At the 2025 IT Indaba, three prominent CIOs revealed how the traditional command-and-control approach is failing their teams. Their solution challenges everything companies think they know about managing remote workers.
IT Leaders Break Ranks on Office Mandates
By late 2024, 75% of workers faced regular office requirements, up from 63% in early 2023. Yet IT leaders are pushing back against this trend.
“Remote work has always existed, but it gained traction during the pandemic as IT leaders sought to maintain productivity,” said Zethu Lubisi, acting ICT service delivery manager at the University of the Witwatersrand. “Today, we need to move from control to trust.”
This shift comes as research shows 79% of fully remote workers feel trusted by their managers, compared to just 64% of hybrid employees. The trust gap reveals why blanket office mandates often backfire.
Trust-Based Management Delivers Real Results
Keneilwe Gwabeni, Group CIO at Assupol Holdings Limited, emphasized building policies around employees’ actual lives rather than corporate preferences. Her approach centers on empathy, equity, and inclusion, not desk occupancy.
“As a leader, you must have a few basic elements in place when implementing a hybrid work model to ensure your team experiences the same safe and connected environment they enjoy in the office,” Gwabeni explained.
The evidence supports this trust-first approach. A 2024 analysis of 1.3 million employees found that team cooperation, not physical proximity, drives remote productivity.
Meanwhile, Stanford research revealed hybrid work had zero negative effect on productivity or career advancement while dramatically improving retention rates.
Cultural Connection Beyond Video Calls
“You cannot build a culture on Teams alone,” Mayet said. “Leaders of hybrid teams must re-create cultural energy through intentional in-person moments. Sometimes innovation starts by rolling your chair to the next desk.”
After introducing a hybrid model with clear engagement guidelines, her teams unlocked new collaboration levels. The key wasn’t forcing everyone back to the office, it was creating purposeful in-person interactions.
This mirrors broader findings where 46% of workers find building relationships easier with remote colleagues than office-based ones, suggesting the quality of interaction matters more than location.
Role-Specific Policies Replace One-Size-Fits-All
The IT leaders rejected blanket policies, advocating for role-specific approaches instead. Lubisi stressed that different positions have different rhythms and needs.
“IT leaders should apply situational leadership both upward and downward,” she said. “They should know when to coach, support and allow autonomy. Blanket policies can backfire and demotivate high performers.”
This nuanced approach aligns with research showing hybrid workers have the highest engagement rates at 35%, followed by fully remote employees at 33%. The flexibility to match work arrangements to role requirements appears crucial for maintaining performance.
Employee Resistance Reveals Deeper Issues
Recent data shows why employees push back against office mandates. A 2024 Pew Research study identified longer commutes and disrupted work-life balance as top concerns.
More troubling for employers: nearly 40% of managers believe their organizations implemented layoffs because not enough workers quit in response to return-to-office mandates.
This reveals a fundamental disconnect. While companies see office presence as productivity insurance, employees view forced returns as trust violations.
Building Inclusive Hybrid Teams
The IT leaders emphasized representation across different social and economic backgrounds. Gwabeni highlighted how true inclusion requires understanding diverse employee circumstances.
“We need to represent employees across different social and economic backgrounds to achieve true inclusion,” she noted.
This approach acknowledges that not all employees have the same home office capabilities, childcare arrangements, or commute challenges. Effective hybrid policies account for these realities rather than assuming uniform circumstances.
The Trust Dividend in IT Teams
Trust-based management delivers measurable benefits for IT teams specifically. Research indicates that trust in remote teams increases productivity, creates positive work environments, decreases stress, and improves employment retention.
For IT professionals already comfortable with digital collaboration tools, the transition to trust-based remote management often proves smoother than in other departments.
The three CIOs demonstrated that successful hybrid work isn’t about finding the perfect office-to-home ratio. It’s about building systems that prioritize trust, accommodate diverse needs, and create intentional moments for collaboration.
As more companies issue return-to-office ultimatums, IT leaders are charting a different course. In the battle for talent and productivity, trust beats control every time.
