How do you want to “redeem your office miles”?
Why a carrot often works better than a stick when building new workplace habits
As organisations continue to re-evaluate hybrid working, one question keeps coming up: How do you get people back to the office?
For some organisations the answer has been straightforward: mandates, attendance requirements and stricter policies.
For others, the conversation has become surprisingly emotional. And that makes sense.
Where and how we work isn't just a business decision. It affects commutes, family life, wellbeing, social connection and daily routines. After several years of flexibility, many people have built entirely new habits around working from home.
The challenge is that habits are hard to change.
The office debate is often missing the point
Most discussions around office attendance quickly become a debate about productivity.
Can people perform their tasks remotely? In many organisations, the answer is yes.
At Open, we've collaborated successfully across countries and time zones for years. Teams meetings, digital workshops and remote project delivery are second nature to us.
The biggest challenge with hybrid working wasn't productivity. It was everything else:the spontaneous conversations over the desk, the laughs and banter, the sense of belonging to something and somewhere - in short, the trust that develops when people spend time together.
Those things rarely disappear overnight - they slowly weaken over time. Often so slowly that you don't notice until engagement starts dropping, collaboration becomes more transactional or valued employees decide to leave.
The irony is that the things most organisations want from office attendance are often the hardest things to measure.
You can't build new habits with spreadsheets
A few years ago, we made a conscious decision to move towards an office-first model while keeping flexibility. Our ambition was simple: spend more time together.
The reality was less simple: people had built new routines. Some had become used to starting work from the kitchen table. Others had become accustomed to structuring their day differently. And perhaps most importantly, people needed confidence that if they made the effort to come in, others would be there too. Because nobody wants to commute to an empty office.
It quickly became clear that this wasn't just a policy challenge - it was a behavioural challenge. So we tried a carrot instead: rather than focusing on compliance, we looked at motivation. Instead of asking how we could force people back, we asked: How might we make office attendance more rewarding?
Inspired by airline loyalty programmes, we introduced Office Miles.
The concept was intentionally simple: employees earned "miles" for office attendance and for using our booking system to communicate when they would be present. The goal wasn't surveillance, it was visibility and predictability. People could see when colleagues planned to be in, making it easier to coordinate their office days.
We added a small reward programme with Silver and Gold levels. Rewards ranged from lunch experiences and gym credits to personal desk upgrades and other small pieces of office "bling".
Nothing life-changing, but just enough to create positive reinforcement.
And not least: a bit of fun and a reason to participate.
What actually made it work?
The rewards helped, but they weren't the main thing. The main thing was consistency.
Office Miles created small nudges that encouraged repeat behaviour:
One person came in one extra day.
Then another.
Then they coordinated with colleagues. Over time, being at the office became normal again and the habit replaced the internal morning negotiation:
"Should I go in today?" became "Of course I'm going in today."
At the same time, we invested in the overall experience. We moved into a better office environment and focused on creating a place people genuinely wanted to spend time in. Because no reward programme can compensate for an office nobody enjoys being in.
People rarely change behaviour because of a policy document. They change behaviour because the desired action becomes easier, more rewarding and more socially reinforced.
The future of the office isn't about enforcement. Too many return-to-office discussions are still framed as a choice between flexibility and togetherness. We think that's the wrong framing.
The real challenge is designing employee experiences that make people want to be together. And that means:
Designing offices with purpose, not just desks.
Creating rituals and behaviours that reinforce connection.
Building visibility around when people are present.
Rewarding desired behaviours rather than only managing exceptions.
Focusing on belonging, engagement and culture, not just attendance metrics.
Because connection is the end goal – not just attendance.
Our Office Miles setup seems to have reached its destination so this week we're pausing it. We've reached a point where many people forget to log their miles because they're coming into the office anyway.
The habit is now stronger than the incentive. That's usually the sign that behavioural change has taken hold.
Need help creating a workplace people want to return to?
Every organisation's culture challenge is different - sometimes it's workplace culture, sometimes it's leadership communication, sometimes it's employee engagement, change adoption or simply creating reasons for people to connect again.
At Open, we help organisations engage and connect employees in an increasingly digital workplace and create the conditions that make change stick. We work with culture transformations of many kinds, from launching new corporate values, to corporate language transformations and beyond.
If you're navigating your own hybrid, office-first or return-to-office journey, or have another culture transformation brewing, we'd love to share what's worked, what hasn't and how a few small behavioural nudges can create surprisingly big changes over time.
Reach out to head of consulting, Nathalie Rhode-Erb, at nre@weareopen.eu, to hear more.
Authored by a human. Edited with AI. Signed off by a human.