The Pressure to Return to the Office: Politics, Perception, or Productivity?

As the debate about returning to the office intensifies in several organizations, an essential question needs to be asked: are these decisions truly guided by data and concrete results? Or are we facing a resumption based more on perceptions and internal pressures than on real evidence about productivity, well-being, and efficiency?

What’s behind the mandatory return?
The Forbes Brazil report (https://forbes.com.br/carreira/2025/03/por-que-as-empresas-estao-retomando-o-trabalho-presencial/) highlights ten common motivations for the mandatory return to the office. Among them are:

• The belief that organizational culture is absorbed in person;
• Managers’ difficulty monitoring productivity without direct supervision;
• The need to justify high investments in office space;
• The attempt to force voluntary layoffs;
• The desire to reinforce hierarchies and leadership power.
All of these reasons have one thing in common: they ignore the data.

Data, Not Guesses
With so many data collection tools available, including within organizations themselves, why are decisions still made based on opinions? The answer may lie in resistance to change. Instead of measuring what matters—results, deliverables, and value generated—many leaders still prefer to use physical presence as a productivity metric.
However, being present doesn’t mean delivering more. Several studies, including those conducted by Stanford WFH Research, led by Nick Bloom, indicate that a hybrid model tends to improve productivity and well-being when well-structured.

The Role of Technology in Performance Visibility
To balance autonomy with effective control, tools like Productivity Radar are essential. The platform integrates communication data (Microsoft Teams), calendar data (Exchange), and computer activity data to build dashboards that show, in real time, team performance, focus, and engagement. This makes it possible to:
• Evaluate actual deliverables based on indicators;
• Avoid micromanagement;
• Identify overload or drop in productivity;
• Reinforce culture based on data, not subjective perceptions.

The most efficient path: measure before mandating
Before decreeing a full return to the office, the most sensible approach is to understand what’s actually working. Companies that measure better make better decisions. Organizations that adopt intelligent productivity analysis tools can:
• Map work styles that generate better results;
• Reduce turnover of talent that values flexibility;
• Create action plans based on real evidence.

The new era of people management is driven by data, not guesswork. With the Productivity Radar, leadership acts with confidence, clarity, and autonomy, regardless of the model adopted.