College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

Spring 6-13-2025

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Alice Stuhlmacher, PhD

Second Advisor

Shelly Rauvola, PhD

Third Advisor

Joseph Mikels, PhD

Abstract

In the aftermath of stay-at-home mandates that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have reinstated mandates requiring that employees return to the office either full-time or a few days per week. Although research has been conducted on the benefits and consequences of remote work throughout the pandemic, research is lacking on the perceptions of the return-to-office mandates and how these mandates impact employees. This study aimed to comprehensively understand what employees think and feel about a return-to-office mandate as well as identify group differences and impacts of the method in which the RTO mandate was communicated. To do so, current literature and theories were reviewed, a thematic analysis on interview transcripts that were collected from 15 employees who had been through a return-to-work mandate at an organization was used, and responses to a return-to-work survey collected via Prolific (n = 257) were analyzed. Results indicated that participants felt that return-to-office mandates increased social connection, time spent with leaders, feedback and the ability to enhance structural job resources. However, increases were also observed in adverse outcomes including negative mood, well-being issues, social exhaustion, turnover intent, and frustrations with commuting. Similarly, flexibility, autonomy, the ability to decrease hindering job demands, the ability to work without disruptions, positive mood, justice, trust, job commitment, and time spent with children were decreased due to RTO. Group differences amongst genders, ethnic and racial groups, age groups, and job levels did occur. Two days are typically preferred in office, while most organizations are requiring four. Finally, participants prefer to have input into their RTO mandate, and those who heard about their RTO mandate from their manager rather than via email had more positive experiences. Additional research is needed to understand the relationships amongst variables and intersectionality amongst demographic groups. The findings of this study can be used to inform researchers about which theories provide the strongest explanations for RTO preferences as well as inform organizations about which outcomes are truly impacted by RTO and how to approach returning to the office in a manner that suits the needs of their employees.

SLP Collection

no

Download

Share

COinS