If your job is to be an advocate for employees at your employer, it is likely better to be around those people, rather than just at the other end of a Hangout. I'm guessing that interacting with people around the office is a critical part of that role.
I think that's company culture friction ... if a group of people primarily works from an office, it takes a serious effort to accommodate remote workers.
I find when I am not working remote, I have to put in 4 more hrs/day to get the same amount of work done...