As the global health crisis seems to be abating, many organizations have set September as the month they will be returning to “normal” operations. What that normal will look like will vary from company to company, but the most popular choice, it seems, is a hybrid between remote work and traditional schedules. One interesting aspect of this transition, though, is that the decision power has seemingly shifted from employer to employee. Smart leaders are taking cues from their workforces’ needs and desires to avoid costly turnover and negative press. Tsedal Neeley, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School and the author of Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere, says business leaders are right to respond with cooperation rather than directives. “We’re in an era where people have tasted a different way of working, a different way of connecting with the people they cohabitate with, a reduced level of stress from the reduction of commutes, saving more money,” Neeley says. "Because they’ve tasted this, they’re demanding it, they want it. Given that, will incumbents remain as powerful as they’ve always been in drawing and retaining top talent? With the kind of great resignation and turnover that we're already starting to see, I would be surprised that if in the long run, they won’t start seeing people leave. This is the era for employees.”