Stop debating Return to Office policies and start focusing on personality. Learn how to assess for the remote-ready profile, focusing on autonomy and social contact.
By Caitlin Quibell, Talent Management Expert at Lumenii
We’re deep into 2026, and the great Return to Office debate has stalled. Across South Africa, executive teams are still burning hours arguing the same questions. Two days in the office or three? Tuesdays and Thursdays, or pick your own?
And yet, even with a carefully negotiated hybrid policy in place, HR leaders keep noticing the same frustrating pattern. Some employees are thriving - producing their best work, reporting high satisfaction. Others, in the exact same roles under the exact same policy, are quietly fading. Disengaged. Missing deadlines. Burning out from the friction of their week.
Why? Because we’re trying to solve a psychological problem with an administrative one.
A mandate can’t change human nature. Whether someone flourishes at their dining room table or genuinely needs the hum of an open-plan office has very little to do with their technical skill or your company policy. It comes down to personality.
To build sustainable, high-performing hybrid teams, we need to stop debating policy and start understanding the remote-ready profile.
Read more: The "Remote-Ready" Profile: Why Some Employees Thrive at Home and Others Fade
Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) requires employers, before making any decision to retrench, to consult with the affected employees on a number of issues, the most important of which is any means of avoiding job losses.
The employer’s duty to consult before retrenching lies at the heart of its duty to ensure procedural fairness. The employer is likely to find that failure to consult (or to consult properly) extremely costly from a legal point of view.
Although the LRA is silent about voluntary retrenchments, common law permits such agreements where they have been properly and fairly implemented. The best place for considering voluntary retrenchment agreements is during consultations on alternatives to forced retrenchment. For example, where the parties have already exhausted all other alternatives to statutory retrenchment, it would be acceptable to consider voluntary retrenchment as an alternative.
Unfortunately, many employers misuse voluntary retrenchments by implementing them prematurely and/or by foisting them on the employees. But employers are warned that this is not an easy way out.
In the matter between Merafi and five others vs Ithuba Holdings (Lex Info 26 May 2026. Labour Court case no JS112/2021) the employer conducted a retrenchment consultation process with six employees. However, instead of consulting on the issues prescribed by section 189, it confined the meeting to the topic of voluntary retrenchments. More seriously, the employer pressured the employees into signing voluntary retrenchment agreements by withholding their salaries.
Read more: Coerced Retrenchment Agreements Jolt The Tightrope
As the demand for skilled and adaptable leaders continues to grow across South Africa, Staff Training is celebrating a significant milestone in its workforce development journey. Over the past 15 years, the company has invested more than R35 million in skills development and training initiatives nationwide, growing from the vision of a single entrepreneur into a fully established national training provider.
At the heart of the business has always been a commitment to making learning relevant, practical and aligned with the realities of the South African workforce. Despite the company’s growth and expansion, its original vision remains unchanged: providing real solutions for real people facing real workplace challenges.
The journey has not been without obstacles. South African businesses continue to navigate economic pressure, workforce diversification, operational and supply chain challenges, all while adapting to ongoing social and political change. Maintaining a focus on developing capable, resilient leaders (while balancing organisational needs with those of the learner) has required unique insight and adaptability. At the same time, the pace of workplace delivery has accelerated dramatically.
Businesses today face increasing macro- and micro-level challenges.
Read more: Staff Training Reaches R35 Million Investment in South African Skills Development
Durban HR Conference & Expo Set to Bring Fresh Energy to KwaZulu-Natal on 15 July 2026
Following a highly successful and energising HRworks HR Conference & Expo recently hosted in Johannesburg, HRworks is now turning its attention to Durban, where HR professionals from across KwaZulu-Natal will gather at the aha Gateway Hotel on 15 July 2026 for what promises to be one of the region’s leading HR events of the year.
Having hosted HR conferences for more than 15 years, HRworks has built a strong reputation for creating community-driven events that bring together HR leaders, practitioners, and industry experts to share practical insights, meaningful conversations, and real-world strategies shaping the future of work in South Africa.
The recent Johannesburg conference drew over 100 HR delegates and received exceptional feedback from attendees, speakers, and exhibitors alike. Delegates praised the event for its practical relevance, high-calibre speaker line-up, collaborative networking environment, and thought-provoking discussions around AI, reward trends, leadership, culture, employment law, and strategic HR transformation.
Now, HRworks is excited to bring that same energy and momentum back to Durban - a city known for its vibrant business community and growing HR leadership landscape.
A Speaker Line-Up Focused on the Real Challenges Facing HR
The Durban HR Conference & Expo has been carefully curated to address the most pressing challenges and opportunities currently facing HR professionals in South Africa.
Confirmed speakers include:
Read more: HRworks Conferences Continue to Connect and Inspire South Africa’s HR Community
Why performance systems struggle to evaluate behaviour
Behaviour is critical to performance, yet it is rarely reflected in how performance is assessed. This is not simply a design oversight; it reflects the inherent difficulty of evaluating behaviour. Unlike outcomes, behaviour is not easily defined, observed, or interpreted consistently. Understanding why requires examining the nature of behaviour itself.
Behaviour is context-dependent
The same behaviour does not have the same impact in every situation. A behaviour that is effective in one context may be ineffective, or even detrimental, in another. Some behaviours may deliver short-term results while weakening the organisation over time, whereas others may sustain performance or create the conditions for future performance.
Behaviour can also create or constrain other behaviours. For example, working independently may drive efficiency and speed in some contexts, but in others it may limit collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and broader organisational alignment. As a result, the effectiveness of behaviour cannot be assessed in isolation. It depends on the context in which it occurs, the conditions it creates, and the impact it has over time.
What constitutes 'good' behaviour is therefore not fixed, but contingent on the value it creates and whether that value is sustainable.
Behaviour is interpretive
Because behaviour is inherently human and social, it is not simply observed but interpreted. How behaviour is perceived and evaluated is shaped by individual judgement, experience, and cognitive bias. As a result, different managers may respond to the same behaviour in different ways, forming different conclusions about its impact.
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