As the global Return to Office (RTO) debate continues to heat up, HR leaders are caught in a “tug-of-war” between executive mandates for physical presence and a workforce that has redefined “security” as autonomy. While leadership often views the office as a tool for surveillance, employees increasingly see the commute as a tax on their productivity—a disconnect resulting in a silent drain of top talent. However, the data is clear: mandating attendance is not the same as leading people back.
This article moves past the “attendance vs. remote” debate to offer a blueprint for outcome-based leadership that drives revenue, repeat business, and employee engagement. Featuring a decade of proof from Marianne Monte, Chief of Staff and Head of Mergers & Acquisition at Shawmut Design and Construction, and strategic insights from Erin DeVito, General Manager North America at Impact, we dive into the core of the issue—trust, purpose, and outcomes—to show why the “commute worth craving” is key for business success.
The Leadership Gap: Presence vs. Purpose
According to Erin DeVito, the current RTO friction isn’t actually about logistics—it’s a strategic void. “Companies are enforcing attendance, but haven’t redesigned how collaboration, meetings, or decisions happen,” DeVito explains.
When HR leaders default to a “compliance culture,” they get physical presence but emotional absence. DeVito warns that calling people back to a building doesn’t automatically call them back to engagement. “People want to understand why proximity improves outcomes,” she says. “Without that clarity, office policies can feel less like collaboration and more like surveillance.”
To fix this, DeVito suggests forcing clarity at the top through a Leadership Audit. If executives cannot complete the sentence “Office time matters because…” with a specific reason, the policy is destined to fail. “If the answers are scattered or generic, you’ve identified the problem,” DeVito notes.
The RTO Leadership Audit: Is Your Strategy a Bridge or a Barrier?
DeVito notes that before implementing or doubling down on a mandate, HR leaders must audit their strategy using three critical lenses:
- The Purpose Test: Ask your executive team to complete the “Office time matters because…” sentence. Are the answers consistent across the board? If you can’t articulate a clear reason, your employees will view the policy as surveillance.
- The Activity Audit: Which specific work tasks genuinely improve when face-to-face, and which are hindered by an office environment? High-intensity “Creative Friction” (brainstorming, mentorship, conflict resolution) belongs in the office; “Focus Work” (data entry, research, writing) belongs wherever the employee is most productive.
- The Managerial Mindset: Are your middle managers acting as “Policy Enforcers” or “Operational Experimenters”? “The most effective managers I see are transparent about constraints, surface team concerns with real data, and frame RTO as something to learn from rather than something fixed,” DeVito notes. “When the conversation shifts from enforcement to experimentation, the temperature drops, and people become more willing to engage.”
The $2 Billion Case Study: Shawmut’s Long Game
While most construction firms are currently “white-knuckling” their RTO rollouts, Marianne Monte, is celebrating a decade of a different model: Shawmut Flex.
Launched in 2016, Shawmut Flex was born from a crisis. Engagement surveys showed talent, particularly high-performing women in their 20s to 40s, were leaving the firm at a disproportionate rate. “They were like, ‘I still work in the industry. I just work closer to home now,'” Monte recalls. “We were not sitting across the table from a bunch of over 40-year-old white men. We were sitting across the table from a very diverse group of people who were figuring out this work-life thing as well.”
The Shawmut Transformation (2016–2025):
- Revenue Growth: Scaled from under $1B to $2B in 2025.
- Engagement Scores: Soared from 85% to nearly 90%.
- Retention: Turnover due to work-life balance issues plummeted from 10% to under 1%.
- Customer Loyalty: Resulted in over 80% repeat business with key clients.
“When we focused on an outcome as opposed to the input, we realized a happier employee creates a happier client, and that happier client returns,” Monte says. “That’s really been the mantra since.”
The Secret Weapon: The Director of Work-Life Integration
Shawmut didn’t just “release” a policy and hope for the best. To operationalize Shawmut Flex, they created a dedicated role: Director of Work-Life Integration. This was a leader from within the business whose entire mission was to ensure the program succeeded.
How the Director made Shawmut Flex work:
- Performance Accountability: She was “tough enough” to tell an employee if their results didn’t justify continued flexibility. As Monte puts it: “I don’t think we can offer this to you. The team’s not seeing your results.”
- Manager Support: She intervened when managers struggled with remote leadership. “Just because they’re out of sight, they should not be out of mind,” Monte emphasizes.
- Neutral Conflict Resolution: She ensured that if there was a management or performance problem, they “got on it right away.”
Operationalizing Trust: Your RTO Roadmap
Retaining innovative talent requires moving from “managing tasks” to “empowering builders.” Here is HR’s actionable roadmap:
1. Shift from “Input” to “Outcome” Metrics
The biggest hurdle to flexibility is the fear of the unknown. Monte suggests “operationalizing” results through rigorous KPI tracking. “In order for this to work for you and for us to get employees to stay… we have to create more rigor around the process,” Monte explains. By tying flexibility to performance, HR leaders give executives the confidence that work is getting done.
2. The “Reason-Neutral” Policy
Don’t ask employees why they need flexibility. Shawmut’s success was built on a reason-neutral approach. “You didn’t have to tell us why you needed flexible work. You just had to get commitment from your team,” says Monte. Whether it’s caring for an elderly parent or simply a long commute, removing the “excuse” removes the stigma.
3. Redesign the “In-Person” Experience
If you call people back to the building, you must call them back to engagement. DeVito argues that culture emerges when time together delivers something meaningful: mentorship, creative friction, and relationship-building. “People don’t resist buildings. They resist feeling like they’re not trusted adults,” DeVito says.
4. Empower Middle Managers as “Experimenters”
Middle managers are currently the “shock absorbers” between executive mandates and team resistance. DeVito suggests framing the return as an experiment. “When the conversation shifts from enforcement to experimentation, the temperature drops, and people become more willing to engage,” she notes.
The Bottom Line: Focus on the Result
The data from Shawmut proves that flexibility is not a “soft” perk—it is a $2 billion strategy. By focusing on outcomes, transparency, and a dedicated human-led strategy, HR leaders can transform the RTO conflict into a competitive advantage.
As Monte advises: “Focus on outcomes and not input. If the results are there, keep going. If they aren’t, you have to course correct.”