Remote Work, Two Years In: When we committed to remote work in the summer of 2020, I heard the argument that remote work might work with teams that already had relationships and trust, but that for new employees it would be a different story. Malcolm Gladwell recently said he believed remote workers miss out on a sense of purpose and belonging. Cotopaxi has done remote work surveys in August of 2020, 2021, and 2022. In the spirit of learning together in this new world, here is a small sampling of the results from our most recent survey (76% of employees were hired since March 2020): • 87% rated their sense of belonging as an 8+. (47% rated it a 10). • 91% rated their sense of purpose as an 8+. (52% rated a 10). • 78% say they are more productive working remotely. 6% report being less productive. • 50% say they are working more hours than pre-pandemic. 37% report their workload is unchanged. Note: When factoring in commute time, people work less total hours. • 91% prefer working from home with 6% preferring to work from the office (0% reported wanting to work from the office 100% of the time). So what’s keeping me up at night? The outliers. While easy to dismiss as outliers, I believe the best cultures and leaders look out for “the one.” We still have work to do, but remote-first is working for us.
I love that you're this open about sharing the results of the survey, Davis. It speaks volumes. I'll admit that I'd be in that 6% that prefer to work from the office, even though it's a long commute for me. I've learned that I'm far more productive when I'm around other people that are being productive. For me, the option of working from home is nice when occasion requires it (such as tomorrow when I'll need to be home earlier in the day to go camping that evening), but with small kids at home, our life just isn't conducive to WFH full-time. And I think you're absolutely right to search out the outliers. That's often where you get the most learning.
You know I love this conversation- and the one we exchanged last years the founder’s summit. I think it’s great when people have a choice of working at places that offer remote and those that don’t- people can choose what works for them and businesses can do the same. I will say after having stayed in office the entire time, with the exception of April, May and part of June 2000, and seeing our team today, I don’t think it’s an issue of productivity for us. I’m confident our team’s output would be the same if not higher if we worked remotely. Because there IS a lot of downtime, a lot of side conversations about what happened this weekend, and what movie you need to see, or what’s going on at home— but I love that. And I love the sense of community we have at work together. I love the casual moments of inspiration that pop up over lunch or walks to the cars- ideas thar become headlining campaigns. There were even a couple instances where coming to work literally provided protection and a safe haven for team members that they wouldn’t have had if we had been working remotely. But I love reading about what is working with your team and appreciate how hard you personally work to protect the amazing culture at Cotopaxi. You’ve created something really special that isn’t easily replicated and I’m proud to be your friend.
Davis Smith Did you create your own custom survey for this? Or did you use a third party? Also, was it anonymous?
That sense of purpose comes from you, Davis Smith, and the incredibly powerful brand (and culture) you’ve created. My guess is these results would be quite different at a big, monolithic company like IBM or another brand that isn’t cultivating a sense of place and driving core values in the same way you are. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing.
Ok like I want to read, but immediately had a brain freeze and thought… maybe I’ll wait to ask you about it in person 😂. Charts, graphs, lots of data, this is a side of you that highlights your diversity as a leader. #range
Love this #peoplefirst + #datadriveninsights Davis Smith is using in the business. I applaud your focus on outliers….Most leaders would be satisfied with the stats and would not go that one (and very important) step further. To those outliers it will be super engaging once you reach them. Thank you for sharing your journey with the world. Truly inspiring- don’t stop!
How large was sample size?
This is great data. I'd love to know if the reason the outliers don't feel a sense of belonging or purpose is directly caused by remote work or if it's other factors! Maybe let us know someday?
I think remote work solves more problems than it creates. You have to be intentional in your design and practices to make it work but the same is true about creating a sense of belonging and purpose in person. Also the thing that I will never understand is eliminating remote workers from your talent strategy limits your potential to gain top talent and diverse talent. Unless you have a powerhouse of an employer brand, which few companies do, or pay ridiculously above market to compete, allowing remote work gives you an advantage. I think if anyone can figure out what to do about the outliers you can. Can't wait to see what you and your team come up with.
Helping companies tell their product stories.
1yI just got back from the office (it's late friday afternoon, and Friday's are optional at the office) where I found that most of our team was there in the office, talking, working, and enjoying each other's company. This was not because they had to be there, but because they wanted to. At Trapdoor Creative, Inc., we have recently gone from all remote, to having office space, and being together Tuesday-Thursday there. (with M/F optional) This was actually a request from our artists and developers. We were doing really well all working remotely, but there is a speed of working and a personal connection that was lost, and everyone was craving that again. It's been an awesome transition, and we are moving faster and more efficiently and connecting much better now. While it's a lot more convenient working at home, our team has found a lot of benefit from being together again. There's always a good balance, and there are pros and cons for both places. But I think we are finding that balance. There is no cookie-cutter answer for this. The key is to ask your employees. See what works best for them, and try things out. For us, mostly in-office work is working out a lot better.