HR Soul

You want people back in the office. They don’t want to come. This is why:    A friend recently sent me a photo of their (empty) office.    The company requires employees to be onsite three days a week, with flexibility to work remotely the other two. A fairly common hybrid policy, right?   But here’s the kicker:   🚩No structure around which days are in-office vs. remote.    🚩No coordination, so people show up just to sit alone on Zoom calls.    🚩No leadership presence. When teams do overlap onsite, their manager is too busy to engage.    🚩No meaningful in-person interactions. Onsite time is wasted watching webinars or collaborating virtually (you know, like you can do from home).   🚩No budget for team connection. Staff and managers have to self-fund group activities and meals.    🚩No open feedback loop. Frustration is universal, but no one feels safe voicing it.   This is a 100% true story and just one of many I’ve heard from friends, colleagues, and clients over the past year.    Which begs the question: who wants to come back to this? Forcing office attendance without intention, structure, or purpose doesn’t create collaboration; it creates resentment. And, listen, I'm not "anti-office". 👉 What I am is "anti" unintentional, misdirected, non-valued-adding work.    So, if you really want to create an engaging in-office environment, let's talk about what you can do differently. Here's the playbook:   ↳ Set core 'in-office' days. Give teams clarity on when to come in, so they actually overlap in purposeful ways.    ↳ Coordinate schedules. Use shared calendars or tools to plan meaningful in-person collaboration.    ↳ Be present. Managers should be available and engaged when their teams are onsite. Block out extra time on these days just for investing back in your team.   ↳ Prioritize high-value activities. Use office days for brainstorming, problem-solving, team-building; save standard, recurring meetings for remote days.   ↳ Foster a sense of belonging. Small gestures, like providing lunch or creating social moments, go a long way.   ↳ Listen and adapt. Ask employees what would make office time worthwhile and act on their feedback.   The office can be a hub for connection, creativity, and culture — but only if we make it one.   What’s your experience with hybrid work? What’s working (or not) in your organization? Have you found a good balance?

She said: “I’ve been wanting to do this for 6 years. At this point, I’m afraid it’ll never happen.” When I met this HR leader, she had 6 major projects on her plate: Overhaul employer brand. Build manager training program. Redo new hire onboarding. Launch engagement survey. Update succession plan. And implement a new HRIS. She was also: – Rewriting job descriptions – Covering for a recruiter on leave – Managing a reorg – Coaching two execs – Trying not to burn out Her title? VP of HR. Org size? Around 800. Team size: 3 people. By the time we spoke, only one of the six projects had moved forward. Can you guess which? (It was the HRIS) It’s not because the others weren’t important, but because there just wasn’t capacity. The one she wanted to get to? Updating the succession plan. It hadn’t been touched in SIX YEARS. In her words: “It’s basically a scribble on the back of a napkin.” And that’s the thing no one talks about enough: Perpetually delaying your projects isn’t just a bummer — it’s can create significant risks within your organization. Have you ever had to abandon or delay a project? If so, what was the driving reason behind it? — I’m Jordan and I love knocking out HR projects you can’t seem to get off your plate. Yes, even rewriting your employee handbook.