A recent study suggests that the push for employees to return to the office full time may be driven more by leaders’ desire for power and status rather than productivity. Researchers from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania found that leaders with stronger narcissistic traits tend to resist remote work.
The study used various methods to examine leaders’ attitudes towards remote work, including analyzing public company reports for signs of narcissism in CEOs, studying their public statements on remote work, conducting personality surveys, and running online experiments. The findings revealed a correlation between leaders’ narcissism and their reluctance towards remote work.
The researchers proposed that narcissistic leaders prefer in-person work as it allows them greater control and authority over their employees, compared to remote work that limits their ability to exert control. According to Sylvia Fuller, a sociology professor at the University of British Columbia, this research sheds light on personal motivations that drive leaders to push for employees to return to the office.
While some argue that the return to the office fosters better collaboration and connectivity among employees, others, like HR consultant Cissy Pau, emphasize the challenges of remote communication and the loss of community in virtual work settings. Despite these varied perspectives, existing data shows that productivity levels have remained consistent between office and remote workers, indicating that the shift back to full-time office work may not necessarily enhance productivity.
