Hybrid, Innovation & Inclusion: Why Return to Office Mandates Weaken the Public Service

Beginning this past summer, a four-day office minimum became the norm for most, a shift that is now constraining people and performance at a time when governments face unprecedented policy and operational challenges. Rather than trusting and empowering public servants with a modern mindset to improve wellness and performance, office mandates look to the past (underscored by the expectation that executives spend five days in the office). Lessened innovation and further weakness in recruitment and retention processes (that the Public Service Commission openly admits are in chronic disrepair) are inevitable.