The future of work is changing and will lead to hybrid work. This is because for some companies, using all of their office space or becoming a fully remote organization is not feasible. The most common solution today is to embrace hybrid work and thus become hybrid companies

Becoming a hybrid company is an upward trend. Travel Perk confirmed in a recent research on hybrid work trends that “76% of respondents confirmed that their companies shifted to a hybrid working model”.

There are already several examples worldwide. A lot of hybrid companies that show how they have moved to a hybrid work model in an open and transparent way. Let’s take a look at some of them!

Become a successful Hybrid Company with The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work

Dropbox: Going hybrid to avoid damaging company culture

Dropbox, a hybrid company

Dropbox launched an employee survey to find out what employees think about hybrid work. Nearly 90% of Dropbox employees said that they can be just as efficient at home as in the office.

On one hand, they  did not want a rigid five-day workweek at their workplace. On the other hand, they felt that a 100% remote work model would be a source of frustration. Also, they felt that having to make endless video calls and not being close to their colleagues could damage their employee experience.

In their employee survey, respondents also added that the risk of miscommunication is greater, and it is more daunting to get new projects off the ground with multiple people. Therefore, in order not to damage their company culture, they decided to become a hybrid company.

They believed that neither full in-office nor remote work would work for them. Thus, they decided to ride the wave of hybrid companies! To cope with their new hybrid work situation, they were clear about what they wanted to achieve:

  • Support the company’s mission
  • Preserve the human connection
  • Ensure constant learning as a permanent part of the equation
  • Never compromise the health of the company 
  • Continue to provide the right amount of freedom and flexibility.
Follow Dropbox’s steps to become a hybrid company with The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work

Reddit: The maxim to keep evolving in hybrid work

Reddit, a hybrid company

“Evolve” is one of Reddit’s company values. Following this maxim they decided to become a hybrid company. That’s why they offer their people flexibility and the opportunity to explore where they prefer to work: in-office, remote or hybrid!

Following their decision to join the rest of the hybrid companies worldwide they revised their compensation plan. Therefore, they decided to eliminate geographical compensation zones in some countries. What has this meant for Reddit? That regardless of where employees work, their salaries would be tied to salary ranges in high-cost cities.

Reddit has focused on strengthening its hybrid work practices. They focus on designing workflows and improving the employee experience to drive productivity and create bonding, trust and alignment.

Thus, they create communities for teams to meet and reserve desks when they go to the workplace. They have implemented measures such as: private rooms, large reservable restrooms, collaboration areas and no more fixed desks. Reddit sees many benefits from becoming a hybrid company:

  • Not requiring having to go to the office every day will attract top talent and increase diversity.
  • Employees will feel that their requests are heard, so morale and engagement will improve.
  • In addition, they will be able to foster team communication and collaboration.
Find out more about how Reddit became a hybrid company with The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work

Figma: Their need for adapting company culture

Figma, a hybrid company

Figma’s staff enjoyed working remotely, but also liked going to their place of work! Inevitably, they had to become a hybrid company. Before then, they researched the problems that various hybrid companies have had to avoid unfortunate surprises…

What alarmed them the most? The possibility of placing people on certain days or having empty offices. However, they found that most of these problems could be solved with the right organizational structure.

When it came to making the decision, Figma’s first debate was whether they should give employees total freedom and not set any rules or, on the contrary, make a different decision. They ended up making a different decision, why? 

  • They found that the lack of clarity caused anxiety among employees.
  • Their key value is “to be bold”. It is definitely not bold not to make a decision!

The HR team launched an employee survey to get their feedback: Did Figma’s employees want to work in the office? To get that information, they included questions such as “Do you feel creative while working in the office?” or “Do you feel you can collaborate more effectively with other colleagues while working in the office?”.

After receiving feedback, they discovered that flexibility meant different things to almost every employee. Curious, isn’t it?

The good thing is that despite the disparity in the comments, a common problem was evident. While most employees agreed that they were equally or more productive at home, they also said they suffered from severe FOMO (Fear of missing out)

At that point they saw the need for cultural adaptation. They decided to focus their efforts on improving communication in hybrid work and make stops for synchronous communication between colleagues, but being aware of Zoom fatigue.

Become a hybrid company like Figma with The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work

Coinbase: aligning hybrid work with company values

Coinbase, a hybrid company

Becoming a hybrid company was a big decision for Coinbase. They were clear about their goals: to maintain employee satisfaction and attract talent. And they achieved them by following the hybrid work trend and aligning this new way of working with their company values.

What led them to become a hybrid company?

  • They discovered that the mix of remote and office-based work could reduce the risk of centralization. Always coupled with Coinbase’s vision of creating a more financially independent future.
  • A world wide circumstance pushed them to try remote working. Coinbase felt that, having tried remote work, many of its employees would expect to always have that possibility.

Jumping on the hybrid work bandwagon meant that the People department had to put some issues on the table:

  • Offer equal employee experience whether they are 100% remote or hybrid.
  • Having, as they put it, “one-floor offices in 10 major centers, rather than 10-floor offices in one city”.
  • Create remote onboarding and hiring processes, where asynchronous communication will play a key role.

As Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated, there is a cultural shift happening and they have found a new way of working, so everyone and everything must adapt to it.

Jump on the hybrid work bandwagon with The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work

Hubspot: the answer to their employees needs

Hubspot, a hybrid company

Hubspot launched an employee survey and it was Hubspot employees who showed the need to become a hybrid company. Two-thirds of HubSpotters intend to work remotely more often and about 16% were in favor of moving to telecommuting altogether.

What was the result of this survey? HubSpot employees now have three options to choose from:

  1. Work remotely
  2. Work in the office
  3. Work in hybrid mode

Whichever option they choose, Hubspot is committed to taking care of its employees’ experience and making them feel as comfortable as possible.

What was the best part of their transition to hybrid work? The advantages and benefits of the Hubspot office somehow carry over to hybrid work. Expectations of managers are maintained – the whole team receives instructions, invitations to masterclasses and the necessary resources to: 

  • Help them work on their psychological safety.
  • Promote inclusive hiring.
  • Generate positive impact in many more areas.

As Husbpot co-founder and CTO Dharmesh Shah said, “The future of work is flexible. […] becoming a hybrid company that empowers remote and in-office work equally was where HubSpot’s future was headed.”

Join the wave of hybrid companies like Hubspot The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work

Practical takeaways on hybrid work

Employees from a hybrid company having an online meeting at the office
  • Taking employee feedback seriously – Listen to everyone’s opinions and make decisions based on them. Encouraging people to respond and discuss will lead to better ideas. Communication should be two-way through light feedback loops.
  • Create a common set of rules or guidelines to keep company values as strong as possible.
  • Create routines to maintain social connectivity.
  • Employees are used to having their own fixed desk with everything they need, but now they’ve moved it home. Therefore, provide the necessary resourcesfast working hardware and software – for their home offices.
  • Adapt hiring and onboarding processes to hybrid work. Employees who have experience working remotely adapt smoothly to a hybrid work system.
  • Breaking down at the individual level all goals and objectives will help the team work independently and reduce bottlenecks while in hybrid work.
  • Keep in mind that the benefits related to being in the office are reduced – less free coffee, ping-pong games or maybe free gym. Find a way to move these benefits to remote work. IE: virtual psychological assistant, virtual training, etc.

55% of employees have declared the need for hybrid work, a blend of remote work and office work. Is hybrid work a good approach for your company? Discover if you are ready to become a hybrid company and learn how to implement it successfully with The Practical Guide to Hybrid-remote work.

Take hybrid work to the next level with best practices to set up a successful hybrid workforce and advice from People & HR experts from hybrid companies!

Become a successful Hybrid Company with The Practical Guide to Hybrid Remote Work