Employee Well-being, Listening, Maintaining Company Culture
A look at how one of the Best Companies to Work For has successfully embraced the return to the office.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced a mass adoption of remote work, little attention was paid to the long-term implications of a new model for work.
Many celebrated the rise in remote work for the increased flexibility it promised. Increased remote work offered a bigger talent pool, more work-life balance 鈥� particularly for caregivers 鈥� and the end of onerous commutes. And early numbers showed that remote work increased productivity.
As the immediate threat of COVID-19 recedes, will more companies start to question the wisdom of long-term remote work?
Workplace wellness practitioners say that .
Making the return-to-office case
Power Home Remodeling, No. 13 on the 2023 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For庐 List, is currently on a hybrid work schedule with a majority of its corporate employees in the office three days a week. The company, headquartered in Chester, Pennsylvania, has been slowly adding days of in-person work to its schedule, one day at a time, ever since the immediate risks of COVID-19 subsided 鈥� a transition that has been necessary for their employees' well-being. Power Home Remodeling hopes to one day make the transition back to full-time in office when the time is right for their people.
鈥淚 think that people are happier and healthier and thrive when they are in-person and when they are sharing the same space with one another,鈥� says Asher Raphael, co-CEO of the full-service exterior home remodeler.
A big part of the philosophy for Power Home Remodeling is in response to the impact of remote work on younger employees.
Researchers told The New York Times that remote work enhanced productivity for senior employees, but
Listening and responding
Even though the company is adamant about its desire to bring employees back to the office, leaders are making a concerted effort to listen to employees.
Raphael boils it down to one essential question: 鈥淲hat were the things that employees didn't enjoy about being in-person every single day that are in our control and are not mission-critical?鈥�
Power took time to investigate company norms that no longer served its needs, even down to the dress code.
鈥淥ur dress code was corporate attire 鈥� I wore a suit and a tie to work literally every single day for 18 years,鈥� Raphael says. 鈥淭hat was something that people really didn鈥檛 want to go back to, and that鈥檚 an example of something that you can change to make people more comfortable.鈥�
Power also saw an opportunity to support working parents by helping to subsidize $416 a month of childcare costs.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 go far enough,鈥� Raphael says, 鈥渂ut it was a really big help in supporting people that had [no] childcare costs [while working remotely] 鈥� so that they don't feel like they鈥檙e having to make a decision between putting their kid in daycare or making a living.鈥�
Going slow
The most important thing for Raphael in executing a planned return to the office is to go slow. Power Home doesn鈥檛 have a timetable for getting back to five days a week in the office.
鈥淲e鈥檒l take our time with it, but we鈥檙e very clear about our North Star and where we鈥檙e going,鈥� Raphael says.
Leaders will continue to listen and work with employees as the company adds more in-person workdays to the weekly schedule.
鈥淲hen I think of balance, I actually think of routine,鈥� Raphael says. 鈥淩outines are a really important part of what make people happy and healthy.鈥� As the company brings people back to the office, Raphael is determined not to repeat the upheaval caused by the sudden shift to remote work in response to the pandemic.
鈥淲e had to really upend people鈥檚 routines when we were forced to go virtual,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have the freedom to not do that now and give people time to build up a new routine if you want them to embrace this type of change.鈥�
When focused on well-being, Raphael believes the choice between in-person and remote work becomes very simple.
鈥淭o me, it was always clear that people were going to be healthiest when they鈥檙e a part of a community,鈥� he says. 鈥淎 post-mortem really shows, I think, which businesses really put their people鈥檚 interest first.鈥�
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