Organizations have been using return-to-office (RTO) mandates for years to gradually dislodge employees from their home offices. But it wasn’t until recently that these initiatives started making headlines, with reports in the media detailing the pitfalls of taking a “shoot first and ask questions later” approach to RTO. The problems highlighted in these reports range from slight inconveniences, like running out of toilet paper, to more serious issues like desk shortages and crashing Wi-Fi networks. In some cases, businesses have had to reverse course and send workers home.
These stories have focused on the calamities that can ensue when organizations rush RTO policy changes. But many companies are using workplace management technology to shape a more pragmatic approach. Here’s how FM:Systems solutions are helping organizations avoid RTO setbacks:
Overcrowding Due to Downsizing Space
For many organizations, executing RTO mandates isn’t just a matter of welcoming their pre-pandemic workforce back to the same space they left in March 2020. Lots of companies have downsized their office space over the past five years, including 56% of Fortune 100 companies, according to a study by Buildremote.
That has contributed to one common problem cited in these news reports: organizations trying to pack too many people into their existing space. The resulting distractions, employees say, make it impossible to focus. Some workers are donning headphones to drown out the noise, which defeats some of the purpose of having them back in the office.
Before implementing RTO rules, organizations need to understand how many people they can accommodate in their existing space before productivity and morale start to suffer. FM:Systems room and desk booking software enables businesses considering increasing the number of employee days in the office to understand how their space is currently being used. Those insights can then be applied to model what attendance and utilization will look like once new RTO rules go into effect, allowing stakeholders to fine-tune these rules to ensure that employees don’t feel cramped and stressed.
Provide The Necessary Space For RTO
When you’re planning an RTO mandate, figuring out whether you’ve got enough space to fit everyone comfortably is just the first step. RTO initiatives can still fail if organizations don’t provide employees with the kinds of space they need to work most effectively. For example, 35,000 square feet may seem like plenty of room for 150 people. But if that space comprises mostly individual workstations and private offices, it may still end up feeling crowded, and you’ll have a hard time facilitating the in-person meetings and collaboration that are the main drivers behind RTO.
Giving workers the types of space they need to make the most of their in-office time is especially important for organizations implementing return-to-office full-time (RTOFT) mandates. Studies have shown that employees working hybrid often use in-office time for collaborative tasks and save their heads-down work for when they’re at home. Organizations that don’t account for both working styles in their RTOFT plans risk increasing employees’ stress and reducing their productivity.
Occupancy sensors, room-booking software and other FM:Systems solutions can reveal usage patterns to help you predict how your current space configuration will meet the needs of returning employees. You can then make changes to optimize the office in advance of rolling out your RTO policy. If those changes aren’t possible in your current space, or if they’re cost-prohibitive, these insights can inform amendments to the proposed rules that will help you maximize the current capacity and capabilities of the workplace and head off problems related to bringing employees back.
Employee Resistance to RTO policies
In addition to preparing the workplace for those employees who will comply with RTO rules, organizations have to figure out how to manage the ones who won’t. According to a recent survey by ResumeBuilder, 20% of full-time employees working for a company with an RTO policy aren’t following the rules.
One of the reasons workers resist RTO mandates is that they’re convinced being back in the office will make them less productive. In fact, 62% of respondents to our 2025 Inside the Workplace employee survey indicated that they feel more productive when working remotely. Implementing solutions like OpenBlue Companion can address that concern by empowering workers to manage their entire work day in one platform. Companion gives workers easy access to reserve collaborative space, arrange on-site meetings with catering or IT services, and streamline visitor management. Making the experience of being in the office smooth and stress-free not only helps businesses realize the full benefits of RTO, it can also improve the well-being of occupants.
Offering new and groundbreaking technology tools will be enough to convince many employees to comply with RTO rules, but it won’t seal the deal for all of them. Once new rules go into effect, organizations can use FM:Systems’ best-in-class workplace management solution, FMS:Workplace, to monitor attendance and compliance with RTO policies.
Conclusion
It’s easy to understand why companies want their employees back in the office. Our annual Inside the Workplace surveys of U.S. business leaders have long shown that many of them believe remote working prevents their organization from maximizing the value of its two biggest expenses — workforce and workplaces. Continuing to enable work-from-home leaves expensive office space underutilized, while at the same time impeding collaboration and weakening corporate culture.
But rushing into RTO initiatives can do more harm than good, damaging employee productivity, job satisfaction and even well-being. The secret to planning and executing a successful RTO policy is having the capabilities and insights to avoid the well-publicized pitfalls. Companies can use FM:Systems workplace management and smart building technology to support better decision-making and more surgical execution as they plan their next RTO move.
