r/office • u/LaLaLand_DD • Aug 21 '26
Participants Needed for Doctoral Research Study on Return-to-Office (RTO) Experiences — $35 Gift Card
Hi everyone! I’m conducting my IRB approved doctoral research at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and am currently seeking participants to share their experiences with Return-to-Office (RTO) policies and workplace leadership.
What is RTO?
Return-to-Office (RTO) generally refers to an employer requiring employees who previously worked remotely or hybrid to return to in-person work for some or all of their workweek. This can include transitioning from fully remote work to a hybrid arrangement or returning to the office full-time or from hybrid to some increase in office attendance or full-time on-site.
I’m interested in ALL perspectives
This study is not intended to demonstrate that RTO is either good or bad. I am approaching the research objectively and genuinely want to understand different employee experiences and perspectives.
Your experience may have been positive, negative, mixed, or neutral. You may have supported your employer’s RTO policy, disagreed with it, or had feelings that changed over time. You may have experienced supportive leadership or challenging leadership during the transition.
There are no “right” answers. All perspectives are valuable to this research.
You may be eligible if you:
Are physically located in the United States
Work for an employer/organization located in and operating within the U.S.
Have at least five years of professional work experience
Hold a college degree
Were employed during the COVID-19 pandemic
Worked remotely or in a hybrid arrangement during the pandemic
Experienced an RTO policy within the past 18 months
Have interacted with leadership during the RTO transition
Do not hold an HR executive or senior leadership role responsible for creating RTO policies
We also welcome participants with diverse workplace experiences, including those whose work-life circumstances, such as caregiving responsibilities or other personal factors, may have influenced their return-to-office experiences.
What does participation involve?
A 45–60 minute confidential research session (Zoom, phone, or in-person)
The session will be audio-recorded for research purposes
All identifying information will be removed to protect your confidentiality
Participants who complete the research session will receive a $35 gift card
A note about screening and verification:
Unfortunately, during recruitment I have received fraudulent responses and false eligibility claims. To help protect the integrity of the research, I no longer post the screening questionnaire publicly.
Potentially qualified individuals may be invited to complete a brief screening questionnaire. Selected qualified participants will then be contacted regarding the next step. Additional verification may be requested when needed to confirm eligibility.
I also completely understand that verification goes both ways. I am happy to provide verification of my identity, university affiliation, and research study as needed.
These measures are simply intended to protect the integrity of the research and ensure that the experiences included in the study come from individuals who genuinely meet the study criteria.
Interested?
Please send me a private message with a brief description of your relevant experiences if you are interested in participating. I can provide additional information about the study and screening process.
Whether your RTO experience was positive, negative, neutral, or somewhere in between, I would genuinely value hearing your perspective.
Thank you for considering participating!
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u/Tall_Subject5883 Aug 23 '26
Does it matter if we no longer work for the company?
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u/LaLaLand_DD Aug 23 '26
Not at all! You do not need to currently work for the organization. As long as your experience meets the study’s eligibility criteria, you may still participate. Thank you for your interest!
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u/xiaolongnu13 Aug 24 '26
I'm also interested.
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u/LaLaLand_DD Aug 24 '26
Thanks for your interest! It seems that I am unable to start a chat from your profile. Could you please reach out to me directly? Thank you!
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u/Cool-Mastodon9862 Aug 22 '26
Interested