Workplace Flexibility Isn’t the Problem — Your Lack of Trust Is

Today, I was running late for my in-office attendance day, and it made me incredibly nervous. Why? Because my extremely expensive and highly perishable medication—scheduled to be delivered by 8 a.m.—hadn’t arrived. By 9 a.m., it was still nowhere to be found. I couldn’t risk leaving it in the mailroom, as it would perish. I needed to wait, accept the delivery, store it in the refrigerator, and then head out.

I reached out to my boss, explained the situation, and got the green light to arrive at the office later. Instantly, I felt relieved. It’s such a good feeling to work with trusting and understanding people.

If I worked from home full time, this wouldn’t have been an issue. I could have handled the delivery seamlessly without disrupting my schedule.

This got me thinking...

What’s the best work setup for a business, really? Hybrid, remote, or in-office attendance? The debate feels endless, but here’s my belief: it all comes down to trust.

But you are nervous. You may think your employees have potential, but they’re not ready to be trusted 100%. That’s totally normal—and very common. Think of it like teaching a kid to ride a bike. If you keep holding the bike for them, enforcing every move, they’ll never truly learn to balance or ride on their own. Let them try. Let them take control. Yes, they might stumble—but that’s how they grow. If you’re always there holding the bike, they’ll never be able to ride without you. And honestly, don’t you have other things to do? Go focus on being productive yourself rather than micromanaging every wobble.

Forcing employees to come to the office to “ensure” they’re performing their duties doesn’t solve the problem—it exacerbates it. Let’s be honest: disengaged employees will continue to be disengaged, whether they’re at home or in the office. According to Gallup, low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion in lost GDP. Yes, trillion. If you’re forcing someone to the office to monitor them, chances are they’re contributing to that $8.9 trillion—and the last thing your business needs is to add to this staggering figure.

Hire people you trust to make the right decisions for how, where, and when they work best. Micromanaging doesn’t improve productivity—it stifles it. If someone works better remotely, let them. If they thrive in an office environment, support that. Stop controlling every detail and instead focus on outcomes.

Research supports this. The same, mentioned above, Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 report found that employees who feel trusted and autonomous are significantly more engaged, which directly correlates with higher productivity.

If you’re worried an employee will slack off while working remotely, ask yourself: why are they on your team in the first place? Trustworthy, self-managing employees don’t need constant oversight. Keeping underperformers often leads to blanket rules that drive away top talent. Harvard Business Review highlights that when employees feel ownership over their work, productivity and satisfaction soar.

This resonates with a question I once saw on a Delta Airlines post-call survey: "How likely would you be to hire this person for your own company?"

What a brilliant, clarity-driving question. Imagine applying this mindset to your team. Look around at your colleagues, direct reports, or even your boss. Ask yourself: Would I enthusiastically hire this person for my own business? Some, you’d beg to join. Others, you’d avoid entirely. When I have my own company, this will be a core question in performance evaluations—replacing the mundane, checkbox-driven frameworks we often see. After all, someone might tick every box on a standard evaluation form, yet you’d still hesitate to hire them. And let’s be honest, we all know why. You would not want the people you don't trust.

Forbes notes that trust is the cornerstone of effective team management—especially in remote and hybrid environments. If every organization adopted this perspective, we wouldn’t need rigid attendance policies. Performance would speak for itself.

Let’s stop fixating on whether someone was 10 minutes late to the office or prefers working from home. Instead, focus on building a culture where people are evaluated on their contributions, not their compliance. Of course, exceptions exist in roles where punctuality and presence are mission-critical, like in-person customer service—but for many roles, it’s time to rethink what really matters.

What do you think? Could reimagining trust and evaluation transform your workplace?

Who knows—maybe when I own my own business one day, I’ll think differently. But for now, this feels like the right approach.