Returning to the Office & Remembering Why We Left 7 | 18

Radical Candor: Communication at Work

Radical Candor

Business, Management, Careers

4.7 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From malfunctioning WiFi to epic commutes and offices mysteriously out of toilet paper, the “return to office” era is serving up workplace absurdity on a silver platter. Jason and Amy blow past the corporate spin and get Radically Candid about the “back to the office” push: why it’s often more about control than collaboration, how companies overlook basic human needs, and the ways these policies can quietly erode trust, productivity, and psychological safety. From generational gripes to the myth that face time means innovation, they call out the real reasons so many leaders want butts in seats—and why those reasons rarely hold up. Who’s actually benefiting from all this office hoopla? Because at Radical Candor, we believe real leadership means listening, adapting, and making work suck a whole lot less—even if it means challenging the status quo. Get all of the show notes at RadicalCandor.com/podcast. Episode Links: Transcript Cockroaches And Working In A Closet: Inside Trump's Return-To-Office Order | Reuters No Toilet Paper And No Privacy: Returning To The Office, Federal Workers Walk Into Chaos | The New York Times Return To Office. Not Sure What To Do, A Bit Stressed. : R/Fednews What Happened At Your Org After They Implemented Their Return To Work Policy? : R/Jobs The Official List Of Every Company’s Back-To-Office Strategy | Hubble Federal Workers Ordered Back To Office Find Shortages Of Desks, Wi-Fi And Toilet Paper Does Returning To The Office Support Your Company’s Strategy? | HBR How To Get Return To Office Right | McKinsey RTO Mandate Trends In 2025: Why Forcing Employees Back To The Office Hurts Business | Hub Staff New Research Suggests Remote Jobs Are Best For Company’s Bottom Line | Forbes The Strength Of Weak Ties | Stanford Report Connect: Website Instagram TikTok LinkedIn YouTube Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction Jason and Amy introduce the episode’s topic on return to office trends. (00:01:28) The Radical Candor Remote Philosophy Why the company is remote-first and the downsides of in-person work. (00:06:41) Office Productivity & Innovation Whether productivity and innovation improve when in office. (00:10:27) Navigating Unwanted Change Advice for employees facing unwanted return-to-office changes. (00:16:13) Should You Stay or Should You Go? Evaluating if you should start job hunting or try to adapt to the new reality. (00:19:17) Burnout, Hybrid, and Hidden Costs Research on burnout and the importance of workplace social connections. (00:24:19) The Cost of Constant Interruptions Challenges with distractions and productivity in office environments. (00:30:22) Generational and Gender Gaps Differences in RTO satisfaction in different demographics. (00:32:07) Having Effective RTO Conversations Advocating for your needs and establishing new office processes. (00:35:29) Radical Candor Tips Tips for employees and managers navigating return-to-office mandates. (00:39:48) Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void?
0:05.4	Well, with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers.
0:09.1	You can even target them by job title, industry, company, role, seniority, skills, company revenue,
0:15.5	and do I say job title yet?
0:17.5	Get started today and see how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with
0:21.4	LinkedIn ads. To get 100 pounds of your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com slash lead to claim
0:27.2	your credit. Terms and conditions apply. Hello everybody and welcome to the Radical Candor
0:36.0	podcast. I'm Jason Rosoff.
0:37.9	I'm Amy Sandler, and today we're talking about a topic that is on everyone's mind, and for some
0:43.2	people, is becoming their nightmare, which is return to office policies. When do they work?
0:49.6	When do they do more harm than good? So let's dive in. And I wanted to bring a little bit of data
0:56.7	before we start talking from our own perspectives. There's a recent McKinsey piece called
1:01.6	How to Get Return to Office, right? And we'll put that in the show notes. And what they noted,
1:06.9	they did some surveys in 2023 and 2024. and the article noted that there was a significant
1:13.5	increase in employees working mostly in person from 35% in 2023 to 68% in 2020.
1:24.4	And so just against that backdrop, we've also got lots of stories. And again, we'll put some articles in the show notes. We've heard stories, you know, I'm sure you've seen in the news organizations where people are coming back to the office don't have a desk for you or a meeting room or even or even Wi-Fi. They're folks who are driving hours, and they find that there is no toilet paper in their
1:48.2	office.
1:48.7	And so just at a high level, Jason, this doesn't seem like it's super productive or profitable
1:53.9	for companies in terms of setting people up for success.
1:58.5	Here's the thing.
1:59.1	Like, I want to say off the top, like, I have a strong bias against forcing people to
2:05.5	work together in an office.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Radical Candor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Radical Candor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.