Why Team Lunches Won't Fix Your RTO Problem: Here’s What Will!
Remember the movie Pleasantville? That 1998 movie where everyone pretended everything was perfect in their black-and-white world?
In a blog post last year, I talked about the Plesantvillian scenario playing out in corporate America's approach to return-to-office mandates (spoiler alert: the vicious RTO cycle continues).
At the end of last year, I spoke with two organizations taking vastly different approaches to RTO. Their stories perfectly illustrate why free lunch, ping pong tables, and bowling outings won't solve our workplace challenges.
A Tale of Two Returns (from Pleasantville to Dickens in one post)
Company A, a mid-sized pharmaceutical firm, invested heavily in office perks. They brought in weekly catered lunches, installed a new wallless break area, and scheduled mandatory team-building events. Their reasoning? "People want to come to an office space that feels homey, and they want to hang out with their coworkers in an unstructured environment.”
Company B, a similar-sized competitor, took a different approach. They studied their teams' work patterns, asked about personal challenges, and designed a flexible system based on their findings.
The results after six months?
Company A:
23% increase in turnover
Declining engagement scores
Rising complaints about "forced fun"
Mounting resentment about inflexibility
Company B:
15% improvement in productivity
27% increase in employee satisfaction
Higher collaboration scores
Stronger team connections
The difference? Company B understood that authentic connection comes from trust, understanding, and shared purpose—they focused on outcomes rather than proximity.
The Real Cost of Forced Fun
Asking for a friend, Does anyone like soggy tacos eaten in front of coworkers? Better yet wearing someone else’s dirty bowling shoes while drinking stale beer? No really, what work problems do these type of activities solve?
Let's talk about what's really happening when organizations try to solve complex workplace challenges with surface-level solutions. These events are like using a Band-Aid for a broken neck—it might look like you're doing something, but you're not addressing the underlying issue.
The real costs of hosting these “team building” events (If you’ve watched Severance think finger traps and melon parties):
Decreased trust in leadership
Reduced authentic engagement
Increased cynicism
Lost productivity during mandatory events
Higher stress levels
Understanding What Employees Really Want
2023 research from Microsoft's Work Trend Index shows that “87% of employees report being productive at work, yet 85% of leaders say they're not confident about employee productivity.” Ping pong tables and communal dining don’t create trust.
Want to know how to increase trust in teams?
Increase flexibility in how they work
Create clear performance expectations
Foster meaningful collaboration opportunities
Help team members tie individual purpose to organizational purpose (This requires knowing which activities feel purposeful to each team member).
The Path Forward
Want to know the secret to Company B's success????
It wasn't magic—it was methodical. Here's their blueprint:
Listen First
Conducted thorough employee surveys
Held focus groups across departments
Analyzed productivity patterns
Gathered feedback on pain points
Design with Purpose
Created flexible work guidelines
Established clear performance metrics
Developed collaboration frameworks
Built trust through transparency
Implement with Care
Piloted programs before full rollout
Provided manager training
Created feedback channels
Adjusted based on results
Measure What Matters
Tracked productivity metrics
Monitored engagement levels
Measured collaboration effectiveness
Assessed employee satisfaction and well-being
The Cultural Shift
Six months after implementing their flexible approach, Company B's CEO shared something revealing: "We stopped trying to make the office a destination and started making our culture the attraction."
Moving Beyond the Perks Arms Race
If you're a leader grappling with RTO decisions, consider these questions:
What are we trying to achieve?
Have we asked our people what they need?
Are we measuring what matters?
Are we building trust or undermining it?
The future of work isn't about where we work—it's about how we work best. And that's something no amount of free lunch can fix.
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