What hybrid work will look like for three major tech companies

Before the pandemic, if you heard the word “hybrid,” your first thought was probably about cars—not working models. But today, organizations of all sizes and industries have adopted hybrid work. The conversation has shifted from defining the meaning of a hybrid work model to figuring out what it actually looks like in practice. What goes into an organization’s decision to adopt a new style of work? What changes do they need to make if they choose to go with a hybrid model? The answer to these questions is “it depends.” There are many different ways to go about hybrid work. In this post, we’ll explore how three tech companies—Adobe, LogMeIn, and Intuit—have approached moving to a more flexible working arrangement.

Adobe

Before Adobe’s decision to adopt a hybrid work model, the company conducted interviews with hundreds of its employees and leaders. It spoke with people from different departments and locations to figure out what work arrangement would be best for its large and diverse company. After conducting the interviews, all roads pointed to hybrid. While Adobe hasn’t revealed any quantitative data from its research, it did share a framework the company will follow as it adopts hybrid work:

• Digital-first - To support a more flexible way of working, the company will increase its investment in digital tools and workflows. This includes tools that enable onboarding, employee career growth, collaboration, and community-building.
• Flexible by default - Employees will have the flexibility to work remote 50% of the time. The rest of their workweek will be on-site.
• In-person for moments that matter - Employees will gather in person to collaborate and for purpose-driven activities.

When it comes to deciding on employee schedules, Adobe has embraced the true meaning of “flexibility.” Employees and teams can decide on the schedule that works best for them, whether that’s being on-site a few days a week or every workday.  

LogMeIn

Hybrid work seemed fitting for LogMeIn’s 4,000 distributed employees. While the company hasn’t shared details on how they decided to adopt hybrid work, it has said that it’ll empower its employees to work from wherever they choose. One callout about LogMeIn’s working model is that it encourages employees to do individual work remotely and go into the workplace to collaborate or participate in team-building activities.Like many organizations, LogMeIn needed to make organizational changes to prepare for hybrid work. The company put together a Digital Workplace team to oversee the tech infrastructure that keeps employees productive and connected with each other. Investing in the technologies that enable hybrid work is key to long-term success. The Digital Workplace team will not only manage LogMeIn’s tech stack, the company says it’ll also help pave the future of the organization’s flexible work model.

Intuit

Finally, let’s take a look at the global technology platform Intuit. The company’s decision to adopt a hybrid work model was fueled by the results of a company-wide survey. Here are some key takeaways:

• 79% of employees felt isolated while working remote
• 56% of employees missed in-person interactions with their coworkers
• 80% of employees said they wanted the organization to adopt a hybrid work model

The survey results showed that Intuit employees wanted some form of in-person connection and the overwhelming majority preferred a hybrid work model.As a result, the company has decided to give employees flexibility in where they work. Intuit has plans to reopen in phases and it expects that employees will work on-site an average of 2-3 days a week in the final reopening stage.

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If you haven’t already, take a page from Adobe and Intuit’s book and survey your employees. Find out what they need and want in a working model moving forward. This is the best way to figure out what their sentiment is around returning to work and the model they prefer. If hybrid work is right for your company, learn from the folks at LogMeIn and be sure you have the right teams in place to support the switch. That may mean putting together a digital workplace team to manage your company’s tech stack. It could also mean bringing together a cross-functional task force to collaborate to oversee hybrid work decisions. Remember that you can learn from what other organizations have done. But the model of work your company takes on after the pandemic should be as unique as your organization itself.

Preparing your company for hybrid work can be tricky. Fortunately, there are tactics you can use to stay ahead of workplace issues and implement fixes faster. Want to learn more? Download our ebook How to identify and solve hybrid workplace challenges.