According to Google mobility data, workplace activity across numerous hub cities is still down more than 50% compared with pre-pandemic levels, despite rising vaccination levels. After more than a year of experience working remotely, it is no surprise that workers are pacing out their return to the office and expecting greater flexibility going forward.
In response to these expectations, many offices are reopening their doors for a flexible hybrid-remote model. During lockdown, employers learned how to manage a virtual workforce, and in doing so, have developed tools and resources to support continued remote work. That same adaptability has been vital for companies like AdAction, a local mobile app marketing platform, in preparing to reopen physical office space.
Dianne Wright, senior manager of people and culture at AdAction, saw overwhelming team feedback in favor of reopening. With so much internal support and vocality, she knew that leaning on employees’ expectations would be key for a successful launch.
There is little to be lost by remaining flexible and attentive to teams’ needs. With AdAction’s reopening right around the corner, Wright shared how the company has woven employee expectations into their launch roadmap, and how they plan to stay nimble as the new in-person experience unfolds.
Tell us about your current plans for returning to the office.
We’re excited to soft launch our office reopening in mid-July! Our team showed resilience and resolve throughout the pandemic — we brought on new people and teams, launched new products and ultimately had our second-best revenue year ever in 2020. We know we can be successful from wherever we work, but the overwhelming feedback from our staff has been that they miss socializing and collaborating in person.
Our soft launch is aimed at maximizing safety and flexibility, while providing an outlet for community and collaboration. We understand that a lot has changed for people over the past year, so at this time we will not require office attendance from our employees and allow them to transition to their new norm as they see fit. We also want everyone to feel comfortable and safe coming into the office, so at this point we are asking that any employee coming into the office or attending company events be vaccinated.
We’ve learned that driving a strong sense of community and camaraderie is possible virtually, but there is something special about being in-person! We'll continue to create virtual events, but can’t wait for in-person happy hours, park days and more.
We as an organization will be relearning how working together in-person impacts the business.’’
What were the most important steps you took to develop this plan?
In determining our office reopening plans, we knew that allowing our team to voice their opinions was of utmost importance. We rolled out a survey that touched on subjects such as remote productivity and communication, their motivations for reopening, what safety measures were most important to them, and what the ideal in-office schedule would be. More than 95% of our employees participated in the survey. This information heavily influenced how we plan to reopen our offices.
There are still a lot of unknowns around when it will be safe to return to the office at full capacity. How are you adapting to and preparing for these unknowns? How are you communicating shifts in planning to your team?
I think one of the biggest takeaways from 2020 is that things can change at a moment’s notice. The safety of our staff will continue to be our top priority, but we know that flexibility has to be a part of any plan we make. We’ll continue to follow guidance from health officials and our local governments to ensure that our people are set up for success wherever they choose to work. One of the ways we’ve supported this flexibility is by providing every new hire and staff member with a $1,000 stipend for home office needs.
Our soft launch is designed for this adaptability — we as an organization will be relearning how our people value and use our facilities, and also how working together in-person impacts the business. How often are people coming in, and why? What effect does physical office space have on productivity, innovation and our culture? We’ll monitor all of these areas, while also continuing to create avenues of feedback from our people and utilize company meetings, Slack channels and our managers to communicate changes and the reasoning behind them.
