The biggest thing leadership still doesn’t understand is that “the office” never created any value. The employees did.
Remote work existed long before Covid and for good reason. No wasted commute time and cost. More time with family. More flexibility. The ability to buy a home somewhere affordable instead of being forced into an expensive city just to sit in an office and take the same Teams calls they could take from home.
And then somehow stink decided to go backwards…
The arguments against remote work keep changing because the old ones don’t hold up. It was productivity. Then collaboration. Then culture. The reality is that talented people don’t need an adult babysitter watching over their shoulder to do their jobs. They need trust.
The companies that understand this will attract the best talent. The ones that don’t will keep losing the best people while wondering why engagement is falling and culture is nonexistent.
The office was never the magic. The people who deliver were. Give them what they want and let them choose where they work and deliver, then watch the productivity, culture and morale 180 from where it is right now.