March 9, 2022
As the Omicron variant wanes, many organizations are finally calling on their employees to return to the workplace. But flexible working arrangements remain a key component of that return. According to CBRE’s U.S. Occupier sentiment survey, 87 percent of large employers believe hybrid work policies are now a normal part of life. Support for flexible work has grown throughout the pandemic, especially as employees demand more flexibility in their working lives.
As a result, flexible work options are crucial for attracting and retaining employees. While many are excited to get back to the bustle of the office, others are more hesitant to leave their home workspaces. Creating policies that reflect the needs of the workforce, no matter where they're working, allows companies not only to retain talented people, but also provide the right strategies to help them succeed.
For this iteration of Host’s Thoughtful Reads series, a recent story from NPR explores how returning to the workplace has delighted some, worried others, and prompted further discussion on the longevity of flexible work arrangements.
Read or listen here: Returning to the office, a moment of joy for some. Others, would rather stay home.
Entering the Tween Years of Smart Workspace
Host Digital
Drew DePriest,
Digital Solutions & Strategy Lead
January of every year seems to bring out the crystal ball gazers of every tech industry. A new year – and some would argue (incorrectly, but maybe that’s just me and Seinfeld) a new decade – gives rise to reflection as the last year closes and the annual cycle begins anew.
Digital Solutions & Strategy Lead
January of every year seems to bring out the crystal ball gazers of every tech industry. A new year – and some would argue (incorrectly, but maybe that’s just me and Seinfeld) a new decade – gives rise to reflection as the last year closes and the annual cycle begins anew.
Host Digital
Education From Afar: Perspectives on Virtual Learning
Employee Experience
Ryan Bryant,
Communications Lead
Host’s goals of providing increased digital and virtual learning options have been on the agenda for some time. However, with a global pandemic shuttering offices throughout the world, our learning and development professionals have had to expedite these options to ensure that new hires receive the same level of expert training, even if the training isn’t performed in person.
Communications Lead
Host’s goals of providing increased digital and virtual learning options have been on the agenda for some time. However, with a global pandemic shuttering offices throughout the world, our learning and development professionals have had to expedite these options to ensure that new hires receive the same level of expert training, even if the training isn’t performed in person.
Employee Experience
Leading Virtual Teams
Employee Experience
Patrick Cheeseman,
Global Hospitality
Leading virtual teams can become untenable if you expect the virtual world to correlate perfectly with a traditional office environment. According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, 82 percent of virtual teams fell short of their goals. With that said, everything that makes for a strong leader in an office is twice as important in the virtual landscape.
Global Hospitality
Leading virtual teams can become untenable if you expect the virtual world to correlate perfectly with a traditional office environment. According to a recent study by the Harvard Business Review, 82 percent of virtual teams fell short of their goals. With that said, everything that makes for a strong leader in an office is twice as important in the virtual landscape.
Employee Experience
Bringing a New Member onto Your Remote Team
Employee Experience
Tyson Jacques,
Director, Global Hospitality Operations
New employees join organizations every day, including during this unprecedented time where many are working remotely during the COVID outbreak. While it's a best practice to spend face-to-face time when onboarding, right now that's just not an option most of the time. Employee onboarding lays the foundation for the success of new hires at your company and provides a baseline to make connections going forward.
Director, Global Hospitality Operations
New employees join organizations every day, including during this unprecedented time where many are working remotely during the COVID outbreak. While it's a best practice to spend face-to-face time when onboarding, right now that's just not an option most of the time. Employee onboarding lays the foundation for the success of new hires at your company and provides a baseline to make connections going forward.
Employee Experience
The Leader's Role in Fostering New Social Norms as Workplaces Reopen
Workplace Strategy
Alex Andel and Karen Ellzey
By now, almost all organizations around the world are somewhere on their re-opening journey, whether starting to plan, bringing employees back to the workplace, or assessing “what’s next” for the future of their work environments. Companies and organizations are appropriately focused on a range of activities such as resetting the physical work environment to achieve social distancing, installing signage, adjusting building systems, securing sustainable quantities of supplies, and adapting service levels in areas such as cleaning and food service.
By now, almost all organizations around the world are somewhere on their re-opening journey, whether starting to plan, bringing employees back to the workplace, or assessing “what’s next” for the future of their work environments. Companies and organizations are appropriately focused on a range of activities such as resetting the physical work environment to achieve social distancing, installing signage, adjusting building systems, securing sustainable quantities of supplies, and adapting service levels in areas such as cleaning and food service.
Workplace Strategy
The Double Shift Juggling Parenting and Working During the Coronavirus
Employee Experience
Lauren Schwalb
Director, Deployment and Operations
Working parents are facing a particularly challenging time, as the boundaries between work and home have completely broken down, resulting in the need for parents to juggle between parent mode to work mode and back again each day. The “double shift” is now the “double double shift.” Between putting three meals on the table, homeschooling, hosting Zoom meetings and conference calls, doing laundry, cleaning the house and trying to be present as both an employee and a parent, working parents are struggling and facing burnout.
Director, Deployment and Operations
Working parents are facing a particularly challenging time, as the boundaries between work and home have completely broken down, resulting in the need for parents to juggle between parent mode to work mode and back again each day. The “double shift” is now the “double double shift.” Between putting three meals on the table, homeschooling, hosting Zoom meetings and conference calls, doing laundry, cleaning the house and trying to be present as both an employee and a parent, working parents are struggling and facing burnout.
Employee Experience
Patrick Goes to Work
Hospitality
Patrick Cheeseman,
Global Hospitality Lead
When I’m focused on exciting new projects and things are going well, it’s always a surprise when they go awry unexpectedly. However, surprise doesn’t adequately cover our collective reaction to the rise of a global pandemic.
Global Hospitality Lead
When I’m focused on exciting new projects and things are going well, it’s always a surprise when they go awry unexpectedly. However, surprise doesn’t adequately cover our collective reaction to the rise of a global pandemic.
Hospitality
Customer Service Keeps Us Connected, Safe and Well – Let’s Celebrate It!
Hospitality
Patrick Cheeseman
Global Hospitality Lead
I think it’s worth our time to reflect on what customer service has meant to us in the past, what it means right now as our social lives are stunted by pandemic concerns, and what it will look like once we finally navigate our way through this challenging era of our lives.
Global Hospitality Lead
I think it’s worth our time to reflect on what customer service has meant to us in the past, what it means right now as our social lives are stunted by pandemic concerns, and what it will look like once we finally navigate our way through this challenging era of our lives.
Hospitality
The Employee Experience Formula That Inspires Innovation
Employee Experience
Ashley Lippitt,
Host Labs Lead
It will likely come as no surprise that our evolving workspaces, enabled by technology, outfitted with the most coveted amenities and served by hospitality experts, are designed to make employees feel valued, signaling to them that the work they do is important and impactful. But what about when the workspace provided by an employer is removed (even temporarily) and placemaking becomes a virtual endeavor?
Host Labs Lead
It will likely come as no surprise that our evolving workspaces, enabled by technology, outfitted with the most coveted amenities and served by hospitality experts, are designed to make employees feel valued, signaling to them that the work they do is important and impactful. But what about when the workspace provided by an employer is removed (even temporarily) and placemaking becomes a virtual endeavor?
Employee Experience
Delight in the Workplace: An Opportunity for Limitless Value
Employee Experience
Ashley Lippitt,
Host Labs Lead
As surprising as it may seem coming from a commercial real estate company, the Host team obsesses over enriching lives and creating delight for people who work in the buildings we manage. We consider the daily journey of our customers and map both their current and best experiences in the workplace.
Host Labs Lead
As surprising as it may seem coming from a commercial real estate company, the Host team obsesses over enriching lives and creating delight for people who work in the buildings we manage. We consider the daily journey of our customers and map both their current and best experiences in the workplace.
Employee Experience
Why Workplace Experience Platforms Need the Human Element
Thoughtful Reads: The Importance of In-Between Moments
Hospitality
At Host, we’re all about providing people with the resources they need to have a better workplace experience. While delivering amazing people services and innovative technology to clients is a huge part of what we do, we also like to share information that keeps people informed and engaged broadly beyond the immediate day-to-day aspects of their jobs. That’s why we’re making Host’s Thoughtful Reads a regular part of our blog
Hospitality
The Value of Authenticity
Employee Experience
Thoughtful Reads: Guide to the Hybrid Workplace
Employee Experience, Workplace Strategy
Although people are beginning to return to workplaces around the globe, remote work isn’t going anywhere. Hybrid workplaces—workplaces that offer employees the ability to work either in office or remotely—are becoming the norm, especially at larger organizations.
Employee Experience, Workplace Strategy
What We've Learned: Host Conversations #1
Employee Experience, Hospitality
Throughout the pandemic, essential workers have faced tremendous difficulty and uncertainty while performing their jobs—Host’s hospitality experts are no exception. Host’s workplace experience teams have been at the forefront of service delivery and continue to be the heart of the locations they serve.
Employee Experience, Hospitality
What Is the Workplace Experience Anyway?
Employee Experience
5 Hospitality Skills That Prepare You for the Corporate World
Hospitality
If you’ve got experience working in hospitality or customer service, you know exactly how challenging and rewarding the work can be. The wide-ranging skills you develop in the hospitality industry transfer easily to other roles and careers, which means you’ve got a variety of options for your future growth.
Hospitality
Thoughtful Reads: Tech Tools for Hybrid Work
Employee Experience, Digital
How can we be more intentional about the technology we’re using? How can we stay focused and engaged? Which tools work best for our needs? This helpful guide touches on how to get the most out of workplace tech and do good work while respecting the time and personal boundaries of others.
Employee Experience, Digital
Small Things: Host Team Recipes #1
Hospitality
Wellness
Small Things highlights our team’s favorite stuff—from food to travel recommendations to entertainment options and everything in between—to share with readers a bit about who we are, what we’re obsessed with and how we’re always looking for new ways to live life to the fullest.
Wellness
Employee Experience Can Make or Break Your Business
Employee Experience
Although the employee experience is only one aspect of a larger workplace strategy, ensuring your people have a positive experience remains crucial for long-term growth, worker retention and overall profitability.
Thoughtful Reads: The Sensitivity Revolution
Employee Experience, Digital
Not only is workplace technology becoming more sensitive and nuanced, workers are growing more vocal about their needs for a positive employee experience.
Employee Experience, Digital
Host Conversations: Customer Service Week
Employee Experience, Hospitality
From October 4 - 8, 2021, we’re celebrating Customer Service Week by highlighting the dedicated professionals who have persevered through the pandemic and all its hardships.
Employee Experience, Hospitality
Three Key Drivers of Employee Wellbeing
Wellness
Employee Experience
Employee wellbeing is not only important to the lives of individual workers, but also to your company’s bottom line. Wellbeing makes a major impact on employee productivity, contentment and retention.
Employee Experience
Thoughtful Reads: Worker Risks Are Paying Off
Employee Experience, Wellness
The Great Resignation is accelerating and workers are taking risks that seem to be paying off. Wages, especially for low-income workers, are rising at their fastest rate in over a decade.
Employee Experience, Wellness
Why Empathy and Experience Drive Employee Retention
Employee Experience
Workplace Strategy
Employers have an unprecedented opportunity to attract and keep quality talent, but only if they’re willing to provide the necessary flexibility, opportunity and compensation.
Workplace Strategy