Why we think hybrid workplaces are here to stay

As COVID-19 restrictions are lifted across the country, there’s a renewed conversation from business leaders and workplace experts on the reset of work. You might have noticed we said the reset of work instead of return to work. We first heard it used in this post from Steve Brown on the Society for Human Resource Management blog. 

According to Brown, we have the opportunity now to change things for the better for our businesses and employees. “Having a reset mentality though allows you to have a new start. I feel this is healthier because things are not the same. They won’t be either if you try to recreate what you thought was good in the past.”

One of the significant workplace changes we see as part of this reset is the hybrid workplace. Employees who have moved to remote work have found new ways to balance work and home priorities for the better. Businesses have seen cost savings by reducing the amount of office space they need.

But in a recent story in the Boston Globe, Jon Levy said the hybrid workplace is a fad. Levy has spent the last two years researching workplace trust and belonging for his upcoming book You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence. His article makes some excellent points – many that are directly tied to our core belief that celebrating your team’s personal and professional milestones connects employees no matter where they work. But we think the hybrid workplace is here to stay – here’s why.

Close no matter the distance

In the article, Levy referenced MIT professor Thomas J. Allen’s eponymous Allen Curve as a reason hybrid workplaces don’t work. The Allen Curve says that communication between employees increases the closer employees sit together. Levy noted that Slack and other remote communication tools might work for freelancers and other similar employees, but not being in the office means a drop in employee recognition.

If it’s one thing we’ve seen over the years, it’s that recognition works whether it’s remote or in-person. Our customers understand creating opportunities to celebrate professional and personal milestones helps connect their employees. When your employees feel recognized with personalized gifts, it also sparks conversations between them to strengthen work relationships. This is especially important with remote and hybrid work environments where everyday in-office interactions aren’t possible. 

Building trust across a divide

Levy said trust is challenging to build in a hybrid workplace, especially without having in-person interactions that aren’t work-related. “For a hybrid setup to be successful over the long term, companies might need to manufacture occasions — like games and competitions — for team members to invest effort in one another beyond emailing someone some files they need,” he added.

We see trust as something that is built when people start to know each other. Every day, we get to ship out gift boxes celebrating births, weddings, and more. The best part is what happens when the boxes are opened – your employees share those milestone celebrations with their teammates. It builds bonds – and trust – between your employees.

We belong together (even if it’s over video)

We can’t argue with Levy’s last point – “The companies that create the greatest sense of belonging are the ones that people stay at for years.” This is the reason we started Chocolate Soup. It’s what we do. We help your employees develop interpersonal relationships, which increases their sense of belonging. That belonging can help drive increased productivity and creates a culture people want to be a part of.

Reset your workplace culture with Chocolate Soup

Chocolate Soup helps you make your employees feel valued and connected. We offer a subscription service that sends beautifully curated, locally sourced gift boxes to your employees and their family members to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and more. To recognize work milestones, we offer our Build Your Career add-on that includes a customized LEGO™ person for every team member along with milestone bricks for work anniversaries, product launches, sales celebrations – whatever milestones matter to your team.