HR’s Behaviors and Actions Are a Key Differentiator in Sustaining Employee Productivity During RTO

As many companies implement rigid return-to-office (RTO) mandates, this has sparked lively debate about whether mandates actually improve employee productivity, and if they’re worth the talent risks.

We spoke with Swagatam Basu, Senior Director in the Gartner HR practice, about the impact of RTO mandates on productivity and the employee experience, and what role HR should play during work model transitions.

Journalists who would like to speak with Swagatam regarding this topic can contact Mary.Baker@gartner.com or Gerri.Weinberger@gartner.com. Members of the media can reference this material in articles with proper attribution to Gartner. 

A: Introducing RTO mandates can decrease employee intent to stay at their organization by up to 10%. Intent to stay decreases even more for certain employee groups, including high performers, millennials, women and executives. 

RTO mandates not only impact attrition, but they also impact employee performance. A Gartner October 2024 survey of more than 3,000 managers of knowledge workers found that RTO mandates increase the number of employees engaging in quiet quitting – doing the bare minimum – by up to 19%. Organizations that do not address these talent risks will see a decrease in employee productivity in the long-term.

A: We define employee productivity as a combination of two elements: employee efficiency, and employee value creation. ​Our research shows that recent RTO mandates have had no immediate effect on the productivity of an average employee.

Gartner data collected in October 2024 of more than 5,000 managers and employees shows that (a) there is no impact of the work model on productivity i.e., the same percentage of onsite and hybrid employees were rated as highly productive (b)  organizations that introduced RTO mandates in the past 12 months saw no immediate effect on the productivity of the average employee or team.

An October 2024 Gartner survey of more than 3,000 managers of knowledge workers showed similar results: the same percentage of onsite and hybrid employees were ranked as highly productive (21%).

In short, it’s not about where work gets done, but how it gets done. 

A: Our analysis revealed that some employees became more productive after returning to the office and were also likely to sustain this gain in the long term. As we tried to investigate what is unique about these employees, we discovered that specific manager behaviors and actions are a key differentiator to sustain employee productivity in the wake of RTO transitions:

• Recognize and validate employees’ contributions and capabilities. This can counteract the disruption and negativity associated with RTO experiences.
• Practice evidence-based performance management to measure success. Evaluating employees on objective outcomes ensures the focus is on results achieved, not effort given.
• Engage in ongoing productivity dialogue with direct reports. While discussing productivity can feel uncomfortable, HR can provide managers structure that normalizes productivity dialogue to establish new working norms.

However, managers don’t default to these behaviors organically; HR must equip managers to adapt their style in the face of a return to office.

When managers effectively execute these three imperatives during RTO scenarios, 70% of employees become highly productive – a 3.2 times increase compared to average. 

Gartner clients can learn more about maintaining productivity during return to office transitions in the report: “Sustaining Employee Productivity During Return-to-Office.”