ErinPeople Analytics Lead · 37 · MinneapolisSimulated persona · Reviewing a company-wide work policy
Our remote employees completed 14% more work but were promoted 20% less often than office employees. Leadership concludes remote work hurts advancement and wants everyone back three days a week. Is that conclusion supported by the data?
Reasoning pattern: separate correlation from a policy mechanism
Relay Answer
The data shows an advancement gap, not that remote work causes it or that office attendance will fix it. Role type, tenure, location, manager, project visibility, prior performance, and who chooses remote work can explain part of the difference. Model promotion within comparable roles and managers, inspect changes for people who switched arrangements, and audit how high-visibility work and sponsorship are allocated. If remote employees are equally productive but less visible, the policy target may be evaluation and access—not attendance. Test the proposed mechanism before imposing a company-wide remedy.
A policy view treats the gap as practical evidence that proximity matters; a causal view says return-to-office could add cost without changing biased sponsorship or project allocation.
Employees who expect weak advancement may leave before the promotion cycle, so the observed group can understate both the inequity and the productivity cost of the policy.
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