03 As it was Copyright © 2022 Accenture. All rights reserved. 34 Without in-person engagement, what happens to mentorship? To innovation? To culture? To inclusion? People who continue to work remotely could easily be overlooked for promotions or opportunities simply because they aren’t so visible—and many will be parents of young children whose logistics are easier if they work at home. The return to the office is not yet a success, and leadership must take a fresh approach if they want to move things forward in the right ways. Accenture’s research found that people around the world are missing certain intangible aspects of office life: a participant in China commented, “I miss the team building activities held by the company in the past, and now they have been cancelled due to the reduction of contacts due to the epidemic,” while another in India told us, “Before Covid, we all employees used to have lunch breaks and tea breaks in which we used to chit chat a lot. And we missed that thing a lot.” In the UK, a participant told us they missed “the daily interaction with colleagues, impromptu conversations.” For balance, a US participant in the same research project stated, “I feel closer to and appreciate my employer MORE. By allowing me to work remotely I feel more inclined to stay present with my job but still allowed flexibility. ” 44 A different study found that 35% of Australians said they would quit their job or start looking for another if their employer forced them to return to the office full time. 45 The primary reason? To avoid the commute. + photo realistic, surreal, diverse subjects, bright, 8k, hyper detailed, change 100, aspect ratio 2:3, algorithm version 4