Work, reimagined: How the COVID-19 pandemic shaped Corridor workplace policies

Five years have passed since the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly closed offices, businesses and schools, indelibly altering the workplace. From hybrid work options to company culture to employee health initiatives, the evolution of the workforce received a jump-start that’s reverberating to this day. Perhaps nowhere is this shift more evident than in the policies that now surround the traditional office setting. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 2019 and 2021 the number of people primarily working from home tripled from 5.7% to 17.9%. In Iowa, 17% of the state’s workforce are remote, according to a 2023 Iowa Workforce Development Laborshed study on teleworkers.

While there has been a push to return to the office for some companies, a hybrid schedule – working from home part of the week and commuting to work the other part – is predicted to be a long-term trend, said Jennifer Nahrgang, department executive officer of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. “That, to me, is one of the bigger benefits,” she said of post-pandemic policies. “I think the companies that have done (hybrid) have found a way to maximize when people are in the office for collaboration, and then also maximize independent work for when people are working remotely."

Hybrid vs. remote

One example is Cedar Rapids-based TrueNorth Companies, which had a traditional in-person work model prior to the pandemic and now implements a hybrid schedule of three days in-office and two days remotely during the work week.

“TrueNorth was able to really adjust in a methodical, very well-planned and well-executed way, and it has strengthened our culture, and it's long lasting,” said Samantha Rogers, vice president of human resources with TrueNorth Companies. “So we, for the foreseeable future, plan to carry this on, and it's given us a really competitive advantage, both in our culture, but also our comprehensive benefit package and in our recruiting strategy.” Employees of the company are able to choose the days they are in-office, giving them increased flexibility throughout their work week. “They get to work with their supervisor, and as long as they are performing and being a team member contributing to the overall mission and vision, it's 100% supported that (employees) do that,” Ms. Rogers said. Since the pandemic, employers are increasingly taking the stance of a results-focused approach when it comes to the workplace, which gives employees more flexibility where and when they work.

Peter Stamats, president and CEO of Stamats Communications, said the company was already moving toward a results-focused workforce when the pandemic hit, having remote workers in its employ at the time. “The idea was that we can empower our employees more by giving them the freedom to choose the time and then subsequently the place [where] they actually get their work done,” he said. “And we have seen the results of that – that was accelerated because of COVID, where we kind of were forced into trying it out, and [saw] that it worked out well, and we've continued it since. So we did not require our employees to come back into the office after COVID, at the end of 2022-23, and we've been very happy with that since.” While there are many upsides to remote work, there are challenges as well. The lack of face-to-face interactions can leave some remote workers feeling disconnected, and fear of losing synergy may spur some companies to bring their employees back on site full-time “because, again, they miss that connection with their employees, and they also miss a sense of collaboration and innovation, and feel like when you're together, maybe some of that happens more easily than it does remotely,” Ms. Nahrgang said. “And so I think that's a part of why people want to return to work, so they don't have this disconnected workforce.”

Remote innovation and collaboration

The shift to remote work during the pandemic and the subsequent loss of human interaction in the workplace has changed relationships and how teams collaborate.

Cathy Cohn, vice president of talent strategy at ACT, said the company had already been collaborating long-distance with remote workers prior to the pandemic, although that number has changed significantly. “From a policy perspective, I don't think we've seen that many shifts. I think what has really changed is how we work together, and how you work together in a virtual environment, and you really have to focus and prioritize keeping people connected and collaborating,” she said, adding that random encounters with co-workers in a shared office space just don’t happen anymore. “It's kind of amazing how much work got done by bumping into someone in the hallway. You got your question answered, or, ‘oh, hey, I've been thinking about this,’ right? So that has all changed. And so you have to focus on, how do you keep people connected and collaborating in this virtual environment? I think technology is really, really key to that.” To foster innovation and collaboration among employees, ACT has utilized a range of digital initiatives. An internal website called Inform provides employees with business updates and department-shared resources, allowing them to find the information they need independently. The company also hosts virtual “Lunch and Learn” sessions, providing employees with opportunities to engage in discussions on various topics, and “Power Hours” serve as a platform for employees to share insights on new products and research, encouraging cross-departmental knowledge sharing. “We have to be very intentional about how we communicate, and making sure that our team members have the information that they need to successfully do their jobs,” Ms. Cohn said.

Keeping the culture

Fewer on-site employees means some companies have downsized their real estate footprint. In the wake of the pandemic, Stamats made the decision to move from its 30,000-square-foot offices on Fifth Street SE to a 7,500-square-foot space in the heart of downtown Cedar Rapids. “The new office will provide a headquarters and collaboration space, while reducing overhead costs and helping to streamline Stamats’ operations,” an October 2023 CBJ article said. It was a move that Mr. Stamats initially feared would affect the company’s core culture. With 60% of Stamats’ workforce based in Iowa and only 20-25% regularly working in person, the company relies on virtual collaboration platforms to stay connected and maintain productivity. “We also have found over the last five years that meeting face to face is still a crucial touch point in all of these relationships, but that it doesn't need to be every month or every week, but it needs to be at least once a quarter, once every six months,” said Mr. Stamats. “That just reinforces the virtual interaction that we then carry on with afterwards.” TrueNorth Company's employee surveys indicate that its culture has remained consistently positive even after the pandemic has altered how employees engage with each other, Ms. Rogers said. “We've been able to maintain what was already a very welcoming, cool, fun culture. And I'd add the word productive to that as well. We show up to work, and that's one of the big parts that makes us TrueNorth,” she said, adding that there are “little social norms” that have been integrated into company policy that foster peak collaboration. A common practice is to have a remote option and physical location for each meeting, since employee hybrid schedules vary widely. “By default, all meetings have those options, and when you arrive to work for the day, you prepare your meetings and check in with the people you're meeting with. We're just very accommodating. And by being accommodating, it fosters that collaborative relationship and the opportunity to work together no matter where we're at,” she said. “From a culture perspective, I think cultures evolve all the time, but we stay kind of aligned to our mission,” Ms. Cohn said. “How we work together…is probably where we’ve seen the biggest change.” Remote collaboration has required a new approach to trust and accountability. “[Managers] also kind of have to shift to this whole thing around trusting that people are at their desk and they're doing their work, and they have to manage based on really clear expectations and goals and outcomes. So I think those are a few ways that we've seen our culture evolve,” she said.

A renewed emphasis on wellness

Masks, once ubiquitous in public spaces and heavily encouraged — sometimes mandated – in private businesses have largely fallen by the wayside. What has not fallen by the wayside, however, is a renewed perspective on employee health and wellness. According to the 2022 Employer-Sponsored Health and Well-Being Survey from Fidelity Investments and Business Group on Health, 83% of the 166 employers surveyed indicated employee wellness as an area of focus in their return-to-work strategies. Of these, 91% of employers surveyed planned to focus on mental health initiatives, while 60% emphasized physical health and 57% incorporated work-life balance programs. Despite a slight decline in overall well-being program budgets for 2022, large employers – those with 20,000 or more employees –  increased their average investment to $11 million, up from $10.5 million in 2021. Mid-market companies, defined as fewer than 5,000 employees, also boosted spending, with per-employee well-being investments rising 60% from $184 to $294. Corridor companies are also keeping up with the trend of making employee health and well-being a key, some offering incentives to encourage a healthy lifestyle along with programs that address mental wellness. As part of its employee benefits package, TrueNorth Companies employs a “well-being wheel” composed of six pillars: social and emotional, financial, physical health, rewards and recognition, intellectual and community impact. The company incentivizes employee wellness support with initiatives like discount programs for participating in wellness initiatives such as biometric screenings, tracking their steps, or joining health challenges like daily walking or making nutritious food choices, in addition to other employee perks, Ms. Rogers said. For ACT, mental health and wellness were a focus of their benefits package prior to the pandemic, Ms. Cohn said. “That's been a priority for us for a long time, even prior to COVID. We have continued that, and we will continue to do that,” she said. “It's supporting that work-life balance piece and making sure that our team members have the resources and the support that they need to be healthy in all aspects of their life.”

Rising to the challenge

The effects of the pandemic will cast ripples across companies and businesses for years to come, and the policies enacted during that time period may very well become templates for future workplace strategies. Those helping to guide the principles in their workplace reiterate that while the pandemic was an incredibly challenging time for business, there were some silver linings. “I guess the best thing is that during times of adversity, people often choose to come together, and they end up making a choice to rise to the challenge and to find out collective ways to get things done successfully, to keep things moving along well,” Mr. Stamats said. "It's just really heartening to see that, and it made me feel that much more value in giving everyone a greater chance to have a say and to make personal choices that can work both for them and the benefit of the business.” This is one in a series of stories documenting the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Corridor, five years after the first case was reported in Iowa.