The Future of Work – According to Us
We’ve all heard it debated – maybe even sometimes ad nauseum – over the last couple years: Is remote work here to stay?
While the pandemic has certainly taken employers and employees through a wild, rollercoaster ride of 100% remote, to return to office, to partially in office, to back out of office, to a hybrid setup, the fact of the matter is that work and the “traditional” office will never be the same.
When Real Chemistry’s new CEO, Shankar Narayanan, took on this role at the start of 2022, he became yet another leader faced with answering the critical question of whether remote work is here to stay. He also needed to ponder: What direction should be coming from the top around return to office? How will employees react? And for a company that continues to grow by leaps and bounds, welcoming new faces every week, what will be the impact on the culture?
Rather than answering those questions himself, he decided to ask Real Chemistry staff how we would answer them. And thus, the RC4: Workplace of the Future “shark tank” pitch competition was born. The premise was simple – at Real Chemistry, we know our people are our strongest assets. Therefore, Shankar and other members of the leadership team invited us to be a part of the solution to improve our own remote and hybrid work experience.
The competition quickly took off. More than 120 staff members formed cross-functional teams and submitted ideas. Three teams advanced to the final round. Two representatives from each team traveled to our New York office to pitch their ideas to Shankar and a panel of judges comprised of other senior leaders during a company-wide broadcast – all with the guarantee that components of the winning pitch would be implemented this year.
Final contestant Lo Isidro, Account Director, Corporate Pricing & Public Affairs, commented that, “Presenting before the judges and the entire company was incredibly energizing and reminded me how great – and inspiring – it is to be with people and share ideas.” Final contestant Jordan Amorelli, Senior Analyst, Integrated Intelligence, shared that, “It was probably one of the coolest, most nerve-wracking things I’ve ever done in my life. When you’re early in your career, or when you’re the youngest in the room, it can sometimes feel like your voice doesn’t matter, but that’s not true. Having a platform, like the RC4 contest, was something I’ll never forget.” Casey Bakker, Vice President, Entertainment & Influencer Marketing, shared that one of the most important learnings from participating as a final contestant was that “it is important to push myself outside my comfort zone. The opportunity to present in front of the entire company was intimidating but is now one of the highlights of my career.”
Final contestant Dylan Pirro, Senior Analyst, Integrated Intelligence, said, “Though I did not personally present, to have contributed to ideas that were not only being heard and taken seriously by the CEO of our company, but to thousands of my coworkers, none of whom I’ve ever even met in person, was truly a wonderful opportunity. I was honored to have my mind represented in our work and trusted my teammates that presented to convey how we felt about our work, and for the entire company to see the pride we had in what we came up with.”
Each of the teams that participated was comprised of colleagues from different functions and levels across different offices. Jordan shared that her “favorite part of the whole experience was collaborating, and laughing, with my teammates every day for hours on end. We are scattered around the U.S. and don’t typically work together on a day-to-day basis, so this was a great way to reconnect with everyone.” Dylan shared that he “learned that we view problems and challenges differently given the context behind our own perception. What I ‘see’ as a 24-year-old, recent male college graduate is inherently different than what other people ‘see.’ The consideration of perspectives that are vastly different from my own, as well as that of my team, was something that I feel is not only a huge takeaway from this experience, but a valuable life lesson in empathy.”
The judges of the competition felt the same, including Rita Glaze-Rowe, Practice Leader, Corporate Development, who said, “Listening is one of the most important skills we can deploy as counselors to our clients, experts in our subject matter of functional area, so it is extremely important to do the same with our teams and our broader organization.”
And listen we did. The winning team’s pitch celebrates creating boundaries with colleagues, including a quiz to help people discover and share their communication and working styles so we can do our best work together. After the competition, finalist Ali Blake, Associate Account Director, Integrated Marketing & Communications, commented that she is “excited that people support working from home. I really appreciate the flexibility and look forward to the days I go into the office for a more collaborative experience.”
The RC4 Workplace of the Future competition highlighted how this experience for Ali, and many, continues to hold true. The question is not if hybrid work is here to stay, but how we can lean into the distinct community and culture resulting from hybrid work to ensure a balance of flexibility and enthusiasm for staff.
While many incredible ideas were pitched and we wish we could implement them all, Lo said it best: “What excited me the most was that all of the ideas shared the common goal of putting our people first. If you focus on the well-being and fulfillment of the individual, the rest takes care of itself.”
