Return-to-office reruns are all too common. In 2024, 38% of employees had been through multiple RTOs and 6% had endured more than five. Often, these reboots reflect failures of the initial policy; when attendance falls short, companies double down by mandating more in-office days.

A large retail firm we work with did exactly this. First, it mandated three days for corporate employees, but got only two. Then it mandated four days in the office in the hopes of securing the desired three. The reboot succeeded in getting people into the building an average of three days a week, but at the cost of alienating the rule-followers who obeyed every mandate. Many of these rule-followers left the company, losing exactly the kind of workers the company most wanted to keep.

To avoid these sorts of botched reboots, companies need to get the policy right—and enforce it. When people reliably show up, the office becomes more valuable, which acts as a pull and reduces the need to push people there. Getting the launch right means implementing the following five pillars.

Both managers and executives must see the same need and the same potential in a return to the office. If managers roll their eyes while explaining the policy to their teams, the policy is undermined before it begins. If, instead, managers emphasize the potential gains from being together and convey a clear sense of purpose, resistance is less likely to harden into mutiny. That is why it’s essential to be explicit about why the work or workforce calls for a return to the office.

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