The language we use for post-pandemic working methods has evolved rapidly. Historically boring words like “office” now elicit emotional responses, new terms like “hybrid work” have inconsistent definitions, and many leaders are lost in search of the “metaverse.” The media has also revived a phrase that feels extremely relevant on the eve of the US presidential election: vote with your feet.

Microsoft’s WorkLab said“Employees everywhere are rethinking their ‘worth it’ equation and voting with their feet.” McKinsey & Company cited phrase to describe women leaders who face barriers to upward mobility. The New York Times figured companies that scramble when they move their headquarters across state lines.

Most readers will understand the metaphor, but may not know its origin and early uses. Mobility matters in the future of workso understanding the history of the phrase can allow for more purposeful movement between jobs.

Because your vote always counts, whether in attendance or in politics.

Ancient empires vote with their feet

“Voting with your feet” comes from two examples in ancient Rome.

The first is plebeian secession, where the plebeians staged a walkout in protest of unfair treatment by the ruling class. The second involves the physical movement of Romanian senators into the chamber to show their support or opposition to the proposals.

In modern politics, dissent from party norms is often called “crossing the aisle,” a move reminiscent of Roman practice.

Moving from a senatorial debate to a literal battlefield, the contemporary use of the phrase is linked to communist leader Vladimir Lenin’s description of Russian soldiers deserting the Tsar’s army. Years later, in 1958, Time magazine facetiously RECORDED“East Germans … are still voting with their feet fleeing the West at the rate of 2,000 a week.”

Back to the future: vote with presence at work

In today’s workplace, the concept of presence voting has been applied to various situations related to workplace flexibility and remote work. However, there has been little overview of how specific decisions to move between different jobs or stay in one place can affect company culture.

Here are five such examples.

Vote to give two days, not three

According to FlexIndex, about a third of companies operate in a hybrid model, insisting on a minimum number of office days per week. A minority of this cohort have certain days in their policy – for example, Monday and Wednesday instead of any two days a week.

In both cases, most executives want three days of attendance per week, while most workers will only offer two.

Many employees feel more productive working from home and see little value in commuting. This choice suggests that the company’s office culture may not be attractive enough to warrant attendance for three days each week.

There was little fear of such autonomy, as only a few companies seeking a near-full-time presence in the office threatened to fire employees who did not comply with the new policies. And that brings us to the second category.

Vote to opt out for more flexibility

Amazon is the most recent and highly public example of a full-time office mandate with the threat of termination for non-compliance. CEO Andy Jassey listed several reasons for this sudden policy change, but it appears to have had a negative impact on employee morale and willingness to stay.

Feeling platform for anonymous employees Blind recently reported that 91% of Amazon professionals surveyed are unhappy with the recent decision, and 73% are considering leaving the company.

This extension of the Great Recession, which began at the start of the pandemic, may be the most extreme version of workers voting with their feet and may send a strong message across industries over time about sensitivity to changes in flexible work policies. Such a severe cultural disconnect between executives and employees could take years to repairbut how quickly this collective choice affects the largest and most influential employers remains to be seen.

Vote to find a better place at the office

For employees who like their current roles and commute regularly, the next category of presence-based voting is transforming office design and activation. The increasing prevalence of mobile technologies and office-sharing programs allow employees to change their work environment throughout the day.

Workers can move to different functional areas in the office to feel more productivefor example, quiet areas, high-tech meeting rooms or community spaces. Activity-based office setups facilitate this flexibility, but companies without modern design can find employees improvising by, for example, rearranging furniture.

Vote to seek a third place

Workers who find their home or office unsuitable for their tasks can look to “third place” options, such as coworking spaces or local coffee shops. The availability of these locations has increased since the pandemic, with more companies offering benefits or refunds for their use.

By adopting a network of local workspaces, companies can increase engagement through choice and autonomy while also reducing real estate expenses by decreasing dedicated office space.

In a nod to the political metaphor inherent in voting with your feet, allowing labor to use third-place options is akin to promoting something more inclusive and fairer than a two-party system.

Vote to lead by example and be fun

The ultimate example of showing preference with workplace presence is for leaders and managers, whose steps land with tremendous cultural impact.

In reimagining the purpose of the office, most companies emphasize the need for employees to be together to do more difficult (but not impossible) things to achieve good results in a distributed environment, for example, learning, socializing and feeling connected to a vision and a greater mission. . Achieving these goals requires organizational leaders to visibly work alongside their teams.

Recently, Forbes Senior Editor Jena McGregor confirmed that “a common complaint about hybrid work policies in general is that young workers go to the office but find that managers don’t participate, meaning they may miss out on mentoring, training or personal development.”

Organizations that want employees to vote “yes” to office more often should focus their efforts on corporate senators, so to speak.

Vote for a vision beyond hybrid debates

Flexible furniture systems, immersive technologies and a skills-based, AI-powered workforce are accelerating the pace of change in the workplace. Consequently, the number of “choices” we will have to make about our everyday work environments will increase exponentially.

A better understanding of the history of people voting with their feet will inspire leaders and individual contributors alike to be more intentional about where, when and how they work. Presence is an unusually powerful tool for culture and change.