This Company Created a Return-to-Office Plan That Employees Actually Like

livemint.com:

leadership position if she couldn’t be in Orrville full-time. Largely because of its acquisitions, Smucker has for years had some remote workers and corporate employees based outside of Orrville. But during the pandemic, and the dawn of widespread remote work, Massey saw an opportunity.

She accepted a job as a vice president of marketing, overseeing the company’s consumer-foods division, which includes Uncrustables and its jams and peanut butters. “We had this core-week policy in place, and it made me feel like I could raise my hand and say, ‘Hey, I still might need a little bit more flexibility than someone who lives down the street in Akron, but if I’m willing to invest in and get myself to Ohio, and that’s a commitment that I’m willing to make, is the company willing to consider me for this role?’ " she said. “They were." The approach is working.

Massey, who is the mother of two teenage boys, said she keeps East Coast hours during non-core weeks, and feels that she is able to see her family more than if she needed to commute regularly to an office in the Bay Area. “I travel more," she said, “but I really feel I’m home and present actually much more than I would be if I was working at a company in the Bay Area and commuting even three days a week." Mark Smucker, the CEO, said Smucker will continue to evaluate its hybrid-work policy and make adjustments, if needed. So many people have gotten accustomed to video meetings and remote work, he isn’t expecting any major changes soon.

“Whether it’s this model, or some other model, I find it very hard to imagine a world where we go back to being in the office even four days a week, let alone five. I just don’t see it happening," Smucker said. “There’ll be some form of this