Work from home: downtown Montreal offices still ‘too empty’

The masks have disappeared and life has returned to normal, but daily life at the office may never be the same again.

Five years after the start of the pandemic, telework is now taken for granted by many professionals. However, some employers are wondering if office life has not suffered too much.

Many companies have adopted a hybrid work mode, but do not have explicit requirements on the expected presence in the office or do not confront reluctant employees. The gap has widened between the expectations of employers and employees.

This can create “points of tension” in certain workplaces, notes Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.

“Employees say to themselves: ‘I want to keep something that I thought I had acquired. It is up to me to decide whether I need to be there.'” The employer says: “No, it’s my right to manage. It’s my right to organize work according to what I think is best for the organization.”

Out of sight, out of the corporate culture? That’s at least the main concern of employers with regard to telework, according to what Leblanc hears in the business community. Companies are concerned about the effect of distance on the sense of belonging, on the training and mentoring of younger employees. There is a fear of losing these interactions that ignite the spark of creativity.

The President and CEO of iA Financial Group, Denis Ricard, shares this concern. During a recent interview on the strategy of the Quebec insurer, he mentioned that he was worried about the consequences of the low traffic at the Quebec head office on team cohesion. “Right now, I find that our employees are at home a little too much.”

Even though some employees felt more productive at home, he stressed that being in the office is important for mentoring, team cohesion and innovation. “I’m currently at the stage of getting that message across. I’ve held three townhall meetings in the last three months, where I tell employees: ‘Please make an effort, come back. We need to organize.’”

The corporate culture argument is a tough one to sell to employees, Leblanc admits.

“It’s very difficult because it’s quite intangible, but in reality, one of the major elements of productivity is this ability to work effectively as a team and to have knowledge that goes beyond our immediate job, because we were in the presence of colleagues and discussions that affected us less directly.”

The loss of appeal of downtown Montreal also contributes to the resistance of employees who no longer want to travel there, says Leblanc. People working for multinationals have pointed out to him that the return-to-office movement has been less strong in Montreal than in other major North American cities.

He cites the presence of “more visible, sometimes more disturbing homelessness,” the feeling of insecurity, the difficulty of getting around, whether by car or public transit.

“In the questions we asked employers, this came up a lot as an element of response: that is to say, ‘I have difficulty convincing my employees to come because they don’t want to travel, not because they want to work at home, but because they don’t feel like coming downtown.’ That may be an element that is specific to Montreal.”

Leblanc is due to leave his position at the Chamber of Commerce this spring. Rumours are swirling he will be a Montreal mayoral candidate.

Rethinking the model

Due to the labour shortage, employees have had the upper hand when it comes to the conditions of their return to the office, says the director of the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés, Manon Poirier.

An increase in the unemployment rate could give more power to employers, but Poirier believes that they would be wrong to take advantage of it to impose more time in person.

“No, I would not recommend that organizations, even if they had a lot of candidates for each position, bring everyone back to the office,” she suggests. It would affect the motivation of their teams. That’s clear. In the name of what? When your employees are mobilized, it’s good for the quality of work, innovation.”

Generally speaking, employers’ fears about the effect of telework would not necessarily be justified, according to Poirier. Even with infrequent office visits, employees can still have a strong sense of belonging to their organization, she says.

She cites research that shows that the workers who adhere most to the organizational culture are not necessarily those who come to the office most often. “The most satisfied, the happiest people, those who feel the most supported, are the people who work one day a week in the office.”

Poirier believes that the hybrid model that requires a fixed number of days in the office is not necessarily the best. The telework policy should instead focus on the times when being present at work is useful.

The answer may change depending on the nature of each person’s tasks or on the key moments in the execution of a project. “Concretely, in these organizations, we looked at the tasks or activities that we believe would have added value if done in person.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews