More execs eyeing full return to office for staff, saying innovation and collaboration lacking

Mia Jensen

December 13, 2024

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Federal employees are not the only ones being asked to return to the office, according to one local observer, as increasingly disillusioned executives make plans to switch course from hybrid to full-time in-person. According to a recent report from KPMG, executives are increasingly bullish about having employees return to the office full time, despite spending the last few years implementing more permanent hybrid structures. The report, which was released in September, surveyed 1,300 business leaders from major companies across the world. Of those surveyed, 83 per cent were expecting a full return to office five days a week over the next three years, up from 64 per cent in 2023. Nick Quain, vice-president of venture development for Invest Ottawa, told OBJ that local executives are among those eyeing a full in-person return. “The idea of returning to office more formally and having staff there in-person together more often is one of the most top-of-mind issues for leaders in our community,” he said. “We’re seeing multiple companies announce a return to office, ranging from three days to five days, all in the name of collaboration, often in response to feedback from the company or from the staff.” The hybrid model, while necessary during the pandemic, has overstayed its welcome for some of those surveyed, especially male executives over the age of 60, according to the KPMG report. Quain suggested that’s because challenges with communication and collaboration haven’t been adequately bridged, and training junior staff remains more difficult as employees spend most of their time apart. He said executives have also reported challenges creating and fostering a healthy company culture, with new hires unable to absorb it and existing employees forgetting it. “Through feedback, they can clearly see symptoms that hybrid is not working as well as it could be,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of firms that are bringing their staff back. This is a constant theme that they’re talking about.” While productivity has remained steady, Quain said innovation has become a concern for executives under the hybrid model. “A lot of leaders have felt something’s missing,” he said. “They’re like, yes, our people are productive, but are we being as innovative, as creative, as collaborative as we could be? Are we capturing all the opportunities we could, if we had all these leaders in a room together? Because all us who experience in-person versus virtual meetings know that there’s a difference and there’s certain things that are more effective.” The change in opinion, Quain said, is in part influenced by some larger firms and governments implementing RTO mandates, inspiring companies that may have been hesitant or on the fence to follow suit. In some cases, executives have been waiting for the opportunity, but were held back by tight labour markets and a lack of qualified candidates. In the past year, he said, that’s changed. “Two years ago, there was such a war for talent, everyone was petrified of the idea of upsetting their team because they felt team members were getting poached,” he said. “Now there’s better qualified people on the market than there’s ever been. So this is allowing leaders to say, ‘If some of the people who work for us don’t want to come into the office, then we can find someone who will.’” But not all executives are changing their minds. “The preferences of the leaders of an organization unquestionably have an impact on what the policies will be,” he said. “If someone built a beautiful home an hour and a half outside of Ottawa and has decked out this massive office, that’s likely going to impact the company’s policy.” Plus, RTO mandates can still push out top talent for companies that aren’t careful. Flexibility, an increasingly important company policy, continues to be important for companies returning full time. But for some top employees, especially those hired under the hybrid model at the height of the pandemic, flexibility alone might not be enough to keep them around. “You’re changing the terms of their employment to a degree,” said Quain. “Some companies are grappling with that, where they see they have high performers that put them at risk.”