Conference Board: Remote Work Better for Employee Retention

Remote and hybrid work arrangements are more effective for employee retention, according to the Reimagined Workplace 2023 Survey, published Tuesday by the Conference Board.

The survey of 185 human capital leaders found that employers with mandated on-site policies find it more difficult to retain workers than those that do not. Seventy-one percent of respondents representing companies with mandatory return to the office policies said retaining workers was “difficult” compared to 46% of firms with an employee choice who said the same.

“There is some indication that voluntary turnover may be linked to work location,” Conference Board researchers wrote. “[V]oluntary turnover among fully on-site workers has increased 26% in the last six months, twice the rate of increase among fully remote workers, at 13%.”

Sixty-eight percent of human capital respondents reported that they have or are considering a wide range of policies to encourage employees to return to work. The most popular strategies include workplace events, more flexible hours and a relaxed dress code.

When it came to the success of these strategies, 73% of firms said that enticing workers to return to the office was “difficult” or “very difficult.” This concern was exceeded only by the need to find qualified workers, to which 80% answered the same. The reluctance of employees to return to the office is clarified by other studies: they don’t want to because it is bad for their quality of life. Remote work enables workers to spend more time with their family, shortens their commute, and improves their mental health. The Conference Board survey also cites a study from Stanford University, which demonstrates that remote work can improve productivity.

Robin Erickson, the vice-president for human capital at the Conference Board and the lead author of the survey, says that employers requiring workers to be onsite should plan it and “make sure their employees know why” they are returning to the office. “Going to the office to sit in a closet isn’t productive” and it is important for employers “to respect their time” because with a long commute to the office there may be “less time to actually do work.”

The survey also found that the retention problems caused by onsite mandates are especially problematic for women: “Strong mandates to return to on-site work may be working against attempts to retain workers, especially women.” Erickson explains that may be related to the still unequal role women play in caregiving responsibilities. 

Erickson says that a “Pandora’s box has been opened” and remote work is here to stay.