7 Strong Employee Motivators That Improve Office Attendance

The way we work keeps shifting, and where people work has become one of the most contested questions on any HR or facilities team’s desk.

Fewer of us bump into each other in the break room, chat over coffee, and swap commute stories. More of the day runs through video calls, Slack, and email.

Remote work has clear upsides, but some employees worry a return to the office will cost them the flexibility they’ve built their lives around. Employers, meanwhile, want more in-person time and often meet resistance when they ask for it.

There’s a workable middle ground.

This article covers seven motivators that get employees to choose the office, with a focus on the collaboration and social connection that in-person time makes possible.

Quick Summary: Here are several questions we’ll answer:

• Should you bring employees back to the office?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of employees being in the office?
• What are some motivators for employees to work from the office?
• How can you get employees excited about working from the office?

An office motivator is any incentive, amenity, or workplace condition that makes an employee choose to come in, rather than a mandate that forces them to. The distinction matters, because the data on forced attendance isn’t kind to employers.

Should you bring employees back to the office?

There’s no single right answer, and the current numbers show why.

As an executive, you know there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to a company and its culture. Some employees do their best work in an office. Others prefer to work remotely, or on the go.

The pressure to return is real. According to CBRE, 37% of companies were enforcing office attendance requirements in 2025, more than double the 17% who did so in 2024. But enforcement and attendance aren’t the same thing. Employees still push back, and forced mandates carry a cost: Pew Research Center found that 46% of workers who can work from home say they’d be unlikely to stay at their current job if their employer no longer allowed it.

At the same time, people do value the office. Many miss the social side of in-person work, the spontaneous conversations, and the collaboration that’s harder to replicate on a call. What they want is a say in when they come in.

Listen to your employees and weigh their concerns before setting policy. If you’re considering bringing your team back full-time, think hard about both sides of the decision.

4 benefits of employees returning to the office

Remote work is here to stay, but in-person time still delivers things that are hard to get any other way.

More opportunities for collaboration

Collaboration is where in-person work earns its keep. Working together in the same room makes communication and teamwork easier.

Research backs this up. Face-to-face requests are 34 times more effective than the same requests sent by email.

When employees share a space, they can bounce ideas around, brainstorm, and work through problems together. With OfficeRnD Workplace’s meeting room booking system, booking a room for your team takes a few clicks. That means more time collaborating and less time hunting for an open space.

Camaraderie and a sense of belonging

The office is where people meet, collaborate, and build relationships. Being there in person helps employees feel like they belong to something bigger than their own to-do list.

Belonging isn’t a soft nice-to-have. In McKinsey’s Great Attrition research, 51% of employees who had left a job cited not feeling a sense of belonging at work as a reason for quitting. Connection keeps people around.

Separate work from personal life

A physical line between work and home can lead to a healthier balance. That’s especially true for people who are always on the move, traveling for work or working remotely.

If you have an office space in your home, it’s easy to stay pulled into work when you should be focused on family.

It also makes it harder to switch off at the end of the day. Instead of relaxing at night, an employee might be replaying how their boss will react if a report isn’t done by morning. That helps no one.

Better resources

In the office, employees have access to better equipment and facilities. If they need a good monitor, a fast printer, or a quiet room to finish a task, the office often beats home.

This matters most for work that needs specialized software or hardware people don’t have at home.

Some companies also provide free food, which is a small perk that makes coming in more appealing than staying put all day.

4 challenges employees face when in the office full-time

Full-time office work has real downsides that employers should account for.

Commute time

Returning to the office means commuting, which takes time and money.

Long commutes can add stress and fatigue to the day, which can drag on productivity and work-life balance.

Distractions

Offices get noisy. Interruptions from colleagues and phone calls make it harder to focus and finish deep work.

Higher costs

Renting space, paying utilities, and stocking supplies cost businesses money. They also add to employee expenses through commuting and parking.

Difficulty with work-life balance

Commuting to and from work, dealing with office distractions, and long hours can make balance hard to hold. When employees are overworked and stressed, their physical and mental health suffers, leading to burnout and less creativity and motivation.

Meeting in the middle with hybrid work

In-person work brings clear benefits. Office-only work brings clear costs. Hybrid work gives you both.

The research supports it. PwC’s Workforce Radar Report, based on 13 months of research and a survey of over 20,000 people, found hybrid workers report the highest levels of satisfaction, and more than three-quarters feel like they belong, ahead of both fully on-site and fully remote workers. A hybrid model lets people balance face-to-face interaction with the flexibility of working from home.

That balance helps employees, and it can lift productivity and save businesses money.

Hybrid work software such as OfficeRnD Workplace helps teams close the gap, with features built for communication, connection, and collaboration.

Its collaborative scheduling features make it easy for employees to plan in-person time and come to the office for the moments that matter.

The software simplifies desk and meeting room scheduling, so double bookings and missed meetings stop being a problem.

OfficeRnD Workplace gives employees the flexibility of remote work and the benefits of in-person collaboration in one place.

7 return-to-office employee motivators

Getting people to come in is hard when they can work from their own kitchen table. Here’s what actually draws them back for in-person collaboration.

Appealing office spaces

A comfortable, functional, well-designed workspace pulls people in. Invest in ergonomic furniture and hot desks so the space is genuinely nice to work in.

Office design isn’t a vanity project. A June 2025 Crown Workspace survey of 1,250 workers and decision-makers found 91% would come into the office more often if the space better met their needs. Make the office somewhere people want to gather, socialize, and work together.

With OfficeRnD Workplace’s desk booking software, employees can find and book the right desk for the day. They can also invite teammates to sit nearby, which encourages collaboration and casual interaction.

Sense of community

Social connection is one of the strongest reasons people show up. Design your office to make that connection easy, and the office becomes a place people want to be.

OfficeRnD Workplace makes it simple to manage space for social events, break rooms, game areas, and team-building activities. It also shows who’s coming in for happy hours, game nights, or potlucks.

Flexibility

Give people a say in when they come in. Run surveys and use the feedback to set the right hybrid work policies. When employees have more control over their schedules, you build trust and a calmer work environment.

Perks and incentives

Perks can tip the decision to come in. Snacks and drinks in the break room, gym memberships, commuter benefits, or the occasional catered lunch all help. Free or subsidized meals in particular rank among the most-wanted office amenities in recent surveys.

Celebrating milestones and achievements

Build a culture that marks personal and professional wins. Company-wide events, team outings, or personalized rewards for hitting milestones give people a reason to gather in person.

Personal growth and development opportunities

Chances to learn and grow make people feel invested and valued. Offer training programs, mentoring, or tuition reimbursement for further education. In-person mentorship in particular is hard to replicate on a call, and it’s one of the clearer reasons for early-career employees to come in.

User-friendly technology

If you want in-person collaboration, give people technology that makes it easy.

OfficeRnD Workplace offers collaboration features that let employees:

• Plan their office visits in advance and see who’s in on any given day on a clear Schedule page
• Book desks and meeting rooms, and make those bookings recurring
• Invite up to 15 “Favorite” colleagues and send them custom invites for the moments that matter

See OfficeRnD Workplace’s collaboration features here.

Tips to get employees excited about being in the office

A few practical moves make a real difference.

Explain why

People are more willing to come in when they understand the point. Be clear about what in-person time delivers: better collaboration, networking, and social connection. Connect the office to their goals and the company’s success. Mandates without a reason tend to breed resentment, not attendance.

Listen to feedback

Ask what people want to see: more natural light, better seating, upgraded technology. Then act on it.

When you implement suggestions, you show employees their opinions count. That builds a sense of ownership in the office. While you’re at it, work on becoming a better collaborative communicator.

Get creative with work arrangement options

Flexibility motivates people. It consistently ranks among the top reasons workers take a new job.

Offer a mix: flexible schedules, remote days, and some in-office time to get the benefits of working alongside your team.

That’s why hybrid works. It supports a good work-life balance, lifts productivity, and lets companies use less office space and spend less on overhead.

Bring your team together in person with OfficeRnD Workplace

As you plan more in-person time, put employee concerns and preferences first. Flexible options and support for different working styles create an environment where people stay engaged and well.

The goal is to bring people back in a way that keeps the best parts of remote work. OfficeRnD Workplace’s collaboration features are built to do exactly that.

OfficeRnD Workplace is a hybrid work management solution that helps companies coordinate in-person and remote work without losing the benefits of either.

The best part?

You can start at no cost, with no strings attached.

Get started for free with OfficeRnD Workplace.

FAQ

What does “return to office” mean?

“Return to office,” or RTO, means going back to a physical workplace after a period of remote work. The term became common after the COVID-19 pandemic, when many companies shifted to remote work and later asked employees to come back in, either part-time on a hybrid schedule or full-time.

Do employees want to return to the office?

It depends on the employee. Some want the social interaction, the collaboration, and the separation between work and home. Others prefer remote work for the flexibility, the lack of a commute, and easier balance between personal and professional life.

Most surveys point to a preference for hybrid. Pew Research Center found that among people with jobs that can be done from home who aren’t fully remote, 75% now say their employer requires in-person work a certain number of days, up from 63% in 2023. Even as requirements rise, most employees want at least some remote time.

How do you announce a return to office?

Plan and communicate carefully so employees feel informed and supported. Give a clear timeline, explain the reasoning behind the change, and be specific about what’s expected. Spell out the benefits of in-person time, and build in flexibility to accommodate different needs. Skipping the “why” is the fastest way to lose goodwill.

What motivates employees to come into the office?

The strongest motivators are the ones people choose rather than the ones imposed on them: a well-designed, comfortable workspace, real social connection with colleagues, flexibility over their schedule, meaningful perks like free meals and commuter benefits, in-person mentorship and development, and technology that makes booking a desk or planning a day in the office simple. Recent surveys consistently show amenities and space quality drive voluntary attendance more than mandates do.