Whether it’s just your office or your entire operation, is Work From Home (WFH) here to stay, or will you and other employers demand people get back behind their workplace desks?  The Wall Street Journal reports the truth of the matter – it depends.  It depends on your business, your strategy, and your culture.

UBS Group AG will allow around two-thirds of its staff to mix working from home and the office as an employment perk after determining it won’t hurt productivity.

The Swiss bank, a big employer in several countries including the U.S., told staff on Monday about its commitment to flexible working. It marks a departure from other major banks, including Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., that are pressuring employees to return to the office as coronavirus lockdowns and safety measures ease.

        Some businesses can’t and will never be the type of organization where you can video-conference it in.  At the other extreme, some employers may never meet their employees in person.

        Our two cents are that WFH can be a positive, but nothing beats the meaningful and creative interactions that occur in person.  We’re social creatures and that won’t change, so mandate that all your employees get back into the office on at least an occasional basis.  In ways more meaningful than technology can facilitate anytime soon, seeing one another allows for all to deeply share institutional knowledge (especially to new hires), to brainstorm and ideate in highly fertile and profitable ways, and most importantly it allows you to best build and maintain the strong culture necessary to sustained success.