How hybrid work can boost productivity and trust

Why mandating return to office isn’t a fix for anyone McKinsey’s latest research tells us something important: the “where” of work is not the real issue, it is the “how.” Across in-person, hybrid and remote models, employees consistently report shortfalls in five critical practices: collaboration, connectivity, innovation, mentorship and skill development. These gaps have real consequences. Burnout remains high and intent to leave stays stubbornly elevated regardless of where people work. Leaders often overestimate how well these practices are being supported, widening a dangerous perception gap. Our own Working Women Report 2025 reveals how policies alone can backfire. Among women facing increased back to office mandates, 84% told us they are now actively looking for another job. This is not just a talent retention issue, it is an organisational health issue. That tells us something fundamental: imposing a blanket office mandate will not automatically address these challenges. If leaders hope to move the needle on engagement, productivity and organisational health, they should focus on enriching the work environment, not just enforcing presence. Let’s reframe the conversation: • Could we empower mentorship and growth in all work modes? • Are we creating spaces and moments, virtual or physical, that genuinely foster collaboration and innovation? • Instead of mandating days, can we measure outcomes, not seat swipes, as the true signal of engagement? A considerate, human centred approach that meets people where they are, in their lives and in their work preferences, could not only preserve flexibility but also elevate effectiveness. The policy alone is not the cure. To achieve better outcomes for both employees and organisations, we must get intentional about how we work, no matter where we work. https://lnkd.in/dqPECBGf

Who actually benefits from a rigid office-first system? Not the employer — these policies signal an inability to adapt," says our Managing Partner Mary Lou Nolan.  The debate around Return to Office mandates remains polarising — and it will stay that way until leaders shift the conversation from control to clarity. The best organisations don’t treat hybrid as a policy. They treat it as a strategy— aligning flexibility with purpose to get the best of both worlds. 📉 Clinging to the old model isn’t just risky — it’s regressive. ✅ Progress lies in clear rationale, intentional design, and trust. Read all about it in her recent interview with @Laura Varley from Silicon Republic.https://https://lnkd.in/eMMJUpHR Mary Lou Nolan Audrey NolanPippa Halley

McKinsey’s The Future of the Office report highlights that by 2030, office space demand in major cities is expected to decline by 13%, with $800 billion in real estate value at stake. Forward-looking organizations recognize that traditional office investments may no longer align with workforce needs. Forward-thinking companies must reframe workplace policies through an economic lens: What is the cost of a disengaged, frustrated workforce? What is the financial impact of losing high performers? And what investments will yield the highest returns in both talent retention and business performance? The companies that answer these questions with data—not tradition—will be the ones that thrive in the future of work.

When headlines shift to 'office mandates,' strategic HR knows it's not just about logistics—it's about trust. 👉 As of mid-2025, major companies like Amazon, JPMorgan, TikTok, Ford, and Goldman Sachs are increasingly mandating in-office attendance—some demanding a full-week return—driven by leadership’s belief that collaboration, culture, and performance benefit from physical presence. https://lnkd.in/dJY6XpmU Why this trend matters for global HR & culture strategists: What was once flexible hybrid work is evolving toward structured in-office policies—reshaping both talent expectations and campus dynamics. In international contexts, this means rethinking frameworks for equity, accessibility, and connectivity—across time zones, roles, and cultures. HR must guide this transition thoughtfully—balancing compliance and organizational goals with empathy and employee experience. From my perspective: With over 20 years advising organizations across borders, I've learned that workplace design must center on trust, not control. Mandates may command attendance, but culture thrives where autonomy, clarity, and care converge. I'd love to hear from you: How are you recalibrating policies to maintain connection, wellbeing, and global cohesion—while responding to renewed in-office expectations?

The hidden consequence of #wfh and return to office. The work from home ‘experiment’ for want of a better word is really starting to unravel in some unexpected ways. More and more companies are now mandating a return to the office especially in banking and financial services. The pros and cons and have been debated to death but the new reality is that employers are now favouring a return to the office for at least the majority of the working week. A recent survey by the British Chambers of Commerce showed that almost 50% of companies now expect their staff in every day that’s double the amount from a similar survey just 2 years ago. The consequence I referred to is the bad will being created in how return to the office is being managed and communicated to the team. Many firms are in my opinion creating really bad will by going from a laissez-faire approach to an overly regimented one in relation to where you work from. PwC as an example are pushing hard for a complete return to work and is monitoring its employees’ office attendance with a dashboard that tracks pass swipes and WiFi connections, making staff uncomfortable and questioning why they aren’t trusted. If your team don’t feel trusted then some of the benefits of returning to the office are lost. The collaboration, sharing of knowledge etc is all about culture, company ethos and values. So if you are going from a wfh policy to a return to the office I would urge you to communicate the reason why and remember that just because people have been away from the office it doesn’t change who they were. Don’t let loss of TRUST be the hidden consequence of your policy change. Maybe not all offices are as fun as ours at Robert Irving Burns pictured below but they shouldn’t resemble a police state either!

Astonishing how mistrustful some employers have become in the past decade, not just in the post Covid World: Yet bottom line indicators show that in the great majority their people deliver to and exceed their targets significantly when they are trusted, engaged, are not micro managed and feel valued, at home or the office: Make the office a space where they and colleagues can meet and thrive, not feel oppressed and spied upon!

💡 The real question isn’t how to bring people back to the office - it’s what they’re coming back to. I found particularly interesting the question: Are we designing workplaces for compliance, or for contribution? I couldn’t agree more with CEO Rachel Hodgdon, Mandates fill chairs. Design fuels choice, performance, and well-being. International WELL Building Institute (IWBI)

Here are the Fortune 500 companies that changed their RTO policies in July: 3M (Fortune 134) will end its flexible “Work Your Way” approach and require most U.S. employees to work on-site four days a week starting after Labor Day. 👉 New policy: 4 days/week in office starting September 2, 2025 👉 Previous policies: “Work Your Way” (2021) allowed full flexibility; shifted to 3 days/week for managers in 2024 Target (Fortune 37) told select departments they are expected in the office three days per week starting after Labor Day. The new policy is a big jump up from just five weeks per year in the office. 👉 New policy: 3 days/week for certain teams starting September 2, 2025 👉 Previous: Five weeks per year in the office for all corporate employees in MN and DC Starbucks (Fortune 116) will require corporate employees to work from the office four days per week starting September 29, 2025. Remote people managers must relocate to Seattle or Toronto within the next 12 months or leave the company. The company offered one-time cash payments for people to leave the company (if they choose not to RTO). 👉 New policy: 4 days/week starting September 29, 2025 👉 Previous: 3 days/week (Feb 2025) Sherwin-Williams (Fortune 176) will require all U.S.-based office employees to return to the office five days per week beginning January 1, 2026. This is a departure from its “Global Flexible Working Policy” that was set in 2022. Under the new policy, “Employees will receive a bank of 12 days per year that can be used as planned remote working days.” 👉 New policy: 5 days/week starting January 1, 2026 👉 Previous: “Global Flexible Working Policy” (2022) Verizon (Fortune 31) announced it will require management and corporate employees approved for hybrid work to report to the office three days per week starting after Labor Day. Previously, these employees were required to work eight days per month in the office. 👉 New policy: 3 days/week starting September 2, 2025 👉 Previous: 8 days/month UnitedHealth Group (Fortune 4) returned to the office four days per week on July 7. The announcement was made on June 25. 👉 New policy: 4 days/week starting July 7, 2025 👉 Previous: 3 days/week *BONUS – HSBC (based in London, and not in the Fortune 500) escalated its return-to-office push, requiring all managing directors to work in the office at least four days a week starting October 2025. 👉 New policy: 4 days/week for directors 👉 Previous: 60% in-office requirement

Value for money | the employer-employee relationship: Every single person has heard of the phrase, ‘value for money’ and it can be applied in many different situations. ‘Value for money’ means what you are receiving from something (a person, product or service) is worth the amount you are giving them. One key situation where this phrase has increasingly come up is in the employer/employee relationship or dynamic, whatever you want to call it. The question is being raised on both sides of this relationship and dynamic. Employers are demanding that employees return to the office and are putting a stop to remote and hybrid policies based on this very phrase, ‘value for money’. Employers do not feel they are gaining enough value from employees who are working from home and not the office. This is for various reasons. But, the discussion is largely focused on early careers employees as opposed to senior employees. On the opposite end of this discussion, employees are raising several valid reasons as to why they would like to maintain the hybrid working policy/model. These include: - salaries post Covid have not increased to accommodate a return to the office full time or for a majority of the week - many of them moved outside of the main city where their offices are located during Covid lockdown and did not plan to return anytime soon - the remote and hybrid models due to Covid restrictions highlighted that companies can very much remain operating as normal and like well oiled machines - there was no clear indication on whether the ‘new normal’ would change and that they would be required to return to the working office policies post Covid Based on these factors, some employees suggest that returning to the office is not a reflection of getting value for the money (salaries) they are currently receiving. This remains an ongoing discussion and debate in many parts of the world and different companies while some have been strict and enforced the return to work policies already with the condition that employees will be fired should they fail to adhere to it. We continue to follow this story globally. #CloudVision #officepolicies #wfh #remoteworking #hybridworking

Return to office has been a big HR trend lately, but should we just copy-paste it? Or should we pause and really think about the culture we want to build? My take: Simply mandating everyone back to the office because “that’s what others are doing” misses the point. The real question is what kind of culture are we aiming for - and how do we shape it intentionally? Here’s what The Economist found: - Working from home doesn’t kill culture, but it changes how people connect - cutting down spontaneous chats and quick teamwork that spark creativity. - Face-to-face time remains important, especially for welcoming new team members and staying agile in fast-moving industries. - However, forcing full-time office return can lower employee happiness and increase turnover, all without clear performance gains. - Hybrid work models, built on trust and clear communication, usually support stronger culture, leadership, and work-life balance. - Culture is not about visiting the office daily - it’s about designing meaningful connections that align with your business goals and people’s needs. So before copying the return-to-office trend, let’s be intentional: What culture do we want? How do we blend remote and office in a way that truly supports our people and purpose? Today culture thrives on thoughtful design, not just physical presence. It's more about HOW and WHY we connect not just WHERE. The article I am referring to: https://lnkd.in/dkyRTg8h