Navigating safe passage for staff on their return to work

Some companies faced Covid and the stay-at-home work regime better than others, and those operating in the high- tech space, pivoted faster than others.  It is not surprising given the tech culture that gave us lifestyle offices including beanbags, pool tables and free healthy juice vending machines, could also make a virtue of being virtual.

WP Engine, one such high tech company, already offered its employees virtual options, a work from home stipend, and all they needed to set up a home office.

“Our employees feel empowered to manage their own schedules, ensuring they are as productive as possible,” says Darren O’Dwyer, lead international talent adviser EMEA for WP Engine. “Removing the commute was a big positive for everyone and the results have been truly amazing.”

WP Engine already is listed as one of Ireland’s best places to work in 2021 and has carried that accolade since 2019 – now it aims to become one of the best places “not to work”.

New employees are connected with a mentor to help them with their integration into the workforce, along with their personal growth and development.

“We have invested in online resources from e-books to libraries of training materials, which are available to all employees,” according to Paul Ryan, site lead and senior director of technical support.

The company operates a New Employee Orientation (NEO) for new employees, with NEO dates at the beginning of each month, with employees going through a fun interactive schedule over their first few days before breaking out into their own respective teams. At this stage, virtual coffees are organised, team icebreakers occur, and regular meetings are scheduled.

“Communication is extremely important for our distributed employees,” says O’Dwyer.

Collaboration

Genesys, a software AI-based company, also offers its employees office and work flexibility. In the post-pandemic world, all Genesys employees can choose the mode of working that suits them.

“This has also allowed us to rethink our new office space here in Bonham Quay in Galway harbour into a collaboration space where employees can come together to work on key problems and ideate on creative solutions. It will become a hub for a much larger employee population than the initial 300 seats we had initially envisioned, and we will look to grow past that number in 2022 in a mixed mode of onsite and remote work,” says Joe Smyth, senior vice president of R&D, Digital and AI and Ireland site lead.

With regards to onboarding new employees, Genesys ensures it is as comprehensive virtually as it is in person.

“Where many of the normal face-to- face meetings are now done via video conferencing, we have been successful in fostering the culture of the company whilst being remote. This has been led by our executive team and they have instilled values in Genesys team members that enable us to uphold the culture and the spirit of One Genesys regardless of our working location,” he says.

Ivan Esterajher, staff production service engineer, has been with Service Now since 2018 and he feels the company didn’t just survive during lockdown, it thrived.

“The support Service Now gave us meant that our productivity never waned, nor did our ability to support our colleagues and build friendships. We had Zoom nights where we had a couple of drinks and relaxed conversation, and a Friday quiz with rewards for the winners, like takeaway pizza delivered to them.”

Even for new employee Georgina Walsh, senior enablement manager, who joined Service Now in January 2021, the virtual onboarding was very successful.

“From day one of the pandemic, the team did a fantastic job bringing and keeping the Dublin office together virtually. After joining, we played games of ‘two truths and one lie’ to break the ice, learning interesting things about each other. I walked away from those virtual meetings with a sense that if the Dublin office opened tomorrow, I would have a connection with these people. I felt like part of the Dublin team without having met anyone in person.

“When the office did reopen and I was invited in for the first time, I felt a rush of different emotions, however, after a gentle start with a tour of the office, a welcome face-to-face meeting with a peer, plus some proper water-cooler moments (although over the coffee machine), that anxiety dissipated.”

Deloitte onboarded more than 1,000 people over lockdown, which posed no small feat. However, the lessons learned will be carried forward into the canon of Deloitte culture, according to Sinead Gogan who heads up the people and purpose team for Deloitte.

These new employees were a mixture of interns, new hires and graduates but despite the lockdown now easing, much of the onboarding will remain virtual in areas such as technical learning.

“It’s just proven easier to do certain tasks online. It’s been a great learning curve.”

Challenge

Deloitte, like other tech companies, was able to go to remote working overnight. Everyone had a laptop, so it was easy to start.

“Where the challenge came was in maintaining wellbeing, forging relationships and letting teams figure out their own schedules. While productivity was important, it’s only one part of the equation,” she says.

Part of that rethinking has resulted in reimagined work priorities, especially for working parents. Before, leaders in Deloitte who were also parents rarely got to the school run.

“Now many prefer to integrate personal commitments with work commitments, and it works.”

Gogan reflects that during the lockdown everyone became much better acquainted with everyone’s home life – dogs, children, kitchens – and she and her team ended up doing things such as setting up virtual children’s camps and looking at ways of helping the new work paradigm function.

“We set up a programme called Neighbour where people opted in with their Eir- codes – and they could choose to have a walk or a coffee with someone that lived nearby regardless of department.”

Returning to the office, for new and existing workers, is very much developed on a teams’ basis. Teams are autonomous and can factor out how to work best. The hybrid model works for most groups and it depends on their needs how much time is spent in the office.

Trust is a big part of how Deloitte lets the teams decide how they evolve going forward. “We see our office space as being a place to collaborate rather than just to work. If someone needs quiet to do a report, then maybe the best place is at home,” says Gogan.