Manager realizes his best employee has completely changed his attitude after RTO: ‘He has now become a strict 9-5 employee who does nothing that isn’t his written task from me’

Author image for Olivia Arocena
Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Aug 12, 2026 8:00 AM EDT

Are we supposed to do anything other than what's written in our contracts?

This story came off as really peculiar to me. Of course, I'm not an alien, and I understand it's normal to sometimes go the extra mile in our jobs, and that's what pushes the quality of our work upward. I understand you can't go back and rewrite an employee's first contract for every minor deviation that comes up later, but I definitely don't think it's fair to judge an employee for anything other than what he was hired to do.

In short, I think the evaluation to be made here from the management's side is about what made the employee change his attitude towards his job. If he used to always go the extra mile, then something that happened pushed him in another direction. It could be that he has now returned to the office, or it could simply be that he finally got fed up after a long time of making extra, unrewarded efforts.

That's another thing: if you recognize an employee under your supervision who is always making extra effort and succeeding, you shouldn't take that for granted, no matter if he works from home or not. Management should always try to encourage that attitude by giving something in return.

I think this employee realized he would receive the same amount of money whether he was only available from 9-5 or made additional effort, and he chose the option everyone in his situation would've chosen.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • a smiling man wearing glasses
    via Vitaly Gariev

    The so-called best employee

    Illustration

  • Best Employee is Fighting Back Against RTO

    We recently got a new executive in our department who is looking through everything with a fine tooth comb and asking tons of organizational questions and shifting responsibilities around. As
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • a result, my director wants me and my team to have more deliverables, show a real cohesive team environment, showcase what we do, and overall straighten up our posture and kiss a bit of a in front of her.
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • One of those changes he instituted was a mandatory 5 day return to office. Currently our company is 3 days, but I've been extremely flexible with my team where I don't log days or hours, and have an
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • attitude of "you know what you need to do, get it done" regardless of what time or locations it's done at. My star employee who has over the last year taken on much more responsibility
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • to the point that I am looking at leadership positions for him did not take this well and instead I've seen his fire completely go out. He no longer participates in happy hours or off the cuff conversations, he no
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • longer goes to vendor events, lunches, etc, he stopped showing up to other offices when it benefited me or him, he turned in his laptop for a desktop, removed all work apps from his phone, comes in exactly at 9,
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • takes a full hour lunch, and leaves exactly at 5. I could previously count on him for a late night change in our environment, hop on an early morning call with an overseas vendor, stay a few minutes later and
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • eyeglasses on gray laptop
    via Medium Rare

    The employee's desk after 5pm

    Representation

  • make up for it elsewhere, represent my team traveling across the county, etc and that's entirely gone. He used to come to be with really good ideas, tell me when he thinks we need to change course on a
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • project, joined meetings with his seniors to discuss project strategy, etc. He has now become a strict 9-5 employee who does. nothing that isn't his written task from me, and absolutely nothing more.
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • I don't fault him for any of this at all. I understand what he's doing, but my director has started to notice and is asking me what's going on. He has the attitude of "shape up or ship out".
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • He isn't doing anything wrong or insubordinate, so I don't know how to handle this. I'm stuck between understanding my best employee and upper management pressure. Any advice would be appreciated.
    via Crispy--Lettuce
  • bawjaws2000 Flexibility works both ways. An inflexible employer creates an inflexible employee. If there are no perks to working there anymore, then what incentive is there to go the extra mile?
    via bawjaws2000
  • thebangzats "shape up or ship out" has the same energy of EA's "either accept it or don't buy it", where everyone subsequently did not buy it.
    via thebangzats
  • man sitting at a desk with a laptop
    via Fotos

    The manager wondering what to do

    Subject is a model

  • The solution is simple to me (being simple doesn't mean that management will be willing to apply it): Management can solve the RTO issues with this employee by giving him the benefit of working from home, as a form of retribution for his good work, or they could come up with another way of encouraging his special efforts. If they don't do this, they should expect their employee to keep doing what his contract says, because that is what he was supposed to do in the first place.

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
Scroll Down For The Next Article