
大部分CEO都在焦急地等著新型冠狀病毒疫情結(jié)束,,員工重新回到辦公室上班,。全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司(Nationwide)CEO柯?tīng)柼亍の挚藢?duì)在家辦公卻有不同看法:遠(yuǎn)程辦公是可行的,。
公司在疫情期間的嘗試非常成功,因此他們決定將在家辦公這種模式固定下來(lái),,作為許多員工的工作方式,。
改變來(lái)的很快:3月初,該私有保險(xiǎn)公司(2019年《財(cái)富》美國(guó)500強(qiáng)第75位)在5個(gè)工作日內(nèi),,將2.7萬(wàn)名員工的98%以上改為在家辦公,。沃克說(shuō):“首先我們要保證同事的安全,保持與會(huì)員的聯(lián)系,,同時(shí)盡我們所能為美國(guó)壓平確診人數(shù)曲線做出貢獻(xiàn),。”
但在解決了技術(shù)問(wèn)題之后,,他們有了意外的發(fā)現(xiàn),。沃克說(shuō)道:“我們跟蹤發(fā)現(xiàn),所有關(guān)鍵績(jī)效指標(biāo)都沒(méi)有變化,。我們不斷收到會(huì)員的反饋說(shuō):‘如果你們沒(méi)有對(duì)外宣布,,我們都不知道你們?nèi)荚诩肄k公?!?/font>
所以,,全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司計(jì)劃把實(shí)體辦公室從危機(jī)前的20間縮減到4間。沃克表示,,他現(xiàn)在一半時(shí)間在俄亥俄州哥倫布的公司總部,,一半時(shí)間在家辦公。他通過(guò)電話向《財(cái)富》雜志談?wù)摿斯咀龀鲞@種調(diào)整的原因,、未來(lái)的工作前景以及全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司總部每天結(jié)束時(shí)為什么都會(huì)有燈光秀,。
因篇幅和清晰度起見(jiàn),本文對(duì)訪談內(nèi)容進(jìn)行了編輯,。
你們針對(duì)這次疫情是否做過(guò)準(zhǔn)備,?
我們是一家保險(xiǎn)公司。保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)的重點(diǎn)就是管理風(fēng)險(xiǎn),。多年來(lái),,我們一直在為危機(jī)做準(zhǔn)備。你可以把“燃?xì)庑孤睋Q成“新冠病毒”,,但一直以來(lái),,我們深知必須能讓員工即使不在辦公室也可以繼續(xù)服務(wù)我們的會(huì)員。
全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司以前是否有強(qiáng)大的在家辦公的文化,?
在新冠疫情之前,,我們已經(jīng)有約5,200名員工在家辦公。我們分享了大量在家辦公的最佳實(shí)踐,,比如有一位來(lái)自亞利桑那州的同事編寫(xiě)了一本在家辦公手冊(cè),,在同事中被廣泛傳閱,。我最喜歡的一條建議是,在家辦公的時(shí)候,,開(kāi)始工作時(shí)戴上胸卡,,工作結(jié)束時(shí)把胸卡摘下來(lái)。這樣做讓你在心理上有開(kāi)始和結(jié)束的概念,,也讓你的家人知道你是否在“上班”,。
此外,我們一直有一個(gè)“未來(lái)工作”項(xiàng)目,,探索讓更多員工在家辦公,,我們尤其聽(tīng)說(shuō)千禧一代喜歡這種工作方式。所以早在新冠疫情爆發(fā)之前,,我們已經(jīng)開(kāi)始推行在家辦公的模式,。
在最初幾周有沒(méi)有遇到過(guò)么障礙?
我們很早就決定,,不需要事事追求完美,。否則要花很多時(shí)間。所以我們的態(tài)度是“根據(jù)具體情況見(jiàn)機(jī)行事,?!笔紫瘸霈F(xiàn)的問(wèn)題是,有些員工配戴的是帶話筒的耳機(jī),,必須搭配辦公室里的系統(tǒng)使用,,但他們?cè)诩依餆o(wú)法使用,所以我們只能緊急購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的設(shè)備,。一些員工的家里沒(méi)有足夠的帶寬,,所以我們的技術(shù)團(tuán)隊(duì)與網(wǎng)絡(luò)提供商合作解決了他們的問(wèn)題。
你們?yōu)槭裁磳⑦@種調(diào)整變成固定模式,?
看看影響社會(huì)進(jìn)程的關(guān)鍵歷史事件:大蕭條,、1918年流感大流行、一戰(zhàn)和二戰(zhàn),、911事件和金融危機(jī)等,。在危機(jī)期間,人們都減少了消費(fèi),,變得更加節(jié)儉,。危機(jī)過(guò)后,擔(dān)憂的情緒依舊存在,,并永久改變了人們的心態(tài),。這非常重要。我們認(rèn)為世界正在發(fā)生改變。我們必須降低成本,。我們希望實(shí)現(xiàn)可持續(xù)增長(zhǎng),。
讓員工在家辦公為全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司節(jié)約了多少成本,?
作為一家私營(yíng)公司,,我們決定不公布具體數(shù)據(jù)。但肯定能減少很大一部費(fèi)用,。公司和我們的會(huì)員將從中受益,。
能簡(jiǎn)單講一講哪些員工將回到剩余四間辦公室工作嗎?
坦率地說(shuō),,有些員工對(duì)回公司辦公仍然感到不安,。所以我們決定讓首批員工自愿選擇。有25%的員工說(shuō):“我想回公司辦公,?!睂?duì)于不想到辦公室的員工,我們不會(huì)要求或者強(qiáng)制他們這樣做,。我們認(rèn)為最終會(huì)形成一種混合模式:辦公室就像“旅館”一樣,,每周中有一兩天,員工來(lái)這里合作完成一些工作任務(wù),,其他時(shí)間可以在家辦公,。
有些老板看不到員工在身邊,就會(huì)非常不安,。你如何避免這種情緒,?
我們?cè)谡衅笗r(shí)看中的是一個(gè)人的態(tài)度。我們的公司文化是相信同事,。而且他們目前在家里和在辦公室里用的技術(shù)完全一樣,。我們有10個(gè)關(guān)鍵績(jī)效指標(biāo),員工和他們的上司都可以根據(jù)指標(biāo)監(jiān)控他們的日常工作,。我們對(duì)人們的工作時(shí)間不作要求,,而是根據(jù)他們的指標(biāo)完成情況進(jìn)行評(píng)價(jià)。
公司的業(yè)務(wù)在疫情期間整體上發(fā)生了哪些變化,?
因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在所有人都待在家里,,所以投保量有所減少。但保險(xiǎn)索賠也在減少,。許多會(huì)員告訴我們:“我在經(jīng)濟(jì)上遇到了困難,。”所以我們決定向所有個(gè)人投保人退款50美元,。人們的反饋是:“我非常需要這筆錢(qián),。”
但展望未來(lái),我們正在研究危機(jī)期間形成的這些模式,,以及人們的行為將發(fā)生怎樣的變化,。我們認(rèn)為在許多險(xiǎn)種中,人們將趨向于選擇基于價(jià)值的產(chǎn)品,,而在理財(cái)方面,,人們可能更愿意選擇保本投資產(chǎn)品。尤其是千禧一代可能認(rèn)為,,他們無(wú)法確定該押注股票還是依賴雇主,。他們必須為自己的退休生活做準(zhǔn)備。
您會(huì)在家辦公嗎,?您的家人怎么看,?
兩種辦公方式都有。有時(shí)候我會(huì)強(qiáng)迫自己在家辦公,。我想親身體會(huì)一下在家辦公的同事們是一種什么狀態(tài)?,F(xiàn)在家里只有我和妻子,但每天我們都會(huì)一起查看我們的日程安排,。必須保持溝通,。我很喜歡的一件事情是,過(guò)去幾周,,位于哥倫布的公司總部每天晚上都會(huì)在辦公室窗戶上,,用燈光拼出“保持安全”的字樣。我們要借此向所有人發(fā)出信號(hào),,相信我們終將度過(guò)此次危機(jī),。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
大部分CEO都在焦急地等著新型冠狀病毒疫情結(jié)束,員工重新回到辦公室上班,。全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司(Nationwide)CEO柯?tīng)柼亍の挚藢?duì)在家辦公卻有不同看法:遠(yuǎn)程辦公是可行的,。
公司在疫情期間的嘗試非常成功,因此他們決定將在家辦公這種模式固定下來(lái),,作為許多員工的工作方式,。
改變來(lái)的很快:3月初,該私有保險(xiǎn)公司(2019年《財(cái)富》美國(guó)500強(qiáng)第75位)在5個(gè)工作日內(nèi),,將2.7萬(wàn)名員工的98%以上改為在家辦公,。沃克說(shuō):“首先我們要保證同事的安全,保持與會(huì)員的聯(lián)系,,同時(shí)盡我們所能為美國(guó)壓平確診人數(shù)曲線做出貢獻(xiàn),。”
但在解決了技術(shù)問(wèn)題之后,,他們有了意外的發(fā)現(xiàn),。沃克說(shuō)道:“我們跟蹤發(fā)現(xiàn),,所有關(guān)鍵績(jī)效指標(biāo)都沒(méi)有變化。我們不斷收到會(huì)員的反饋說(shuō):‘如果你們沒(méi)有對(duì)外宣布,,我們都不知道你們?nèi)荚诩肄k公,。’”
所以,,全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司計(jì)劃把實(shí)體辦公室從危機(jī)前的20間縮減到4間,。沃克表示,他現(xiàn)在一半時(shí)間在俄亥俄州哥倫布的公司總部,,一半時(shí)間在家辦公,。他通過(guò)電話向《財(cái)富》雜志談?wù)摿斯咀龀鲞@種調(diào)整的原因、未來(lái)的工作前景以及全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司總部每天結(jié)束時(shí)為什么都會(huì)有燈光秀,。
因篇幅和清晰度起見(jiàn),本文對(duì)訪談內(nèi)容進(jìn)行了編輯,。
你們針對(duì)這次疫情是否做過(guò)準(zhǔn)備,?
我們是一家保險(xiǎn)公司。保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)的重點(diǎn)就是管理風(fēng)險(xiǎn),。多年來(lái),,我們一直在為危機(jī)做準(zhǔn)備。你可以把“燃?xì)庑孤睋Q成“新冠病毒”,,但一直以來(lái),,我們深知必須能讓員工即使不在辦公室也可以繼續(xù)服務(wù)我們的會(huì)員。
全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司以前是否有強(qiáng)大的在家辦公的文化,?
在新冠疫情之前,,我們已經(jīng)有約5,200名員工在家辦公。我們分享了大量在家辦公的最佳實(shí)踐,,比如有一位來(lái)自亞利桑那州的同事編寫(xiě)了一本在家辦公手冊(cè),,在同事中被廣泛傳閱。我最喜歡的一條建議是,,在家辦公的時(shí)候,,開(kāi)始工作時(shí)戴上胸卡,工作結(jié)束時(shí)把胸卡摘下來(lái),。這樣做讓你在心理上有開(kāi)始和結(jié)束的概念,,也讓你的家人知道你是否在“上班”。
此外,,我們一直有一個(gè)“未來(lái)工作”項(xiàng)目,,探索讓更多員工在家辦公,我們尤其聽(tīng)說(shuō)千禧一代喜歡這種工作方式,。所以早在新冠疫情爆發(fā)之前,,我們已經(jīng)開(kāi)始推行在家辦公的模式,。
在最初幾周有沒(méi)有遇到過(guò)么障礙?
我們很早就決定,,不需要事事追求完美,。否則要花很多時(shí)間。所以我們的態(tài)度是“根據(jù)具體情況見(jiàn)機(jī)行事,?!笔紫瘸霈F(xiàn)的問(wèn)題是,有些員工配戴的是帶話筒的耳機(jī),,必須搭配辦公室里的系統(tǒng)使用,,但他們?cè)诩依餆o(wú)法使用,所以我們只能緊急購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的設(shè)備,。一些員工的家里沒(méi)有足夠的帶寬,,所以我們的技術(shù)團(tuán)隊(duì)與網(wǎng)絡(luò)提供商合作解決了他們的問(wèn)題。
你們?yōu)槭裁磳⑦@種調(diào)整變成固定模式,?
看看影響社會(huì)進(jìn)程的關(guān)鍵歷史事件:大蕭條,、1918年流感大流行、一戰(zhàn)和二戰(zhàn),、911事件和金融危機(jī)等,。在危機(jī)期間,人們都減少了消費(fèi),,變得更加節(jié)儉,。危機(jī)過(guò)后,擔(dān)憂的情緒依舊存在,,并永久改變了人們的心態(tài),。這非常重要。我們認(rèn)為世界正在發(fā)生改變,。我們必須降低成本,。我們希望實(shí)現(xiàn)可持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)。
讓員工在家辦公為全美互惠保險(xiǎn)公司節(jié)約了多少成本,?
作為一家私營(yíng)公司,,我們決定不公布具體數(shù)據(jù)。但肯定能減少很大一部費(fèi)用,。公司和我們的會(huì)員將從中受益,。
能簡(jiǎn)單講一講哪些員工將回到剩余四間辦公室工作嗎?
坦率地說(shuō),,有些員工對(duì)回公司辦公仍然感到不安,。所以我們決定讓首批員工自愿選擇。有25%的員工說(shuō):“我想回公司辦公,?!睂?duì)于不想到辦公室的員工,,我們不會(huì)要求或者強(qiáng)制他們這樣做。我們認(rèn)為最終會(huì)形成一種混合模式:辦公室就像“旅館”一樣,,每周中有一兩天,,員工來(lái)這里合作完成一些工作任務(wù),其他時(shí)間可以在家辦公,。
有些老板看不到員工在身邊,,就會(huì)非常不安。你如何避免這種情緒,?
我們?cè)谡衅笗r(shí)看中的是一個(gè)人的態(tài)度,。我們的公司文化是相信同事。而且他們目前在家里和在辦公室里用的技術(shù)完全一樣,。我們有10個(gè)關(guān)鍵績(jī)效指標(biāo),,員工和他們的上司都可以根據(jù)指標(biāo)監(jiān)控他們的日常工作。我們對(duì)人們的工作時(shí)間不作要求,,而是根據(jù)他們的指標(biāo)完成情況進(jìn)行評(píng)價(jià),。
公司的業(yè)務(wù)在疫情期間整體上發(fā)生了哪些變化?
因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在所有人都待在家里,,所以投保量有所減少。但保險(xiǎn)索賠也在減少,。許多會(huì)員告訴我們:“我在經(jīng)濟(jì)上遇到了困難,。”所以我們決定向所有個(gè)人投保人退款50美元,。人們的反饋是:“我非常需要這筆錢(qián),。”
但展望未來(lái),,我們正在研究危機(jī)期間形成的這些模式,,以及人們的行為將發(fā)生怎樣的變化。我們認(rèn)為在許多險(xiǎn)種中,,人們將趨向于選擇基于價(jià)值的產(chǎn)品,,而在理財(cái)方面,人們可能更愿意選擇保本投資產(chǎn)品,。尤其是千禧一代可能認(rèn)為,,他們無(wú)法確定該押注股票還是依賴雇主。他們必須為自己的退休生活做準(zhǔn)備,。
您會(huì)在家辦公嗎,?您的家人怎么看?
兩種辦公方式都有,。有時(shí)候我會(huì)強(qiáng)迫自己在家辦公,。我想親身體會(huì)一下在家辦公的同事們是一種什么狀態(tài)?,F(xiàn)在家里只有我和妻子,但每天我們都會(huì)一起查看我們的日程安排,。必須保持溝通,。我很喜歡的一件事情是,過(guò)去幾周,,位于哥倫布的公司總部每天晚上都會(huì)在辦公室窗戶上,,用燈光拼出“保持安全”的字樣。我們要借此向所有人發(fā)出信號(hào),,相信我們終將度過(guò)此次危機(jī),。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
翻譯:劉進(jìn)龍
審校:汪皓
Most CEOs are anxiously counting the days until the coronavirus pandemic recedes, and employees can get back to the office. But Nationwide's CEO Kirt Walker has a slightly different take on working from home: It's working.
The company's pandemic experiment has gone so well that they've decided to make the arrangement permanent for many of the company's employees.
The shift took place fast—in early March, the privately held insurer (#75 on the 2019 Fortune 500) moved 98%+ of its 27,000 employees to working from home over five business days. "The first thing we wanted to do was keep our associates safe, stay connected to our members, and do our part for America to flatten the curve," says Walker.
But overall, once the tech issues were ironed out, there was a surprising finding: "We've tracked all of our key performance indicators, and there has been no change," says Walker, who joined as CEO in 2019. "We keep hearing from members, 'if you hadn't announced you were all working from home, we never would have known.'"
So Nationwide plans to shrink from 20 physical offices pre-crisis, to just four. Walker says he's splitting his own time between Nationwide's headquarters in Columbus, OH, and his home. He talked to Fortune by phone about what's driving this change, the future of work, and why Nationwide ends every day with a light show at its headquarters.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Were you prepared for this pandemic?
We’re an insurance company. Our focus is to manage risk. We’ve planned for a crisis for years. You cross out 'gas leak' and insert 'COVID,' but we knew for a long time we needed to be able to lift people out of the office and continue serving our members.
Did Nationwide previously have a robust WFH culture?
Pre-COVID, we had about 5,200 associates working from home already. And we've done a lot of sharing best practices, including one associate from Arizona who put together a manual that has been widely passed around. One of my favorite tips is that when you work from home, when you start your work day put your photo badge on, and when you end your work day take it off. Psychologically it allows you to start and end—and also lets your family know whether you are 'at work' or not.
Additionally, we had been working on a program called "The Future of Work" to explore transitioning more employees to working from home, it's something we hear especially from millennials that they want. So that was already in the works when COVID showed up.
Did you hit any roadblocks in those early weeks?
We decided early on that we were not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It would take way too long. We just said 'we are going to make camp on the trail.' So one thing that came up is that for some associates, the headsets with microphones attached that worked with some systems in office didn’t work when people got home, so we had to scurry to get new ones delivered. And some associates didn't have adequate home internet, so our tech teams got involved to work with providers.
Why did you decide to make this change permanent?
At the end of the day, we looked at key historical events that shaped society: the Great Depression, the 1918 pandemics, WWI and WWII, 9/11, and the financial crisis. During these crises people reduced consumption, grew more frugal. After the crisis, worry continued and it was a permanent mindset shift. That’s really important. We think the world is changing. We’ve got to take cost out of the system. We want to enable sustainable growth.
How much money will this save Nationwide?
We are a private company, so we've decided not to share the numbers. But it will be substantial. The company and our members will benefit.
Talk a little bit about who is going to go back to those four remaining offices?
Candidly, there were those employees that were anxious about returning to work. So we decided to rely on volunteers to staff the first wave. About 25% of our workforce said 'I want to come back.' We won’t ask or force those that don't want to. We believe we'll end up in a hybrid model: Employees will have access to a 'hotel' in the office were they can come in and collaborate, maybe a day or two a week, then other days they'll work from home.
Some bosses get extremely nervous when they can’t physically see their employees. How do you avoid that?
We hire for attitude. We have built a culture where we can trust associates. And they are using the same technology now that they had in the office. We rely on 10 key performance indicators, and employees can monitor their own work day to day, and so can their supervisors. We don’t try to hold people accountable with amount of time they're putting in, but rather how well they are doing on those indicators.
How has your overall business changed during coronavirus?
Applications have decreased as people have hunkered down. But we have also seen a decrease in the number of claims. We heard from a lot of members saying 'I’m having a really tough time financially.' So we decided to send rebates of $50 to all personal policy holders. The feedback we got was, 'I was really needing a couple of bucks.'
As we look ahead though, we are thinking about all these patterns that develop during a crisis and how behavior will change. We think that in many lines of insurance people will be looking toward value-based products, while on the financial side of the house people will look more towards guarantees. Especially millennials may be thinking, they aren't sure about betting on equities or relying on an employer. They need to provide for their own retirement.
Are YOU going to be working from home? How does your family feel about this?
I bounce between the two. There were days that I forced myself to work from home. I wanted to empathize with my associates about what working from home was really like. I have an empty nest now, but my wife and I go over our schedules every day together. You have to communicate. One thing I love to see is that for weeks now, at our main headquarters building in Columbus, every night we light up the office windows to spell out "Stay Safe." It's a sign to everyone that we'll get through this together.