The Way We Work: N‑able’s hybrid work model

We’ve all seen the headlines. It’s no secret companies are being forced to re-examine the employee experience and what the future of work will look like in a post-pandemic world.

With the adaptation to remote work, the pandemic created a new normal—where office and home life are blended, and people became accustomed to more flexibility. Now that flexibility is a benefit people don’t want to lose.

Flexibility is often one of the highest-ranked perks employees are seeking, especially in tech. For top talent, it’s no longer a nice option to have—it’s an expectation.

Our journey exploring the future of work

At N‑able, we hold regular Town Halls and Ask Me Anything sessions to ensure our people, or N-ablites, are able to share their thoughts, feedback, and questions. Frequent questions we have received—now 18 months into a global pandemic—include: What happens next? When restrictions lift, where will the company want me to work?

We wanted to dig deep and understand what our N-ablites felt they needed to be successful, get more feedback, and use our employees’ voices to drive our decision making. That’s when we launched our survey “The Way We Work” to gather their insights.

Gathering employee feedback

We asked every N-ablite around the world how they envisioned their future at work, what they needed to be productive and successful, and what motivated their feedback.

The feedback was clear—N-ablites not only needed, but craved flexibility.

84% of our people responded they wanted a hybrid way of working. They wanted the option to be able to work from home some days and collaborate in person others, depending on what was discussed and settled on by their team with maximized productivity in mind. Often, the best way of working isn’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all approach—and, at the end of the day, when our N-ablites are happy and thriving, our business and customers will thrive too.

This feedback—and desire for flexibility—is what prompted us to create a hybrid working model, where our global offices are set up as true collaboration hubs meant to serve as places where N-ablites can connect, innovate, ideate, and celebrate.

John Pagliuca, president and CEO, says it best,

“At N‑able, we’re putting our people first. That’s why we surveyed all our N-ablites around the world—to bring their voices to the forefront of our decision making. We received an overwhelming response that our people were looking for a flexible work environment, and they were looking to work for a company that says, ‘I trust you. I trust that you and your team can design the best way to get the work done’—that’s ultimately why we’re launching The Way We Work.”

The Way We Work: Our hybrid model

After listening to our employees and looking at the data we collected from the survey, we created and launched The Way We Work, our hybrid working model based on trust.

Curious about our hybrid philosophy? These are the cornerstones of our model:

• The Way We Work supports more flexibility for work and life. Teams have the ability to determine where and how work is accomplished based on roles, responsibilities, and team needs.

• Our global offices are transitioning to collaboration hubs. Time spent in these hubs will allow us to form deeper relationships that will enhance our ability to strategize and generate creative solutions.

• We believe The Way We Work will help build and strengthen our culture as we engage with each other virtually and in-person around the world.

Global training program

It’s often pointed out that a hybrid model is the most difficult of the three main working models—full-time in the office, hybrid, or full-time remote. This is because in a hybrid model, you’re offering an unlimited number of possible employee experiences. Employees and teams get to choose what works best for them, and the experience can look different every day.

Trust is a core part of our culture, and we trust our people to collaborate, tackle tough problems, and support each other. Everyone’s experience can vary based on their role, function, or team.

To set our N-ablites up for success, we launched a global training program to help teams put this hybrid model into practice. Here are some of the keys to hybrid success:

1. Building trust is a skill—and a critically important one. It is a two-way street built through interactions. We have a firm belief in the ability and reliability of our N-ablites to make positive contributions—and creating trust is a skill we will continually strive toward.
2. Flexibility at work requires clear, regular communication across teams to help ensure everyone is aligned and connected across their individual experiences. We’re going to have to be thoughtful and direct in our connections to help generate success.
3. We need to align team expectations, the nature of the work, and performance while also being open-minded about this new model. We provided leaders with an assessment they can use with their teams to design the structure that works best for them.

Like most new programs, this will be a journey—where we learn and grow as we continue to collect feedback. However, we’re excited about what the future holds for our N-ablites as we launch The Way We Work and embrace a hybrid working model around the world.

We’re growing, and have a wide array of opportunities we hope you’ll explore! We look forward to sharing more of our journey with you!

Kathleen Pai is chief people officer at N‑able