Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Going into the office has significant benefits. getty Over the last few years, you’ve probably been able to work from home, at least some of the time. But very soon, you may have to go into the office more often, based on your employer’s requirements. There are of course wonderful advantages to remote or hybrid work, but there is also new evidence for the benefits of going back to the office as well. They are critical issues—how often you go into the office and whether you go back—because your work influences your happiness, your success and even your friendships. And increasing numbers of companies are insisting employees return. Salesforce is the latest example, requiring five days in the office come October. Even if you love working from home, don’t despair. You can find terrific reasons to appreciate the office as well. Why You’ll Want to Go Into the Office Your personal experience is key, of course, but there is also substantial evidence for the benefits of being in the office. 1. You’ll Make Friends Friendship is critical to wellbeing, and unfortunately loneliness is rampant today—with 50% of people saying they are lonely. The workplace can help, because being together in person and having places to gather and connect are significantly correlated with making friends, according to new research by the Survey Center for American Life. In the study, when people lacked access to gathering places (coffee shops, restaurants, community centers, parks, etc.), 43% said they had no close friends or only one or two close friends, compared with 25% who said the same when they did have access. On the other hand, when people had access to gathering places, 34% reported they had many friends, compared with 12% who didn’t have access. MORE FOR YOU $36 Trillion ‘By The End Of 2024’—Elon Musk Backs Serious U.S. Dollar Inflation Warning That’s Predicted To Cause An ‘Inevitable’ Bitcoin Price Crash The World’s Best Single Malt Scotch—According To The 2024 Scotch Whisky Masters Trump Vs. Harris 2024 Polls: Trump Takes 1-Point Lead In First Major Survey In Weeks Place matters to creating and sustaining relationships, because it can be the impetus to get together—and the context for conversation, sharing and getting to know others. In the workplace, you can invite a colleague to coffee or lunch. You can interact with a teammate before the meeting, and you can build friendships in the midst of the problem solving you’ll do together. You can feel good about going into the office, because it will help you feel more connected and support you in building collegial relationships. Engagement and performance have a spillover effect. getty 2. You’ll Be Smarter Being present with others can also make you smarter. New research from MIT found that when you’re within 20 meters (about 65 feet) of others, you’ll experience knowledge spillover—in which you learn from each other, get access to new information and build your awareness of issues or perspectives. Interestingly knowledge spillover can occur intentionally—when you ask a question or gather around a white board to work through issues. Or it can be unintentional—when you’re near your team and you overhear a great idea or get passive exposure to the work going on with others. You can feel good about going into the office, because it will build your awareness, understanding and knowledge—and allow you to share your expertise with others as well. 3. You’ll Be More Engaged One aspect of happiness at work is feeling a sense of vitality and energy—and this is influenced by the people around you. Team members tend to inspire each other, according to a study published in the Journal of Labor Economics. And interestingly, when you’re more engaged, you also tend to perform better and be more satisfied with your work, according to study published by the Association for Psychological Science. You can feel good about going into the office because you’ll feel more engaged, get more done and experience greater satisfaction as well. 4. You’ll Perform Better When you’re with other people, you also tend to perform better. In particular, when people were working within 25 feet of a top performer, their own performance increased by 15%, according to a study from Harvard. You’ll also better accomplish work that is more complex. If you’re doing routine tasks, working at a distance is fine. But for work that is more complex, urgent or high-pressure, in-person is much more successful, based on studies by Maastricht University and Erasmus University. You can feel good about going into the office, because it will amp up your performance and effectiveness. And when you’re a top performer, you can bring the whole team up as well. 5. You’ll Get Paid and Promoted Unfortunately if you work remotely, you’re 31% less likely to get a promotion, according to Live Data Technologies. And another poll found similar results, with those working away from the office 24% less likely to receive a promotion—and likely to get smaller increases in pay when they received them, compared with those who worked in the office. These stats were based on a survey by ResumeBuilder. You can feel good about going into the office, because it will pay off in salary and promotions. Be Happy No Matter Where You Work As much as you love your time working from home, you can also plan on a bright future when you have the opportunity to work in the office. It’s a both-and: You can gain advantages from working in both environments. So, wherever you’re working, lean in—to make friends, get smart, get engaged, perform brilliantly and reap the rewards in pay and promotion. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here. Here is the study by Maastricht University and Erasmus University. Tracy Brower, PhD Following Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions
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