In PRAISE of the OFFICE! with Dr. Peter Cappilla & Ranya Nehmeh

Is hybrid work really working, or are we slowly damaging culture, innovation and careers without noticing

In this episode of Leadership Bites I talk with Peter Capelli, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Ranya Nehmeh, an HR leader and author based in Vienna. Together they have written In Praise of the Office. The Limits to Hybrid and Remote Work, a short, sharp book that looks at what we gained with remote work and what we are in danger of losing if we ignore the social reality of offices.

We get under the skin of what actually happens when people share a workplace, and what disappears when everyone is on a screen. This is not a nostalgic plea to drag everyone back to their desks. It is a hard look at evidence, trade offs and leadership responsibility.

In this conversation we explore

Why the pandemic created a huge unplanned experiment in remote work and why it worked better than most leaders expected

How office presence quietly shapes mentoring, promotion, pay and informal access to power

The rise of two cultures inside organisations. The pre pandemic insiders who know how things work and the post pandemic joiners who have no frame of reference

Why innovation drops when people are distant and why casual corridor chats and coffee catch ups matter for ideas and problem solving

How social networks inside organisations have shrunk and what that means for knowledge sharing and getting work done across teams

The real cost of proximity bias, cameras off meetings and delegating all decisions about office attendance to local managers

The growing tension between employees who have built their lives around flexibility and leaders who now want people back on site

What leaders need to communicate if they want any form of hybrid to work, including a clear answer to the question. Why do we need to be together in person

Practical ways to use office time for mentoring, collaboration and career development rather than dragging people in just to sit on video calls

Why this is mainly a management challenge, not a technology problem

If you are a senior leader, HR or people director, or you are wrestling with return to office debates in your organisation, this episode will give you language, evidence and a more balanced way to think about office, hybrid and remote choices.

About the guests

Peter is a long standing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with decades of research and teaching on work, organisations and the future of the office.

Ranya is an HR expert, consultant and author with twenty years of experience in international organisations, now focused on teaching, writing and advising leaders on modern HR and workplace strategy from a European perspective.

Together they bring academic depth, global HR experience and a very grounded view on what actually helps work and people thrive.

Links

In Praise of the Office. The Limits to Hybrid and Remote Work
Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
Connect with Ranya on LinkedIn
Connect with me on LinkedIn

Remember to like, subscribe and share if this conversation gave you something to think about, and let me know in the comments how hybrid and remote work are playing out in your world.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Leadership Bytes
03:08 Meet the Guests: Peter and Ranya
06:07 The Concept of Office Work
09:07 The Impact of the Pandemic on Work Dynamics
11:54 Challenges of Remote Work
14:42 The Generational Divide in Workplace Culture
18:01 The Tug of War: Employees vs Employers
20:53 The Role of Leadership in Hybrid Work
23:47 The Importance of Social Interactions
26:52 Measuring Innovation and Collaboration
29:54 The Future of Work: Balancing Remote and Office
32:41 Conclusion and Key Takeaways