Badge swipes are becoming the new clock. Appraisal freezes and Return to Office mandates are following the breadcrumbs of presence data, and that shift is reshaping how organizations define and reward productivity. I’ve worked with teams through this transition, and what I’ve seen is a mix of useful signals, dangerous shortcuts and simple fixes that leaders can apply today to make people work smarter, not just sit at their desks longer.

What badge data actually tells leaders

Badge logs are straightforward: in, out, floor changes, duration. For employers they are tempting because they are objective, scalable and cheap to analyze. For managers they solve an uncomfortable problem from the pandemic years — how to know if someone is present. But presence is not the same as performance. Badge data is a proxy that can help spot patterns like chronic lateness or misuse of facilities, yet it can’t measure focus, decision quality, stakeholder outcomes or creative collaboration.

Why appraisal freezes and RTO are becoming common

Appraisal freezes often arrive when organizations fear uneven productivity or want to avoid rewarding perceived slack. RTO pushes come when leaders believe office presence increases serendipity and alignment. Both maneuvers are usually rooted in anxiety about control and trust. When the default accountability tool becomes “who’s in the building”, workplaces risk replacing meaningful evaluation with presence theater.

Practical fixes leaders should deploy immediately

• Map outcomes to signals — Choose 2–3 outcome metrics per role and use badge data only to explain anomalies, not to set pay or ratings.
• Create a presence policy — Make badge data transparent to employees, limit retention, and describe exactly how it will be used in talent decisions.
• Run short pilots — Before a company-wide RTO or appraisal freeze, run a 6–8 week pilot with a control team and share results publicly.
• Reward measurable collaboration — Use meeting quality, cross-team deliverables and customer metrics as appraisal inputs instead of seat time.
• Give managers tools for coaching — Train managers to convert presence signals into coaching conversations focused on barriers, not blame.

What employees can do today

People impacted by these policies should document outcomes, be deliberate about visible wins and share weekly summaries with stakeholders. If badge data is part of evaluation, make presence intentional — schedule collaborative blocks in the office and protect deep work time at home. Small rituals like a 10-minute visible handoff at the start and end of the day reduce misinterpretation of where impact is actually happening.

Designing a future where data serves people

The best organizations treat badge data like any other instrument: useful when combined with human judgment. Policies that freeze appraisals or mandate RTO without clear, outcome-driven rationale tend to hurt morale and creativity. Conversely, leaders who are transparent about how they use presence signals and who anchor evaluations in outcomes create more trust and better long-term performance.

Practical leadership in this era looks like clear measurement, humane use of data, and regular calibration between what the numbers say and what teams actually deliver. This is how you move from policing presence to growing productivity.