Back to the future: adjusting to the new workplace

Preparing for a post-covid world will mean adapting to a “new normal” for much of the world. What can Criteos anticipate as they prepare to return to an office workplace at once familiar but also very different? A look at the process of re-opening -- and re-imagining – with Chief Transformation Officer Matt Van Geldere.

Our decision to temporarily close all of our offices in March 2020 reflected our focus on employee safety as our number one priority from day one of the crisis. While some partial re-openings were possible in summer 2020 prior to the Coronavirus’ resurgence in the fall, most Criteos haven’t set foot in an office workplace in over 15 months. For some new employees, their first office visit will be a wholly new experience!

Even for employees returning to once-familiar office surroundings, however, the new environment is likely to feel different as we all adapt to a workplace redesigned and rethought to account for a new reality and purpose.

A 3-phase strategy

When employees return to their offices will vary, with re-opening decisions based on safety considerations and a set of defined metrics that will guide the advancement of sites through three distinct phases. Since last year, all sites have been in the Red, closed phase, with all employees working from home and site access restricted to essential workers and limited exceptions. In the Amber, or “Opening with restrictions” phase, capacity is limited to 10-30% of office workers and limitations remain in place for meetings, services and face-to-face interaction. As sites move into the Green or “Open” phase, restrictions are lifted, except where government mandates remain.

Except, for many of us, it’s probably going to feel a lot different.

Changing habits

The biggest change for all of us will be adjusting to the new Work From Home policy, with employees working up to 4 days per week from home and coming to the office the other days. Guided by a philosophy of choice, the policy reflects the strong interest of employees in having the continued flexibility of WFH (93% support), combined with a desire for social connectivity with colleagues.

With the new office becoming a place for social interaction while offering a place to work for those who need it, the workplace is changing in both design (more rooms for meetings, booking in advance…) and in how we interact. Coming to the office to connect in-person with each other also becomes more purposeful, reinforcing Criteo’s “Together” value.

Rebuilding our culture

The re-opening of sites that will bring Criteos to come together again will help us re-establish a key part of who we are that is ingrained in our culture. Our business activity hasn’t slowed while we’ve been locked down for the past year: we’ve hired more than 700 people. Our new colleagues’ onboarding has occurred virtually and they have yet to set foot in a Criteo office or meet their fellow team members face to face.

They’ll be joining the rest of us as we reconnect with each other and adjust to the new reality of our office workplace. We’ve been through a tough and challenging year. All of our employees have been touched by the sad impact of COVID19, directly or indirectly. At the same time, it has precipitated some fundamental changes in our workplaces and given us opportunities to reimagine and reinvent how we work. We have an exciting time ahead of us and I’m looking forward to exploring it together with my fellow Criteos!