Return to Office Communication: Lessons From Barclays

Barclays’ office backlash: attendance isn’t engagement

From a boardroom, an extra day in the office might look like a small policy change. From someone’s kitchen table, it might mean another train fare and a childcare headache.

That is quite a gap for an all-staff email to bridge.

Barclays is facing staff opposition to plans requiring affected employees to attend the office at least three days a week from October 2026, with senior leaders expected in for four. Unite says thousands have signed a letter challenging the changes. Financial Times

The bank says requirements reflect business needs, with greater leadership presence supporting collaboration and decision-making. The Times

We do not know every conversation inside Barclays. But the story raises a useful question for any organisation planning change: are you involving comms in the decision, or just asking them to make it sound nicer?

Hang on. Didn’t we already change how we work?

The pandemic did not just change where people worked. It changed how they worked together. CIPD’s research in 2021 identified new ways of collaborating through technology and improved IT skills among the benefits employers reported, alongside genuine challenges. CIPD

If your business invested in collaboration tools, trained managers and helped teams work across different locations, acknowledge that effort. You asked people to learn new systems, build different habits and make remote working work.

That was not a minor adjustment. Neither is asking them to change again.

If those arrangements have been delivering, what now needs fixing? If they have fallen short, where is the evidence, and how will another office day help?

“Better collaboration”

needs more explanation than...

“same Teams calls, less comfortable trousers”.

People have already adapted once. Before asking them to adapt again, explain what has changed.

Is this about collaboration, or are we back to trust?

That is a question leaders should be prepared to answer, not a conclusion we can draw about Barclays.

There may be sound reasons for more time together. Perhaps new starters need better support. Perhaps particular tasks benefit from people being in the same room.

Explain the specific need and how the proposed arrangement addresses it.

Without that explanation, employees could reasonably wonder:

‍“Did you trust us to deliver remotely, or were you just waiting until you could see us at our desks again?”

Buying collaboration tools does not prove every working arrangement is effective. Equally, seeing someone in an office does not prove they are collaborating.

Changing direction is not automatically a mixed message. Changing direction without explaining why risks becoming one.

Bring comms in before the decision is gift-wrapped

For us, an internal communications strategy starts with what the business needs to achieve and what that means for its people. The launch email comes later.

Ask employees and managers about the practical impact while their answers can still influence the approach. You might uncover a need for different timings, clearer exceptions or additional support.

Be honest about what is open for discussion. Not every decision is a referendum, but “we’re listening” should not mean “we’re waiting for you to finish”.

Sometimes the most useful communications advice is:

“Before we write this, we need to resolve that.”

Managers need more than a forward button

“Please cascade”

is not a manager briefing. It is an email with homework attached.

Before launch, prepare managers to explain the rationale, answer questions and handle individual concerns. Make clear what they can decide and where to escalate.

Our free internal communications plan template helps map audiences, messages and channels. Use it to plan those conversations, not just schedule the announcement.

Count outcomes, not office chairs

Agree what success looks like, then check whether the intended benefits happen. Understanding and agreement are different things: someone can understand a decision perfectly well and still disagree.

And no communications plan can pay a train fare or rearrange childcare. Some concerns need practical answers, not more persuasive wording.

The point is not to sell the decision harder. It is to help shape it, explain it honestly and support people through it.

You can mandate attendance. You cannot announce your way to engagement.

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