CIBC bringing workers back to a hybrid office model next month while this startup moves to 4 day work week

February 25, 2022 Enterprise, Entrepreneurs, Start-ups, Small Businesses, FinTech and Alternative Finance, Fintech International, Innovation and Resources, Leadership, Productivity, Competition, Human Capital, Health, Stories No comments

Financial Post | Kevin Orland | Feb 23, 2022

Source: Unsplash

Most of its Canadian employees now working remotely will return to the office on a hybrid basis

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce plans to bring Canadian staff who have been working remotely back to the office starting March 21 as the wave of Omicron-variant infections subsides.

Most of the company’s Canadian employees who are now working remotely will return to the office on a hybrid basis, Sandy Sharman, group head of people, culture and brand, said in an emailed statement Tuesday. U.S. staffers started to return on a voluntary basis on Jan. 28, with a formal return date of Feb. 28.

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“Our hybrid model will allow our team to benefit from the flexibility and productivity that can be achieved from working remotely, while blending that with the benefits of in-person work with colleagues to further build culture and collaboration,” Sharman said in the statement.

National Bank of Canada will allow its offices to be filled to 50 per cent of capacity starting Feb. 28 at the latest, spokeswoman Marie-Pierre Jodoin said in an email. The company will adapt its hybrid model more broadly in April, she said.

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CNBC Make it | Jennifer Liu | Feb 21, 2022

Buffer company: 91% of its workers say they're happier when they switched to a 4-day workweek

When the pandemic hit, Gascoigne saw that [its 84 person social media company] employees were stressed gave everyone three-day weekends for the month of May 2020. What started as a month-long experiment has now become a permanent policy, and at the end of 2021, an employee survey found that 91% of workers were happier and more productive with a four-day workweek.

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But the company had to overcome a few friction points to really make it work. Here are the four biggest problems Buffer had to solve to adopt a four-day workweek

Finding Time

"The short-term instinct is to do things the way they were in four days and power through," Griffis says. "But in the long-term you have to question: How should we do things differently?"

To get everyone closer to a 32-hour four-day workweek, they had to change how they worked. Buffer teams cut down on meetings (Griffis' weekly marketing check-ins were changed to monthly), moved to asynchronous communication tools like Threads, and adjusted expectations of how long it would take to meet project deadlines.

7 Day Coverage

Buffer employees all get Fridays off with one exception: Their customer service department. With this in mind, the company hired additional customer staff during the pandemic in order to maintain coverage but still provide individuals a shortened week.

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Employee Engagement

Now, they have to be more intentional and create space for team engagement, Griffis says, like by planning virtual social events so employees can connect beyond work meetings.

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