Recent research from Gartner HR highlights a stark reality: One-third of executives faced with in-office work mandates plan to leave their employers.
This significant misalignment between organizational policies and employee preferences is not only a barrier to recruitment but also a catalyst for losing valuable leadership. This alarming statistic serves as a harbinger of potential crises in leadership and organizational stability as organizations try to force more employees to come to the office.
Perhaps that’s why we’ve seen such a big swing in CEO opinions against forced returns to the office. KPMG’s 2023 Global CEO Outlook, which surveyed 1,300 global chief executives, found 63 percent predicting a full-time return-to-office within three years for all of their employees. However, KPMG’s most recent survey of CEO opinion, from 2024, shows the pendulum has swung back: Only 34 percent now believe that their employees will work the traditional Monday through Friday, 9-to-5 in-office schedule within three years.
Given that it’s a similar survey by the same organization, the findings can’t be attributed to sampling bias or a tweaking of the questions. Rather, we’re seeing a real swing in CEO opinion.
Despite this swing, the 34 percent who do want their staff in the office more often represent a large number of organizations. We’re forced to conclude that many organizations ignore the threats of losing staff, including executives, from pushing for more mandatory days in the office.
How does the impact of in-office mandates differ among executives versus rank-and-file employees? A November 2023 Gartner........