Consider individual realities
Remote work highlighted diverse employee situations, like parents, caregivers, long commutes, and mental health considerations.
A one-size-fits-all approach feels disconnected. A thoughtful, nuanced strategy strengthens trust, even when limits must be set. Equity does not mean uniformity, it means context awareness.
6. Involve teams in the transition
People are more likely to support what they help shape. Involvement can be simple:
short surveys
focused consultations
phased transitions with room for adjustment
Even when leadership retains final decision-making authority, being heard changes how the return is perceived.
7. Communicate like a leader, not a manager
Tone matters as much as policy. Effective communication is transparent, consistent between words and actions, and human rather than bureaucratic.
Employees understand that decisions are complex. What they resist is being directed without explanation or empathy.
Conclusion
The return to the office is not a step backward. It is a reconfiguration of work that demands clarity, maturity, and leadership.
Organizations that navigate this transition successfully will not be those that impose the fastest mandates, but those that create the strongest reasons to return, by restoring meaning to presence and value to the collective experience.
January is not the time to force compliance. It is the time to redefine the relationship to work.
Thank you for reading. See you on the Blog.
Jeff Maheux
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As many organizations reconsider remote work, the return to the office becomes a sensitive issue. Here are 7 incentives to motivate teams, without forcing them back.