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
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.

Education From Afar: Perspectives on Virtual Learning
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.

Leading Virtual Teams
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.

Bringing a New Member onto Your Remote Team
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.

The Leader's Role in Fostering New Social Norms as Workplaces Reopen
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.
The Double Shift Juggling Parenting and Working During the Coronavirus
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.

Patrick Goes to Work
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.

Customer Service Keeps Us Connected, Safe and Well – Let’s Celebrate It!
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.

The Employee Experience Formula That Inspires Innovation
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?

Delight in the Workplace: An Opportunity for Limitless Value
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.

Why Workplace Experience Platforms Need the Human Element

Thoughtful Reads: The Importance of In-Between Moments

The Value of Authenticity
Employee Experience

Thoughtful Reads: Guide to the Hybrid Workplace

What We've Learned: Host Conversations #1

What Is the Workplace Experience Anyway?
Employee Experience

5 Hospitality Skills That Prepare You for the Corporate World

Thoughtful Reads: Tech Tools for Hybrid Work

Small Things: Host Team Recipes #1
Hospitality

Employee Experience Can Make or Break Your Business
Employee Experience

Thoughtful Reads: The Sensitivity Revolution

Host Conversations: Customer Service Week

Three Key Drivers of Employee Wellbeing
Wellness

Thoughtful Reads: Worker Risks Are Paying Off
