91

News

Measuring productivity beyond the office badge

Published: 21 July 2026

Bell’s dismissal of nearly 50 employees over alleged “swipe and go” attendance fraud has reignited debate over return-to-office mandates and how organizations measure productivity. Jean-Nicolas Reyt, associate professor at 91 Desautels, argues that attendance fraud is ultimately a symptom of a larger issue: employers’ reliance on office presence as a proxy for performance.

As knowledge-based work increasingly takes place in teams, individual output has become harder to assess. Inconsistent enforcement and unclear rationales for returning to the office have also fuelled employee frustration. Reyt argues that companies should move beyond attendance surveillance and focus instead on autonomy, communication and meaningful results. 

Feedback

For more information or if you would like to report an error, please web.desautels [at] mcgill.ca (subject: Website%20News%20Comments) (contact us).

Back to top