|
|
Gandee Vasan/Getty Images |
|
Corporate
Culture in the
Hybrid Era
|
|
|
|
Sarah
Moughty,
Executive
Editor,
HBR.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
One question many leaders are
asking right now is: How can we
maintain our company culture
while navigating the shift to
hybrid or remote work?
|
| |
|
“While hybrid is often presented
as a new model, the fundamentals
of what transforms a group of
people into an exceptional team
haven’t changed as much as we
might think,” says Laszlo Bock,
CEO of Humu, who has worked with
Fortune 500 companies to
navigate the move to hybrid.
|
| |
|
When he was Google’s vice
president of people operations,
Bock wrote a book called
Work Rules! that laid
out how to combine data
analysis, academic rigor, and
human resources best practices
to create a world-class company
culture. Last week on HBR.org,
he revisited
and revised some of
those rules for the
hybrid
age.
|
| |
|
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson also
addressed the culture question
last week on the
latest episode of
“The New World of
Work,”
our LinkedIn Live video series.
He said the idea of creating a
strong distributed culture has
impacted how Sanofi has designed
its new headquarters. “We’re
moving into a new office next
year, here in Paris,” he
explained. “There are no
[individual] offices. It’s only
collaboration space, and it will
have the latest tech. We’ve gone
to great lengths to make sure
that whether you are in the room
or outside the room, you’ll get
the same experience. And that’s
going to be the minimum standard
now."
|
| |
|
Of course, there are companies
that have maintained a strong
hybrid culture for decades —
among them, the large consulting
firms, many of whose employees
spent most of their time on the
road before the pandemic. Last
year, Nicholas C. Lovegrove, a
professor of management at
Georgetown and former managing
partner of McKinsey’s D.C.
office, wrote
about how the firm
handles
hybrid.
Among their tactics? Each month,
McKinsey designates one Friday
as “Super Friday,” when everyone
is expected to be in the office.
They hold town hall meetings and
social events on those days to
ensure the time is well spent.
McKinsey also pays close
attention to the microcultures
on their small teams, which
assemble and disassemble on a
project basis. Members are
encouraged to write team
charters at the start of every
project. All teams take pulse
surveys every few weeks, which
allows the company to measure
and act on any emerging
concerns.
|
| |
|
How has your company tried to
maintain its culture while
adjusting to hybrid and remote
work? And how do you feel your
company culture has changed? I’d
love to hear how other companies
are navigating this — email us
at: audience@hbr.org.
|
| |
|
It’s almost Thanksgiving here in
the U.S., and I just wanted to
extend a special note of
gratitude to everyone reading
this newsletter. I know how hard
many of you are working to
manage the return and to create
fair, equitable, and inclusive
workplaces for your teams, and I
am thankful for all of you.
|
| |
Thanks for reading — and take
good care,
Sarah
|
| |
|
|
|
|
.png)
.png)
