Back to all Insights
Let’s make your values
Are RTO mandates really about culture?
When AT&T’s CEO recently made headlines defending stricter return-to-office (RTO) policies, it wasn’t surprising. Leaders everywhere are rethinking remote and hybrid work. Some are doubling down on office mandates, not because the evidence is clear, but because it feels like everyone else is doing it.
But key questions come to mind.
Are return-to-office mandates really about culture, or something else? If you’re considering RTO, what are you actually optimizing for? And are mandates the best way to get there?
At bink, we help organizations clarify the behaviors they want to see from employees and design systems that support those behaviors every day. If a strong culture is the goal, forced attendance isn’t necessarily the fix.
Values vs. visibility
Most organizations point to values when they talk about office culture (collaboration, innovation, accountability). But values only matter when employees can see and practice them day-to-day.
Mandating office attendance assumes those behaviors only happen in person. That may have been true a decade ago, but today? Talent expectations, technology and ways of working have changed. If your people don’t see how “being in the office five days a week” connects to your values, the mandate will land as control, not culture.
What behaviors do you really want?
Instead of starting with a location policy, start with the behaviors that drive performance:
- Do you want faster decision-making?
- Stronger collaboration across functions?
- More visible leadership?
- Greater accountability for results?
Once you’re clear, you can ask: will an RTO mandate deliver those outcomes? Or are there other ways to reinforce the same behaviors through clearer communication, stronger manager enablement or more intentional cross-team touchpoints?
Recommended: How To Align Your Corporate Values With Behaviors
The hidden pay cut no one talks about
For many employees, RTO isn’t just about where they work — it’s about what they lose.
Every mandated office day comes with extra costs: gas, train fares, parking fees and the hours of unpaid time spent commuting. Meals eaten near the office tend to be pricier than those made at home. Parents may face higher childcare costs when flexible schedules disappear. Even pet owners feel it when dog walkers and daycare fees suddenly become daily expenses again.
Add it up, and mandatory office days function like a pay cut. Employees see their take-home income stretched thinner, and they feel the loss immediately, even when their salaries don’t change.
That’s why flexibility has become a core part of the total rewards equation. Salary, benefits and career growth still matter, but so does the ability to design a life that works. When companies roll back flexibility, employees perceive it as a reduction in overall compensation.
For leaders, this matters. If your people view RTO as a cut to their total rewards package, you risk eroding trust, fueling disengagement and losing talent to competitors who understand that flexibility is now table stakes.
The talent trade-off
Your culture is a strategic advantage only if it helps you attract, engage and retain the people you need to deliver on your mission. A one-size-fits-all RTO policy risks undermining that advantage.
Every organization competes for talent. Whether it’s sales reps, scientists, or operations leaders, the best people know they have options.
An RTO mandate may strengthen culture for some, but it can just as easily shrink your talent pool. For candidates weighing multiple offers, flexibility has become part of the compensation package. Take it away, and the math changes.
And it’s not just talent attraction you have to consider. Retention is on the line, too. Employees who feel forced back into the office often see it as a signal that leadership doesn’t trust them. Add in the hidden pay cut of commuting and higher daily costs, and frustration grows fast.
The result? You risk losing not only future talent, but also the high performers you already have. That’s a steep price to pay for a mandate that may not even deliver the cultural outcomes you’re hoping for.
What does the data say?
The debate over remote work often gets framed as preference vs. productivity. But the data tells a clearer story: flexibility pays off.
- Happier employees: In surveys by Owl Labs and Global Workplace Analytics, nearly three-quarters of employees (74%) said they feel happier working remotely. The reasons aren’t surprising – no commute, more flexibility and extra time with family all add up to higher satisfaction.
- Flexibility is worth money: Half of employees in the same research said they would actually accept a lower salary if it meant keeping the option to work remotely. In other words, for many people, flexibility has become part of their compensation package.
- Loyalty and retention: According to FlexJobs, 79% of employees say they would be more loyal to a company that offered flexible work arrangements. Given how expensive turnover is – in dollars, time, and lost knowledge – loyalty is no small factor.
Put simply, forcing employees back into the office runs against what the data shows people want. If your goal is to improve engagement and retention, rigid mandates may be working against you. The smarter move is to ask employees what they need, listen to the data, and design flexibility that fits both your culture and your business.
Beyond the office debate
The real conversation isn’t remote vs. hybrid vs. in-office. It’s about alignment. Are your people clear on your values, and do they know what those values look like in action? Do leaders model the behaviors they want to see? Do systems and communications reinforce those behaviors consistently?
When those pieces are in place, employees can thrive – whether they’re in a lab, on a laptop, or in a conference room.
Before you follow the peer pressure to mandate RTO, pause and ask:
- What outcomes am I optimizing for?
- What values and behaviors do I want to see more of?
- Is office attendance the only – or best – way to achieve them?
Because in the end, culture isn’t about where people sit. It’s about how they show up. And that’s something no mandate can guarantee.
Recommended: How a competency framework transforms company values into measurable performance
Trust, values and culture matter more
Return-to-office mandates can get bodies in seats, but they can’t create commitment.
Culture does.
If your workplace is one people don’t want to leave – because they trust their leaders, feel connected to the mission, and see their values reflected every day – you won’t need to force presence. You’ll see it in how employees show up, the energy they bring to projects, and the results they deliver.
Trust is the real currency. When employees believe leadership makes decisions with their best interests in mind, they’ll push harder, collaborate more openly, and stick around longer.
The companies that win won’t be the ones with the strictest RTO mandates. They’ll be the ones where values are lived in the way people work. That can be true whether your people are in the office, at home or somewhere in between.
Wondering how your RTO strategy is landing?
bink helps organizations measure the impact of workplace policies on employee trust, engagement and retention.
✅ Assess your culture-health indicators with our quick diagnostic.
✅ Let’s talk about designing a measurement plan that works.
FAQ: Return-to-office, culture & flexibility
Q: Does returning to the office really improve culture?
Not on its own. Culture comes from how people treat each other, not where they sit. Values like trust, collaboration and innovation can thrive in-person, remote or hybrid (as long as leaders model them and systems support them).
Q: What outcomes are companies hoping RTO will fix?
Often, leaders want faster decisions, stronger collaboration, or clearer accountability. These are behavior challenges, not location problems. Clear communication and better manager support often work better than mandates.
Q: How does RTO affect employee compensation?
It may not change salaries, but it does change take-home value. Commutes, childcare, and meals add real costs. Many employees see mandatory office time as a reduction in overall rewards, even if their paycheck stays the same.
Q: What’s a better alternative to RTO mandates?
Start with what you’re optimizing for — like more visibility or better teamwork. Then design systems that support those goals: manager training, clearer expectations, or structured cross-team touchpoints. Flexibility doesn’t mean chaos. It means choice within a clear framework.
Q: What is bink’s approach to culture and alignment?
We help life sciences organizations translate leadership vision into daily behaviors with data, storytelling and systems that stick. Culture isn’t built by accident. It’s built by design.
