This article is based on the Allwork.Space Future of Work Podcast episode “The Future of Hybrid Work Requires Better Leadership with Ranya Nehmeh.” Watch or listen to the full episode.
Hybrid work only succeeds when companies give people a clear reason to come together, according to HR strategist Ranya Nehmeh. Counting office days doesn’t create collaboration, mentoring or innovation on its own — those outcomes depend on designing office time around what teams genuinely do better in person. The more useful question for leaders isn’t where people work, but what the office is actually for.
The office debate has spent years asking where employees should work. Ranya Nehmeh argues leaders should be asking a more useful question: What are the actual work benefits of bringing people together?
Nehmeh, an HR strategist and leadership expert who has held senior HR roles at the OPEC Fund for International Development and the European Central Bank, joined the Future of Work® Podcast to discuss hybrid work, leadership, talent and AI. She is also the author of The Chameleon Leader and co-author of In Praise of the Office, which examines the limits of hybrid and remote work.
Her central argument is straightforward: hybrid work only works when organizations are intentional about why people come together.
Why counting office days doesn’t fix hybrid work
A three-day office policy does not automatically create collaboration, mentoring or innovation. During our podcast conversation, Nehmeh argued that companies should determine what employees do better together and build office time around those activities. That could include brainstorming, problem-solving, mentoring, relationship-building or learning from colleagues.
Simply requiring someone to commute to an office for a day of video calls misses the point.
She also questions the value of shared office schedules that do not actually bring the right people together. Employees can all be in the same building while still working separately from their teams.
The more useful question is whether office time creates something employees could not create as effectively on their own.
Which skills are harder to learn working remotely?
Nehmeh sees in-person interaction as particularly important for employees earlier in their careers. People learn by observing how colleagues make decisions, handle problems and interact with others. Informal conversations can also create connections and ideas that are difficult to schedule.
Innovation can work the same way. Some ideas emerge through spontaneous conversations and group problem-solving rather than individual work behind a screen. That does not mean every employee needs to be in an office every day — but it does mean that companies need to identify where physical proximity actually adds value.
How does AI change the way hybrid work should be designed?
AI is adding another layer to an already complicated workplace model. Nehmeh said that companies cannot simply introduce AI tools and expect employees to figure out how their jobs should change. Employees need to participate in redesigning their own work and understanding which responsibilities AI could handle. That requires collaboration between employees, managers and HR.
For organizations that have not figured out how teams should work together in a hybrid environment, AI adoption could make the problem harder. Work itself is changing at the same time companies are still trying to determine how and where employees should perform it.
Nehmeh also believes that HR needs to become more involved in AI implementation because the changes affect the entire organization, rather than HR alone.
Does management matter more than hybrid policy?
For Nehmeh, workplace policy ultimately matters less than management quality. A company can develop a thoughtful hybrid policy, introduce new technology and redesign its workplace, but a poor manager can undermine those efforts.
That makes management development one of the most important pieces of any workplace strategy. Leaders need to understand how to coordinate hybrid teams, develop employees, communicate expectations and create reasons for people to work together.
The office debate may continue for years. Nehmeh’s argument is that companies will get further by spending less time debating where work happens and more time deciding what people should accomplish together when they are there.
