The chief executive officer is the most senior executive, accountable to the board for strategy, culture and results. In workplace decisions the CEO is the final voice on the questions that shape everything else: how much office, where, and what the attendance expectation is.
Post-pandemic, workplace policy became visible CEO territory: return-to-office stances are announced under the CEO’s name and judged as culture statements. The CEOs who fare best treat it as an evidence question, using real attendance and utilisation data rather than instinct to set policy they can defend to employees and investors alike.