As the pandemic heads into yet another year, companies are still grappling with uncertainty in the workplace.
Many have attempted to reopen their offices, only to be stymied by new variants or outbreaks that necessitated yet another shutdown or a delayed re-opening.
So some businesses are removing the guesswork altogether by deciding to remain fully remote -- permanently.
Here's what happened when these companies decided to pivot to remote work full-time.
Enabling employees to make major life changes
When David Cancel started sales and marketing software company Drift in 2015, he and his co-founder believed strongly in an in-person work culture.
"We
were very strict about that. No one worked remotely. Everyone was in
the office five days a week. All our rituals were in person, like our
meetings, our kickoffs, our events... a very face-time-centric culture,"
said Cancel, who is also CEO.
But
when the pandemic hit in March 2020, offices across the country --
including Drift's headquarters in Boston and three satellite offices --
closed, and work became entirely remote.
"It
was a huge panic," said Cancel. "It wasn't that we didn't support work
from home, we were against it. We didn't have any rituals, or setup or
practice with doing anything remote."
At the start, adjusting the company's culture to a remote model was a challenge.
"The
hardest part for me in this transition was I had a limiting belief that
I couldn't hire the most senior people...without meeting them in
person. But I was forced to do that [when the pandemic started] and once
I saw it happen and see those people get integrated and be productive,
then... I said 'Oh, we should do this forever,'" said Cancel.
In
early 2021, the company announced that workers will work remotely
full-time, and that office spaces will be used as "conversation spaces"
for meetings, collaboration and events. "Those spaces are not to be used for primary work or set up for primary work."
The
about-face on remote work came with benefits for both Cancel and his
workers. It allowed him to move back to New York City, for example, and
his employees have also been able to make major life moves.
"We've
seen a lot of advantages to the team: people have moved to lower-cost
places, closer to family -- and because of those moves, they've been
able to get married earlier or make different life choices that they've been putting on hold for a long time."
The company decided that employees who relocate to lower-cost cities would not have their pay adjusted.
"We are location-agnostic when it comes to pay," Cancel said.
Also hybrid work, with workers spending some days in the office and some at home, wasn't an option.
"Inherently,
we have a bias toward people who are around, whether we can detect it
or not," said Cancel, who said he saw this firsthand at a previous
company.
"People
that were in the office with the managers....they got
disproportionately favored for promotions and opportunities. I wanted to
make sure we were equitable that no matter where you were...you would
have equal opportunity to everything in the company."
Building a more diverse workforce
Davis Smith, CEO of outdoor gear and apparel company Cotopaxi, was also firmly against remote work before the pandemic.
But less than two months after employees started working from home in March 2020, he changed his mind.
"We started realizing, [remote work] is working. Our teams are functioning more efficiently than ever before," he said.
The
decision to go fully remote means Smith doesn't have to worry about the
constant decision making that comes with reopening or closing the
offices.
"It
seems so distracting... we are just focused on building the business
and great culture. We're not worried about having to make all those
decisions. There's been a huge benefit in that -- just making that
decision early," he said.
The company kept its Salt Lake City office, and Smith said some employees choose to go in every day. "It's a small percentage...those people wanted a place to go."
Smith
said he rarely goes into the office these days, but finds that he's
more deliberate with his relationships working remotely. "Every single
day I have a goal to do one outreach to someone on our team -- I wasn't
doing that before. I wasn't that intentional, I just thought: 'Oh I will
will run into them in the office.'"
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