It's uncertain when many offices may reopen, but it's clear the virtual work revolution that began with the pandemic isn't going away.
Alexia Cambon, research director at Gartner, says finding the right combination of in-person and virtual work will take creativity and experimentation. Managing director Deborah Lovich stresses that companies should consider that flexibility is not only about location, but also about the hours employees work.
Alexia also points out the importance of finding solutions for a whole team. "What COVID-19 taught us is that flex work cannot be for an individual. It has to be for the team," she says. "When the whole team is together online versus a whole team together in person, it works. "
Progressive organizations are also reconsidering their workplace culture. "They're thinking about changing culture and leadership to be much more trust-based, impact-based, instead of input-based, like, I see you, so I think you're productive, ' compared to, ‘Wow, I see what you've accomplished, and I know you've been productive, ""Lovich says.
Lovich sees remote work as a "win-win" for cmployees who get more flexibility and employers who can hire people from anywhere in the country or even the world. She views it as creating equality in terms of allowing small towns to attract talent and offering more opportunity for women to climb the corporate ladder without having to relocate their families, something that she says often takes a back seat in a dual-career houschold.
Companies that require a return to a fully on-site model could lose one in three employees. Lovich agrees that employers need to be careful. "It's an employee's market right now. The world is short of workers, and because of that we should really think about what we need and feel confident and courageous to speak up. And a lot of companies are getting that, and so it's a real opportunity to either shape the place you work to be the place it needs to be or go someplace else that does, "Lovich says. "For decades, we've been contorting(扭曲)our lives to fit around work, and COVID-19 forced work to fit around lives."
