With record employee retention numbers and an aggressive focus on transformation, this real estate leader knows it’s not the office that fosters innovation. It’s culture.
Katarina Berg at Spotify is right: work has nothing to do with where you do it.
We continue to see headline after headline of major companies forcing employees back through their office doors disguised as innovation and collaboration. But it’s a move that increasingly feels like clinging to a bygone era, rather than a step toward the future.
Because the office isn’t the root of the issue. It’s culture.
Anywhere means anywhere
As a real estate company, we know and operate in the world of physical spaces. And yet, our corporate employees operate in a remote-first model. Our people are the ones in charge of how and where they work. Our hub offices are ‘open houses’ should employees want to work or meet, but we don’t set days or requirements. There’s simply no reason to do so.
We solidified that commitment when we rebranded our company to Anywhere in 2022. The new identity conveyed not only our ability to meet consumers anywhere they are in the home buying or selling journey, but also our ability to meet employees anywhere they choose to work, wherever they find themselves in their career. It’s a reflection of the world we work in today –one where geography is no longer a barrier to getting the job done.
And let’s be very clear: this is a conversation about corporate office culture. Physical storefronts still play a very real role in our ecosystem, and we’re proud to have many brokerage and title employees and agents all over the world that do business from an office because it’s the best way to serve their clients.
The office itself is not the one-size-fits-all answer to the kind of innovation and collaboration that gets us to the future. The way you enable that is through culture: creating an environment where people can thrive as they are, take risks and learn, and have a real impact through their work. You do this by building trust, communicating transparently, and empowering your people – not through mandates.
There are times we gather people together in the office to foster connection or spur collaboration, but they are very intentional. Last month we invited employees to our Hub office for World Values Day to create a shared experience around our new company values – one of which is “we move as one team,” reinforcing that collaboration is part of the culture versus an output of office time. The connections created during these intentional moments are stronger and more meaningful as a result.
The proof is in the data
When innovation is a part of culture and not a place, you open up a lot of opportunities. Working parents can breathe. The Sandwich Generation gains flexibility to be caregivers for their loved ones. People with diverse backgrounds, physical abilities, and in different locations can apply for companies they’d never previously dreamed of (and recruiters are noticing). Some employers (Yelp) even found their people were more productive.
Suddenly, our talent pool is infinite. Our people are happier and more empowered with true flexibility and work-life balance. They are aligned to our purpose and have the autonomy they need to move our strategy forward. And we eliminate many of the logistical complexities that come with traditional offices – time wasted commuting, facilities maintenance, overhead costs…the list goes on.
At Anywhere, our retention rate is at a 5-year high. Our engagement levels are 86% – which says something significant as a company in a highly cyclical industry currently experiencing a prolonged down housing market (when it’s normal for engagement and retention to suffer). Our inclusion scores far surpass global averages, reinforcing a trend experts see in companies that offer remote work versus those forcing people back to the office.
So as we continue to see new mandates pop up and C-suite leaders doubling down on the office being the only place where innovation and collaboration can exist, I’ll be watching the talent trends at those companies forcing their people back through their corporate doors. My guess: the impact weighs heaviest on people, not on performance.
This article originally published on LinkedIn.
