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As employers struggle to tackle employee burnout and disconnect, one company has found that giving people the freedom to decide where they want to work did great things for employee engagement and turnover.
Two years ago, executives at Gympass, a global corporate wellbeing platform, rolled out their “work from where you prefer” policy, which gave staff the option to stay remote, go hybrid, or return to work in person. Since 2022, worker satisfaction doubled, engagement skyrocketed by 43%, and voluntary employee turnover decreased by 69%.
“We prioritize well-being as one of the key pillars, the same as you would prioritize, for example, profits,” Lívia de Bastos Martini, chief people officer for Gympass, told Coins2Day.
About 85% of the company’s roughly 1,800 employees now work under this “flexible-hybrid” model—where teams and individuals choose when to go into the office or not—while the other 15% are completely remote. She says unless there is a strong business reason that requires being in-person occasionally for a team project, workers never have to return to the office.
While some RTO advocates believe flexible scheduling leads to lower productivity, weaker engagement, and lackluster office culture, Gympass has found the opposite to be true. The company says it hasn’t seen worse performance among remote and hybrid employees, and their elevated engagement and well-being actually improves productivity.
But Bastos Martini says the key to Gympass’s success was sticking to their remote work guns while other companies were reverting back to in-person, while emphasizing communication and transparency.
That includes leaning on tools like Google Chat with channels dedicated to specific teams and projects, as well as a robust intranet system that organizes information about different company policies including how-to manuals and training materials.
She adds that the company has also been intentional about their performance expectations for all employees—evaluating their business impact and goals, alongside proper work behaviors.
“It’s not like we are just not looking at people, leaving them at home and not talking about them,” she says.
Emma Burleigh
[email protected]
@EmmaBurleigh1
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
- Food giant Tyson is working with a refugee nonprofit to hire immigrants and fill their open jobs. —Bloomberg.
- So-called "dry promotions" might be getting more common—that's when a company gives employees a new title without the pay increase. —Wall Street Journal
- A company that makes office phone booths is putting in sensors that can track workers' vital signs including their heart rate and breathing. It could potentially help employers track stress levels within their workforce—but it also raises big concerns about privacy and consent. —Bloomberg
- Tech startups are dialing back the equity packages they're offering new hires, who are now receiving 37% less than they were just 18 months ago. —Financial Times
Watercooler
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Five day fun. The CEO of British drugstore chain Boots is insisting that workers come back to the office five days a week beginning in September. He says that the office is a "much more fun and inspiring place" to work. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Aslesha Mehta
Minnie meltdown. Lyft and Uber say they will stop offering their services in Minneapolis if the city approves another minimum wage law. —Chloe Berger, Trisha Ahmed, Associated Press
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