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Firms report quickening pace of RTO
Edited by Cate Chapman, Editor at LinkedIn News
The pace of returning to the office has picked up, with more companies also saying they intend to expand their workplaces. According to commercial real estate firm CBRE, almost three-quarters of the 184 companies it tracks have met their attendance goals, up from 61% last year — and with the share of those monitoring the trend surging to 69% from 45%. Still, companies say attendance is slightly below the 3.2 days per week they seek since the pandemic virtually emptied their offices in 2020.
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by Olga V. Mack, CEO @ TermScout | Accelerating Revenue | AI-Certified Contracts | Trusted TermsCEO @ TermScout | Accelerating Revenue | AI-Certified Contracts | Trusted Terms
Return to office or RTO isn’t just changing where we work. It’s changing how fast we work.
According to CBRE, nearly 75% of companies are hitting their return-to-office targets, and 69% are actively monitoring attendance, the highest rate in five years.
But beyond the badge swipes, there’s a more important shift happening:
The pace of business is accelerating.
Here’s what to do about it:
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Tighten your SLAs and communicate them.
- Update your internal response times and make them visible. Align with sales, product, and finance on what’s realistic and what’s expected.
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Audit your workflows for friction.
- Where do handoffs break down? Where does the work stall? Fix the process, not just the people. Even small inefficiencies feel bigger in a faster-paced, in-office environment.
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Build clarity into your tools and templates.
- If your team still relies on tribal knowledge or redlines everything from scratch, you’re not ready for speed. Invest in templates, playbooks, and shared understanding.
RTO isn’t just a policy. It’s a pressure test for how well your business runs.
Teams that standardize, streamline, and clarify won’t just keep up.
They’ll lead.
10 Key Methods For Measuring Return-To-Office Policy Effectiveness
Forbes Human Resources Council By Expert Panel®,Forbes Councils Member.
for Forbes Human Resources Council
Published Jul 18, 2025, 01:15pm EDT
As more companies roll out or refine their return-to-office (RTO) policies, leaders face a critical question: How do you know if your policy is working?
Beyond badge swipes and attendance logs, measuring success requires a human-centered approach that takes employee feedback, productivity and engagement into account. Without this consideration, organizations risk lower morale, strained trust and higher turnover.
To help, 10 members of Forbes Human Resources Council share essential tips for evaluating the effectiveness of RTO efforts and making smart, responsive updates as necessary.
- Prioritize Fairness And Policy Clarity
A supportive approach towards the workforce is essential. A sympathetic return-to-work policy helps sustain a healthy workplace culture. An explicit and uniform policy helps companies avoid allegations of discrimination and demonstrates a commitment to equitable treatment, thereby reducing the likelihood of legal proceedings. - Dr. Nara Ringrose, Cyclife Aquila Nuclear
- Create Open Communication Channels
Establishing open lines of communication with staff during RTO initiatives allows for both management and employees to better gauge changing environments and productivity levels. Ensuring employees feel supported while they adjust to new environments is paramount, and in turn, creates successful environments. Leadership must also be accountable for creating spaces that bring this value to life. - Nicole Gable, LHH
- Listen To Employee Sentiment
Organizations put RTO policies in place for a reason: to foster collaboration and a sense of belonging. The key is to check in with the employees and ask the questions to understand how they are feeling and if the office environment is working for them; don’t just assume. Are they more or less efficient? Are they finding that the in-person collaboration is generating innovative ideas and solutions? - Margaret-Ann Cole, Services for the Underserved, Inc.
- Measure Both Engagement And Outcomes
The key is to monitor both outcomes and engagement. Are your highest-performing, most engaged employees embracing RTO? Their response sets the tone. You can pair that with anonymous feedback gathered in psychologically safe ways. A successful policy is responsive—built on what’s working and adjusted based on what employees need. - Subha Barry, Seramount
- Refine Collaboration Strategies Over Time
RTO policies often aim to boost collaboration, connection and productivity, but presence alone does not guarantee these outcomes. You should track shifts in engagement, team dynamics and output through employee listening mechanisms. It’s important to celebrate what is working and revise what is not within the RTO policy and beyond (for example, collaboration tactics) to truly optimize the benefits of on-site time. - Jennifer Rozon, McLean & Company
- Watch For Increased Accommodation Requests
You should monitor leave and accommodation requests as key indicators of employee reaction to RTO policies. If your policy is too rigid, employees may turn to ADA requests for remote work, quickly adding to HR’s workload. You may want to consider updating your job descriptions accordingly to help clarify which roles truly need on-site presence before accommodation requests rise. - Seth Turner, AbsenceSoft
- Favor Trust Over Surveillance
A key strategy is to swap surveillance for real conversations. Trust and consistent check-ins build more insight and loyalty than tracking badge swipes. You must focus on outcomes, not hours, and listen often. Employees don’t want micromanagement; they want to be trusted to do great work. - Jamie Aitken, Betterworks
- Understand How Employees Use Office Time
You should check if office days are used for specific activities, such as in-person team meetings, client outings, FaceTimes with leadership or if employees go in just to hit an attendance metric. Knowing why and when employees go can help maximize the satisfaction they feel from it, turning in-office work from a chore into an opportunity to get more out of the day than they can at home. - Nicky Hancock, AMS
- Use Surveys And Focus Groups Effectively
You can implement anonymous pulse surveys and focus groups to gauge work-life balance, perceived productivity and quality of in-person connections. This qualitative data helps you move beyond simple attendance metrics. By having evidence-based insights, you can truly support your people and enhance engagement with return-to-office policy effectiveness or revisions. - Sherry Martin
- Empower Employee Ambassadors To Share Insights
You should try to see the office through their eyes. You can co-create the future of work with employee ambassadors who observe, listen and share real-time in-office insights. Their feedback fuels smarter, more human RTO strategies built on experience, guided by voices that matter. You shouldn’t just track attendance—monitor sentiment, productivity, turnover, space use and manager input. You can then adjust with insight, not instinct. - Sheena Minhas, ST Microelectronics