Women could be missing out on career opportunities if they only work from home, the chief executive of Nationwide has claimed.
Debbie Crosbie told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that “physical presence” was important for career growth, and said that the building society had more men than women coming back into the office.
In 2021, the business pioneered a “work from anywhere” policy under then chief executive Joe Garner, which meant all employees could take control of their working location.
However, Crosbie reversed this in December 2023 after agreement with the Nationwide Group Staff Union, requiring staff to come in at least twice a week apart from some exceptions.
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The building society said it would be monitoring data on access to offices, although added it would not use this data to punish non-compliance.
Crosbie told the BBC that she had noticed a difference in office attendance since the new policy, with men more likely to come into the office than women.
She added that having a female chief executive as a mentor early in her career had benefited her, and said that “being seen and seeing other leaders is a really important part of development”.
“I benefited enormously from watching some really excellent leaders and how they navigated challenging problems,” she said.
Crosbie added that it was important for businesses to support women to return to the office through flexible childcare options and other policies, and acknowledged that businesses have a role in supporting work-life balance.
“We just need to be careful that we don’t inadvertently prevent women from taking some of the opportunities by not being in the office when they feel it’s beneficial both to their skills and to contribute to the business,” she said.
Research from International Workplace Group last year found that strict return-to-office mandates were affecting employee retention, with two-thirds of recruiters seeing an increase in candidates looking to leave employers who demand full-time office attendance.
A number of staff at Starling Bank, meanwhile, resigned after demands from its chief executive to spend more time in the office.
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