[xcavier]

My take is that it is a leadership skill weakness. It is an outgrowth of the (poor) management principle of: if you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

A lot of executives have little experience working with/managing staff - in real time - they cannot see. I've certainly worked under CEOs whose default mindset was "If I cannot see X at their desk, they are not contributing" etc.

Yes, these execs can look at monthly productivity/output reports and do the math retrospectively, but on a day-to-day basis, they lack the skills/tools to manage what they cannot see.

[lostcolony]

It's worse than that.

They can look at the status quo under the pandemic, and say "this would be better if people were in the office". Doesn't matter if things are going well, or things are going poorly; the pre-existing bias determines the conclusion.

Monthly reports aren't helpful there. Really, the only meaningful data point is "what is going to make the company the most successful". And, there, the better execs are looking to enable hybrid workplaces, where people can work remotely or onsite, whichever enables them best, and the technology and practices support that, since they recognize remote is an opportunity, and that it also prevents talent bleed due to poor morale. The worse execs are trying to mandate returning to the office, thinking that that's the only way to be successful, and are completely discounting the effect on morale.