In the post-Covid-19 era of office culture, how does a business design a workplace model made for the long term?
As businesses have made the necessary changes to their offices since 2020 — from where employees work to whom they target in their hiring decisions — companies and employees alike learned lessons about what values are most important to them in the ideal workplace. New preferred office elements like remote flexibility and autonomy arose, alongside a greater desire for personal connection, community and belonging.
While these two sets of values may seem contradictory, the answer for what lies ahead may be the hybrid workplace. According to research compiled by Zippia, 74 percent of companies in the United States are either using or planning to implement a permanent hybrid work model.
74% of U.S. companies are either using or planning to implement a permanent hybrid work model.
Instacart’s flexible approach to hybrid work resulted from the desire to fit the unique needs of every employee, regardless of where they live. Similarly, as Academia.edu’s teams began returning to the office, they knew that providing opportunities for in-person connection would be a key staple of their long-term office culture.
Built In San Francisco spoke to leaders from both companies to get a snapshot of their hybrid office culture, how they got to where they are now and the long-lasting values that keep them moving forward.
Instacart is a grocery technology company that facilitates grocery pickup and delivery services between users and local grocery stores.
How has the hybrid office culture evolved at Instacart?
At Instacart, we survey our employees annually, and one thing that remains consistent in the feedback is that employees want to remain flexible. Flexibility is also something we extend to our entire community. Instacart has always been about providing flexibility to have more time to do what you love, so building a working model anchored in this only made sense.
That brought us to introduce “Flex First,” our model that empowers our employees to do their best work from wherever they’re based while building community and connection through in-person collaboration.
Flex First is based on three core principles: flexibility, connection and equity. Today, employees have the autonomy to live anywhere within the country they’re based, and the flexibility to work from an Instacart office, from home or a mix of both. All full-time employees are granted a home-office stipend once they are hired, and we’ve reimagined our offices to meet our evolving teams’ needs. Our all-hands meetings are simultaneously in-person and streamed live, and we’ve invested in meaningful ongoing programs, such as regular “Team Jams” to create opportunities for in-person connection and collaboration.
What is one lesson you have learned since the start of your hybrid work setup?
We learned early on that while we can build community virtually, in-person collaboration and connection remain top priorities for our employees. That’s why we created the Team Jams program. Jams offer team-building opportunities at the team, department or even company level to deepen relationships and foster a sense of community. These in-person group meetings are crucial investments in enhancing relationships, strengthening relationships and encouraging innovation. Teams have access to our main offices to host these events, and we equip leaders and managers with tools and guidance to plan events that everyone can attend. We also developed a Jam toolkit for people managers that includes resources, guidelines for hosting a jam, sample agendas and content thought starters for interactive brainstorming sessions.
We also provide resources for team dinners, outings and team-building activities. We’ve seen teams taking on a wide range of activities from cooking classes together to team hikes. For us, this program is all about fostering connections and community among team members.
What do you think is the secret behind Instacart’s success when it comes to hybrid work?
At our core, we believe that a job is just one of the ingredients to a full life. So, when envisioning what work looks like at Instacart, I wanted to approach it from a spirit of abundance — finding a win-win for all employees and the company, instead of seeing these things as at odds. The model we developed needed to resonate with our company’s ethos, culture and values. Flex First does exactly that.
“I wanted to approach it from a spirit of abundance — finding a win-win for all employees and the company, instead of seeing these things as at odds.”
When we designed our working model, we wanted to ensure an equitable work experience for every team member. We’re dedicated to providing an equal playing field for everyone by removing office-centricity and proximity bias because we believe everyone should have the same career and development opportunities, no matter where they are based. As one of our employees puts it, “Instacart’s Flex-First policy works well — the in-person Team Jams have been critical to maintaining a healthy team culture and offset the remote aspect of working from home.”
In line with our “Put It All on the Table” value, we’re continually seeking candid feedback through surveys, company forums and other channels to ensure we’re creating the best work experience for everyone.
Academia.edu is an online academic research platform offering free and accessible access to every academic paper ever published.
How has hybrid office culture evolved at Academia.edu?
In the early years, like many companies, we were small and mostly if not entirely in the office in San Francisco. It provided us with easy access to co-workers, collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Academia was a tight-knit group of people all working on a common goal: building a company rooted in our mission to accelerate the world’s research.
When Covid-19 hit, we were stunned the same way most other in-office companies were, and we had to adapt to a fully remote culture and hiring practices. It was an effort to build culture and collaboration virtually, but we held tight to our values and continued to foster person-to-person interaction and brainstorming. When it was safe to do so, we started bringing people together by regularly hosting companywide retreats. We would get to know our colleagues during beautiful hikes and boat rides or brainstorm new product ideas gathered in a massive living room with beautiful views of the woods.
What is one lesson you have learned since the start of your hybrid work setup? What tools set your people up for success?
As the world started reentering the workplace, we knew we had an important decision to make: embrace remote work or double down on our in-person collaborative values. In the end, we didn’t believe that the choice was binary, and instead, we landed on a scenario somewhere in the middle. We support and are grateful for the talent that hiring remotely provides Academia, and we have talented teammates located around the world. However, we want the majority of our colleagues to have access to frequent in-person interactions, and in mid-2023, just ahead of a big hiring sprint, we decided that all new hires would be within driving distance of the office. We had already implemented a hybrid work policy in that our local teammates were in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“In the end, we didn’t believe that the choice in office setup was binary, and instead, we landed on a scenario somewhere in the middle.”
To this day, we are hiring and we hire exclusively in San Francisco under the hybrid work policy, this allows for flexibility and in-person collaboration. Our teams utilize video communication tools to stay connected, and we support our employees with their at-home set-up by providing the equipment they need to be comfortable.
What do you think is the secret behind Academia’s success when it comes to hybrid work?
Our success is the result of focusing on flexibility, autonomy, in-person collaboration and a sense of belonging. Employees appreciate the flexibility and autonomy of working from home two days a week and as they see fit within the core working hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. Despite the benefits of remote work, employees value the opportunity to collaborate face-to-face. Being able to connect with coworkers in person fosters better communication, strengthens relationships, and enhances teamwork. We regularly host in-office events, team happy hours and catered lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The hybrid model supports team building and a sense of community by providing regular opportunities for employees to come together. This strengthens their connection to their teams and the company, reinforcing a positive and inclusive work culture. We continue to bring all of our teammates together regularly, so regardless of where someone lives, they have frequent access to their colleagues. In the past year, we have hosted an LLM hackathon in Austin, Texas, a five-year planning session in the office and various global gatherings by team, department and initiative.
