3. Flexibility ReciprocityAs we heard from one professional, sometimes a fully remote workplace can feel like a "heads down" environment with little collaboration or knowledge sharing.
So, if your company is remote-first, is it OK for employees just to get their work done?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, people are bringing value to your organization by doing what you pay them to do. But, on the other hand, your organization is missing out on retention, diversity, creativity, and connection that can help your organization evolve.
However, if anything, the last few years have taught us that flexibility is essential to the workforce, but flexibility is different for everybody. There truly is no one-size fits to it. It all ties back to the culture you're trying to create at your organization and how much in-person connection your people need.
The most valuable thing we've learned in this grand experiment of the last few years is this: there are many work styles, but we've been treating people like there's only one mold to be successful.
Imagine, if you will, the character
Doc Brown from the 80s classic
Back to the Future. The eccentric but brilliant scientist could travel through time. Still, he kept his desk littered with stacks upon stacks of papers and journals. Even his hair had a slight semblance of an electrical experiment gone haywire. His brilliance would be lost in corporate America because he wouldn't fit the mold.
The bottom line is that organizations will have to embrace the fact that people have different workstyles in which they can be their authentic selves and contribute the most value to the organization.