Zoom Wants Workers Back, Cotopaxi’s People Chief On Remote Work And WeWork’s Warning

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Zoom couldn’t seem to stay out of the headlines this week, whether for changes to its terms of service about AI, its decision to end its no-meeting Wednesday policy or, most of all, a memo from CEO Eric Yuan about employees within range of its office returning to the office two days a week. The latter drew conclusions that remote work’s days were “over,” “dead” and it was the “end of an era.” If the company whose very name has become a verb symbolizing remote work is calling workers back, this whole grand experiment must be done, headlines suggested.

I’m not so sure. Zoom formalized a policy to bring people to the office two days a week—a typical “structured hybrid” policy that still lets people work remotely often. Employees still really, really want flexibility—something that appears to be helping hybrid and remote workplaces grow headcount faster than those in-office full-time. And while WeWork may be on the ropes (see below), other co-working concepts are thriving, Bloomberg reported this week. Let’s not crown the office the winner just yet.

Hope it’s a great weekend.

Jena McGregor, Senior Editor, Leadership Strategy & Careers | @jenamcgregor

HUMAN CAPITAL

Following a $30 billion deal that brought unionized UPS drivers increased wages, there was a 50% increase in searches for “UPS” or “United Parcel Service” on the online jobs board Indeed, Forbes reports.

After years of hearing about the “great resignation,” a study of almost 12,000 people by the Federal Reserve finds only 11% of people voluntarily left a job, with 23% applying for a new job and 15% starting new jobs. Contributor Tracy Brower contemplates the shift from the Big Quit to the Big Stay.

As benefits become more personalized, they matter more than ever—with many workers even prioritizing them above salary. One survey of 800 professionals in New York City found that over half (53%) said the benefits package was the leading factor in attracting them to their current job—and will be their top priority when they search for the next one.

WORKPLACE + DESIGN

WeWork, the struggling co-working empire known as much for its leadership drama as its role in shifting workplace design, said in a statement Tuesday that there’s “substantial doubt” the company will be able to stay in business, citing a “slight decline in memberships” and “increasing competition,” Forbes’ William Skipworth reports.

WHAT’S NEXT: COTOPAXI CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER GRACE ZUNCIC

Outdoor gear and apparel brand Cotopaxi went remote-first during the pandemic and hasn’t looked back, allowing the small-but-growing company, which has more than 300 employees, to recruit executives nation-wide and improve the diversity of its Utah-based workforce, says Chief People and Impact Officer Grace Zuncic. Excerpts from our conversation with Zuncic, who joined the company in September from Chobani, have been edited for space and clarity.

Why did you make the move to Cotopaxi?

I wanted to do a Chobani-like experience all over again. I wanted to be building something again. I was in the mailroom at Chobani, and there were these cardboard boxes that said Cotopaxi. … I went to the website to learn about the company and thought I would love to work at a place like this—it’s in the outdoors industry, which personally I’m very passionate about. But they were based in Utah.

I think about all the time I spent as an H.R. leader formulating relocation policies. I think about how many checks we wrote to move people around the country. I discovered [Cotopaxi] was remote-first when I cold-outreached the founder, Davis Smith, on LinkedIn.

I would say the caliber of the talent we’ve been able to recruit at the director level and above has certainly been improved by having a national recruiting philosophy with remote work. Secondly, the diversity of the company has also improved. By the end of 2019, our reported diversity numbers were around 15%. As of the first quarter of this year, we’re 23% BIPOC. That’s a significant shift for a company based in Utah.

Some managers are concerned about the productivity impact of remote work. What are some ways you’ve tried to make it run effectively?

You shift your orientation from security and safety in the building and key fobs to how to run Slack [or virtual meetings] effectively. It’s just a mindset shift, but you have to have accountability for it outside of just the H.R. team. That really needs to live within the executive team and you have to spend time really digging into the experience of working remotely and being very open to continuous improvement.

How do you bring employees together in-person?

We have an annual “summer camp” where employees from our distribution center and our remote workforce and our small office in Salt Lake City come together, and we have sort of a three day time of adventure and bonding and reminding one another of our purpose and impact.

What have you done to improve remote meetings?

We’ve deployed a spirit of radical candor across the business, where if a meeting isn’t necessary someone can raise their hand and say something about it. … We’re getting feedback from all across the business on how we can do things better. One of the reasons why we ran a Slack effectiveness campaign in the first place is employees were coming to us saying that ‘we can just do this better.’

We have meeting-free zones—two hours Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays where people are not overlapping with meetings. We “raise” our hands [using video technology in remote meetings]. That sounds funny, but … I can’t tell you how many meetings in my career the executives just speak up whenever, and everyone else just sits there. … We have to create work environments that foster productivity and innovation not only in physical spaces, but in virtual spaces too.

Do you think everybody gets that, especially when you look out at what’s being said as CEOs issue return to office edicts?

I think it’s more ‘if we go back to the way it was, things will turn around’—like the business performance will turn around. … A lot of those feelings and sentiments are held at the top of the company. You look at the working families in the middle that have just really benefited and performed well … and now it’s like ‘you need to go back and you need to be there four days a week?’ It’s tough on some people to hear that message when they’re so accustomed to how productive they’ve been working at home, and what they’ve gotten out of it on a personal level.

FACTS + COMMENT

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first pill for postpartum depression on Aug. 4, which coincides with a release of proposed rules by the EEOC stating that employers must provide time off for parents seeking postpartum depression treatment.

• 1 in 7: The estimated number of pregnant women who will develop postpartum depression.
• 70%: the percentage of new mothers who experience the “baby blues,” characterized by crying for no reason, irritability, restlessness, and anxiety.
• ‘You must do this … you must be perfect at it’: Our culture makes it difficult to seek help for postpartum depression, says reproductive psychiatrist Dr. Sarah Oreck.

VIDEO

The C-Suite Interview: Tapestry CEO Joanne Crevoiserat

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STRATEGIES + ADVICE

Want to get people back to the office? Don’t forget about the dogs.

There’s a big remote-office divide. Here are three ways to find your organization’s ideal balance.

Hybrid work has its own rules and etiquette to follow. Here’s what to know.

QUIZ

Grimes, a musician and mother of two of Elon Musk’s 10 children, spoke with Wired in an in-depth interview published Tuesday, during which she discussed her relationship with Musk, saying that his leadership “has an old-world kind of discipline” to it and she “learned a lot about running my own team” from watching him, calling it the “best _________ ever.” The missing word is:

1. Learning experience
2. Internship
3. Relationship
4. Master class

Answer here.

ACROSS THE NEWSROOM

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