In mid-2021, many workplaces across the country announced that they expected to welcome back their employees in droves following the Labor Day holiday.
Then the delta variant entered the return-to-work equation.
Today, employers find themselves in a present where they’re arguably more unsure about the future than they have been in the past year and a half — and it’s causing a chain reaction effect in workplaces everywhere. A recent Gartner study found that two-thirds of organizations surveyed are delaying their office reopening due to the new variant.
But some companies are moving ahead — with safety top of mind — to bring their employees together for the first time since 2020. At business continuity and disaster recovery platform Agility Recovery, a hybrid approach that favors working from home has been exactly what team members needed.
Though a day or two a week may hardly seem like it’s worth the effort, Agility Sales Manager Arin Noonan says the sales environment, once a bastion of collaboration and excitement in the office, is starting to slowly feel like the good old days.
“Even just a few days a week in the office has really had an impact on the entire progress of the company,” Noonan said.
Below, Noonan explained more about Agility’s in-office experience at the moment and what impact it’s had on the company.
What’s the in-office experience like at Agility Recovery right now?
At Agility, we have taken a unique approach. We split the business into three groups based on department, and right now each is in once a week on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. We are only back to the office one day a week right now but anticipate being in the office three days per week and work from home two days per week. We do have folks who are eager to come back, and they can come in any day on a volunteer basis.
As far as the office environment goes, we actually opened a brand-new office during quarantine, and it has really motivated people to come in and check out the new space. We have some great additions to the space and some awesome views of the mountains from the sales floor.
The best part of returning to the office, however, is being around the people who are doing the same job. I have seen the collaboration; even just a few days a week in the office has really had an impact on the entire progress of the company.
Even just a few days a week in the office has really had an impact on the entire progress of the company.”
What aspect of the office did you miss the most, and why?
Going to a work-from-home environment so abruptly had an effect on a lot of our team. We were notorious for doing in-house, outrageous sales competitions that really got our team motivated. We had people who really thrived in our office setting, creating Ping-Pong tournament brackets, starting fantasy football leagues, and even getting a softball team together to compete outside of work. Of course, I can’t forget the happy hours we put on for all the new hire classes and to celebrate when we had some big wins in the company. We are slowly returning to that and bringing that energy back as we filter back into the office environment.
