Though 70% of business leaders plan to have employees back in the office in some capacity by the fall of this year, things are not set in stone. Health and safety challenges have continued to fluctuate depending on region, and the imminent delta variant poses a risk to current state and CDC guidelines.
Last week, Jenny Silber, Associate Director of Startup Services at MetaProp, sat down with Chase Garbarino, HqO’s CEO, and Jay Schaufeld, HqO’s Head of Human Resources, to share her thoughts on the ever-evolving topic.
The group agreed that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to creating a workplace people want to return to. In her experience at MetaProp, an early-stage Venture Capital firm, Jenny noted that the best teams are “trying to be as concrete as possible with their strategies, while also maintaining some room for re-implementation and adaptation.”
Jenny also offered an inside look at MetaProp’s Manhattan office space, where their 20-person team has begun trickling in to work over the last few months. To help these employees, they created a contact-tracing forum that could keep track of those in the office, and began implementing digital tools such as Slack, Loom, and Athona to help keep their hybrid team aligned.
Jay observed that a lot of companies have been non-committal in their approach, and pointed to the disconnect between what employers are declaring and what employees actually want. For those in the Human Resources space, Jay encouraged leaders to “be much more involved in the conversation about the physical space” as it is a manifestation of their brand and the overall employee experience.
As the conversation continued, the three dived deeper into the importance of the ‘why’ behind return to office strategies, what this has to do with recruiting top talent, and other related subjects.
As the old saying goes , the only thing permanent is change. To get ahead of return to office strategies and the future needs of the office, commercial real estate teams will need to embrace change and remain agile, forward-thinking leaders.
To hear the full conversation, listen to The Let’s Go Show’s latest episode.
Related Reading
- What CRE can learn about providing hospitality-first experiences from other industries
- How to bring a hospitality-first approach to the office: your complete guide
On Today’s Episode
Chase Garbarino, CEO and Co-Founder at HqO, the only end-to-end operating system for commercial office buildings.
Jenny Silber, Associate Director at MetaProp. As MetaProp’s Startup Services lead, Jenny manages the firm’s support strategy and operational execution across the global portfolio, leveraging the firm’s network and resources to elevate the startup community.
Jay Schaufeld, Head of Human Resources and People Operations at HqO. He has 25+ years’ human resources experience including several leadership roles within global growth oriented technology and professional services firms.
Want to learn more? Listen to the Let’s Go Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
