Client Context
A major technology organization needed to guide employees through return-to-office expectations during the period following COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Business Challenge
While the acute phases of the pandemic necessitated completely remote work, the organization prided itself on a culture of collaboration and human connection that was suffering due to lack of in-person touchpoints. Leadership wanted to bring employees back together. Employees spanned the entire range of perspectives on return to office – but all needed transparency and reassurance about expectations. To complicate matters further, the organization needed to remain compliant with frequent changes in federal, state, and local guidance across many states and municipalities. Communications had to be calibrated to support employees and reinforce shared cultural values while making expectations for “RTO” clear.
Capabilities Applied
- Communications planning
- Agile Response
- Behavioral Science
Approach
Given the constantly changing RTO landscape at the time, HawkPartners worked closely with the communications leadership team as an on-demand strategic resource. The combined team established shared communication principles rooted in human decision-making tenets that helped messaging remain empathetic while being effective, and it provided a foundation to return to as the details continued to swirl. With that foundation in place, HawkPartners developed scenario-based communication plans tied to different regulatory outcomes, enabling the organization to prepare in advance while remaining adaptable to unexpected changes.
Impact
Strategic scenario-based planning demonstrated to corporate leadership that the communications team was doing everything possible to make RTO communications successful and effective. More importantly, it created employee-facing communications that were clear, specific, and empathetic, grounded in the shared cultural “whys” for returning to in-person work. This period of intense communication laid the groundwork for more extended discussions around hybrid working styles and expectations, ultimately leading to a model that met individual, team, and organization needs.
