The switch to a hybrid work model during the COVID-19 pandemic has gone more smoothly than expected for HDAdvisors, a Richmond-based firm that provides housing and community development consulting services.
The company, which has eight employees, has switched its work approach to where employees can come into the office when needed and work from home when needed.
On the other hand, Richmond-based real estate management company Pondok Management, which manages several apartment complexes in the region, has had most of its 30 employees back in the office since COVID vaccines became available earlier this year.
The differing opinions about continuing with remote work versus a return to the office are reflected in a recent survey conducted by the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business and the Virginia Council of CEOs, an organization of small- to medium-sized businesses mainly in central Virginia.
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The survey, conducted from Oct. 5-11, asked top executives at 53 companies about their plans to require employees to return to work in person if they had worked in person prior to the pandemic.
Only 24% of CEOs said they definitely are going to require a return to the office. About 45% said they are not going to require it.
However, almost one-third — about 31% — said it remains “unclear at this time” whether they will require employees to return or adopt some hybrid model.
Erica Sims, president of HDAdvisors, said she had to let go of some of her long-held beliefs about where and how work productivity happens. The assumption that it must happen in an office setting is not entirely right, she concluded.
“I was really surprised that during COVID, productivity did not decline, even though people were experiencing so much stress,” Sims said.
“I think it is because they were able to dictate their own schedules,” she said. “It has been going really well because people are able to express their preferences more, and they are able to mold their job more to what they need.”
Sims said the company has maintained its office space, though only about half of its employees might work there on any given day. The staff members still travel around the state to meet in person with the firm’s clients.
Steve Leibovic, a partner in Pondok Management, said he leans more toward a return to the office except in certain circumstances.
“My personal feeling is that those personal interactions and camaraderie are important,” he said. “The camaraderie that people get when they work together impacts their commitment to the company, and service is much better when they meet and work with each other.”
Many of the company’s employees — like maintenance specialists and managers who meet face -to-face with tenants — must work in person, Leibovic said. However, most employees who don’t need to be present at the office, such as administrative support staff, are back, too.
Some workers say they much prefer a remote model going forward because of the flexibility it affords.
Joe Pond, a software developer who lives in Richmond, said he previously worked on-site for a company that did government contracting in the Richmond area until that contract ended.
During the pandemic, he was able to get a job working remotely in Richmond for a software company based in Colorado.
“I do miss the office banter,” Pond said, but added that he is comfortable with a remote work model.
“I think especially for things like technology, where there is a lot of independent work that doesn’t require an employee to be there, then [remote work] is going to increase a lot,” he said. “It might be difficult for smaller local businesses, like a small, local software company.”
The recent survey also showed that CEOs are optimistic about sales and hiring over the next six months.
About 68% of the CEOs in the survey said they expect sales to increase over the next six months, roughly the same as in a survey done in the second quarter of this year.
In terms of hiring, about 60% of CEOs said they expect to bring new employees on board in the next six months. That was up from 59% in the earlier survey done in the spring.
“These CEOs are expressing a pre-pandemic level of optimism,” said Scot McRoberts, executive director of the Virginia Council of CEOs. “That is in spite of the significant headwinds of workforce challenges and supply chain disruptions. That’s good news for all of us.”