CGI What are your thoughts about 100% onsite work for managers and up? Leaders are required to be in the office.

I have to laugh at this question... at my last company they instituted RTO requirements, but the problem was that 95% of the Directors, the C-Suite, and the E-Suite were remote. So, they designated the homes of those in leadership as "Centers of Excellence" (a fancy way of saying, 'a company office') so they were excluded from the RTO requirements. It was hilarious watching our CEO - who worked from home - tell us how WE all needed to come back to the office to improve collaboration and productivity.

Everyone should be in the office 100%. If you don't want to be in the office, there are plenty of people who need a job who are more than happy to go to the office.

Depends on the type of work. I'm a manager in a Research and Development department of a major medical device company. For R&D, being able to meet in person for collaboration sessions is critical to achieving a high performing team. Our individual contributors are typically in 3 days and week, managers and directors 4 days a week. Our VPs and above are often in every day unless travelling for business.

Think someone mentioned it below, but leaders are expected to lead and change should happen from the top. My expectation would be that soon everyone will be expected to be in the office 100% of the time.

There are several compelling reasons why upper management shoould be on-site.

Collaboration and Communication: Face-to-face interactions can foster better communication and collaboration among team members. It’s easier to discuss ideas, make quick decisions, and solve problems in person.

2. Company Culture: Upper management plays a key role in setting and maintaining company culture. Being on-site allows them to lead by example and ensure that the values and mission of the company are upheld.

3. Mentorship and Accessibility: When upper management is present, they are more accessible to employees who might need guidance or mentorship. This can lead to a more engaged and motivated workforce.

4. Oversight and Accountability: Being on-site allows upper management to have a better understanding of the day-to-day operations and to address any issues more swiftly and effectively.

5. Team Morale: It can boost team morale to see that upper management is willing to be present and involved. It shows a commitment to the organization and to the team’s success.

The important thing is to be able to reach the managers and other people in charge. It's not about the physical location.

Anyone with successful leadership skills can thrive under any circumstances!

Beats unemployment

I enjoy being in the office and am very close so no issues here....however I feel a hybrid approach would be best.

It is nonsense. Many companies have remote workers who need to be managed remotely and projects /supply chains that are global. There are some functions like strategy meetings that are better with everyone in a room but 100% onsite is not necessary for a well-integrated and functtional management system.

A good leader won't hide and will be present but is 100% of the time realistic? It really depends on the role and their scope. Is this a matter of you having to be in the office 100% and your boss is never there? That may be a legit issue but it's not as simple as the question is stated.

Everyone should visit the office occasionally, but no one should be required to be there 100% of the time or every day of the week. Meetings should be 100% online unless it's a small group of people who will all be in the same room (no hybrid meetings EVER). Every team knows who is actually being productive and who is just playing Warcraft and checking email. Nonproductive workers should be turned over to keep teams efficient and productive, but also recognize that productivity is more like high-intensity interval training than it is marathon running. Productive people get more done when you just stand out of their way and let them do their thing. It seems like we over-hired during the last few years and now have task-mastering managers salivating at the prospect of justifying their existence by micromanaging a labor force of mouth-breathers.

We have long since gone to a remote workplace. Our people are scattered across the US and beyond. RTO requirements are not feasible. Managers as well as FTOs are remote.

The plus side is the ability to recruit anywhere. The down side, if you believe that being in the office is necessary, is that option is off the table.

Prior to covid we were an in office organization with a few remote employees. When we went remote we lost no productivity at all. From a human point of view it would be nice to see my fellow employees more often, but working remotely does not hinder productivity at all.

Having a long career provides perspective… I believe everything has to be fit for purpose and take a balanced approach. I have managed many global teams and do not need to see them to know they are working. However, managing takes effort and you need to have open communication and collaboration constantly. I would speak to my teams virtually multiple times throughout the day. It’s critical to also use video to see and gauge reactions and their work environment.

I enjoy connecting with people and go to the office on occasion especially to attend corporate events. It’s important to plan schedule in person get togethers to reinforce team bonding

I also understand the company is paying for office space and having it full influences the business and economy near by. Organizations need to stop thinking one rule across an organization and take a value based approach to drive efficiency of resources and outcomes.

What possible benefit would there be? Note that this requires that there *be* a site to be on, and drastically limits the candidate pool. At one job I lacked a manager for a whole year because the position was constrained to a single, secondary metro area.

Having a long career provides perspective… I believe everything has to be fit for purpose and take a balanced approach. I have managed many global teams and do not need to see them to know they are working. However, managing takes effort and you need to have open communication and collaboration constantly. I would speak to my teams virtually multiple times throughout the day. It’s critical to also use video to see and gauge reactions and their work environment.

I enjoy connecting with people and go to the office on occasion especially to attend corporate events. It’s important to plan schedule in person get togethers to reinforce team bonding

I also understand the company is paying for office space and having it full influences the business and economy near by. Organizations need to stop thinking one rule across an organization and take a value based approach to drive efficiency of resources and outcomes.

I think it complete will depend on how the organization is set up. If the team is mostly remote, I see no reason that managers must be 100% onsite.

Communication is key. If the team can effectively communicate through means not of in-person contact, then requiring in-office hours is not going to be well received.

Only need to be on-site when needed. Just like me. When I have sample prep and run the job I am on-site. I can monitor the data real time from my home. I don't need to sit in the lab or at a cube while it runs a 36 hour job.​

What does your hybrid environment look like? We are now in the office 4 days a week. I wouldn't really call that Hybrid. I think JPMorgan Chase 1 sums it up beautifully. Additionally, returning to the office is just as much about money and profit, especially if you work for a retail giant. You spend more on clothes, on health and beauty, and, and, and.

I see very little value is spending time on TEAMS calls, because half of our team/vendor is off-shore, yet they make me, a supposedly valued employee, come into the office. It's 2 hrs a day commuting that I used to work. So who is really winning here?

It doesn't really make sense. What I do with my organization is that we arrange to meet.

Learn how to code if you want to work from home. Learn how to code well so your boss trusts you.

Face to face communication is so much more effective than any disparate non colocated interaction will ever be. Working remotely is hardly ever collaborative and we should stop trying to pretend that it is more efficient as it is hardly rarely effective.