What does it take to bring employees back to office? Driving reattachment and engagement through compassionate team and dependable supervisors

Purpose In this study, we investigate the impact of pandemic-induced disruptions and subsequent changes in work arrangements on employee's responses to return to a work-from-office environment. Our premise is two-fold – first, we examine reattachment and engagement levels of the employees with their return to the work-from-office environment and their impact on individual performance and work withdrawal behaviours. Second, we explore the moderating roles of supervisory dependence and perceived team compassionate behaviour in the above relationships. Design/methodology/approach We utilised a two-phase panel design drawing on data from 250 employees in the Indian IT sector, capturing employee responses immediately following their return to the work-from-office environment and again six months later. Findings Results revealed that the non-significant impact of job reattachment on performance changed to a positive significant impact, while the impact of work withdrawal reduced over a six-month duration. Job engagement was found to be a significant mediator in the reattachment–performance and reattachment–withdrawal links. Further, supervisory dependence was found to be a significant moderator in the reattachment–engagement link, and it demonstrated a significant moderated-mediation effect in phase 1 but became non-significant in phase 2. Perceived team compassionate behaviour remained a significant moderator in both phases and demonstrated a significant moderated-mediation effect, highlighting the enduring role of peer-level support during return-to-work-from-office transitions. Originality/value This unique study offers insights into how employees psychologically reattach to work during transitions back to office-based environments following prolonged work-from-home or hybrid arrangements.