Our Chicago and Seattle teams came together to host a Community of Interest event for leaders of the hybrid workplace last month. We share some key takeaways from the virtual gathering.
March 8, 2022, Chicago, IL — In 2019, our teams developed a group in response to the havoc that the pandemic created across all industries. It’s a network designed for HR executives and hybrid workplace strategy decision makers to meet and talk about topics around remote work.
Using an interactive digital work-from-anywhere platform that allowed participants to move from table to table, the event featured a presentation from a Seattle headquartered company specializing in digital security and application delivery. The guest speaker talked about developing and implementing their own company’s approach to hybrid, then we went around the virtual “room,” discussing as a group.
A key insight from the breakout rooms led by Centric practice leads Mark Buchynski, Steve Jenkins and Ted Goodman is that organizations must design their hybrid policies to be proactive and intentional instead of reactionary. The group talked about embracing this time of uncertainty and change as an opportunity for your business to adapt for the better rather than a hurdle to mitigate.
Other topics discussed included:
- Redefining leadership in a hybrid environment
- Addressing varying degrees of interest from leaders to be on-site vs. remote
- Developing a new hybrid employee experience
- Attracting and retaining talent in a competitive remote world
- Approaching the return-to-office and its challenges
- Coordinating employees at the geographic location level
- Establishing “in-person days” vs. “remote days” organization-wide to foster in-person interactions when it counts while still giving people remote flexibility.
The event was a highly collaborative session that included executives across the country interacting and discussing their experiences. These conversations allowed members of the community to see that no matter the size, industry or objective of a company – we’re all facing the same challenges when it comes to navigating a hybrid workplace.
Centric’s Chicago and Seattle teams will continue to co-host Hybrid Workplace Community of Interest events throughout the year. We gather the best in the business to discuss issues around the hybrid workplace, including collaboration, technology solutions, HR policies, culture, morale and more.