Subject: Rebuilding our relationship equity
Our commitment to creating a collaborative environment
Rebuilding our relationship equity
To: All U.S.-based managers in the Operations organization
Over the last 2 years, the workplace has changed forever. Now moving beyond COVID, our employees are facing rising gas prices, child care needs, occasional face mask requirements, and other new challenges.
No one knows exactly how the future of work will play out. But we all know that we can’t go back. We also know that flexibility and open-mindedness are the way forward.
Our best guide in adjusting to this new world is our culture. It’s always been about teamwork and how we Serve Customers First – to a large and unique extent, through face-to-face interactions during field visits and service calls, on-site with large customers, and in our stores.
A testament to our culture is your hard work and record-setting results while many were working virtually during uncertain times.
Our culture is also behind the strong relationship equity we’ve developed over the years. If you’re not familiar with the term, it refers to knowing who does what, who to call, where to go for advice and how to get things done. And this institutional knowledge flows from working together in person.
Relationship equity is what we drew on to fuel historic growth over the last 12-18 months. During this time of remote work, we tapped these reserves – and made big withdrawals. Fortunately, we had a lot in the bank. But now it’s time to replenish our account.
I believe relationship equity is essential to the wellbeing of both the company and individual employees. To rebuild it, we need to work within the flexible approach we established at the end of 2020. That means working in the office 3-5 days a week for Office employees, 1-3 days a week for Flex employees, and a minimum of 1 day a month for Virtual employees.
Additionally:
• Hubs. Where we have a larger population of team members (Atlanta, Bedminster, Dallas, and Middletown), please work with your business partners and frequent collaborators to agree on common in-office days to strengthen collaboration and innovation.
• Outside hubs. In all other U.S. locations, I encourage employees* to also step into their designations.
• For those on the frontline who have remained in the field serving customers, thank you and please continue what you’re doing.
The Real Estate organization is working to ensure our locations are regularly cleaned to keep our work environment as safe as possible, along with ensuring that the technology at our workstations and in our conference rooms is back in operation.
It’s critical to our future success to continue cultivating a culture where our employees feel connected to their colleagues. Returning to more in-person interaction is not only about solving current problems, but it’s also about rebuilding relationship equity to drive collaboration and future growth.
Our commitment to creating a collaborative environment where we can work together side by side is unwavering. My hope is this approach provides both the flexibility you desire and meets the collaboration needs of the company at large.
As always, I remain open to your feedback and preferences as we continue this journey.
Thanks for investing in our culture and future.
*As a reminder, this is only for our U.S.-based population at this time. International employees will hear from their leadership when a return to the office is appropriate.