The option to work remotely is no longer just a perk for employees — it’s the expectation.
In an in-depth analysis, Built In found that 53 percent of employees said they want to continue to work remotely with the option to visit the office for meetings and events. Meanwhile, zero respondents said they want to work in the office all week.
These trends, paired with the ongoing circumstances set forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, have led many companies to expand their remote policies.
Grammarly, for instance, adopted a new remote-first work model that has a majority of its teams working remotely. Then, throughout the quarter, teams behind its AI-powered writing assistant will meet in person to collaborate on strategic planning, project kick-offs, brainstorms and retrospectives at Grammarly’s locations in Kyiv, New York, San Francisco and Vancouver.
“We plan to begin these meetups at our hubs in early 2022. As soon as we can do so safely, ‘Grammarlians’ can also work from our hubs anytime year-round if they prefer,” CEO Brad Hoover said in a company blog post.
Changes to Grammarly’s hiring processes have also been introduced to better accommodate bringing on a remote workforce.
“We recognize that an at-home interviewing experience can add new challenges and distractions for candidates,” said Head of Recruiting Andon Cowie. “With that in mind, we offer additional breaks and other accommodations to help candidates perform at their best.”
As Grammarly continues to scale across departments, Cowie shared other ways the company is adjusting to this new future of the workplace.
Hello, Hybrid
Which teams are expanding the most at Grammarly? What proportion of your open positions are available to remote workers?
We’re especially focused on hiring for our product and engineering teams.
The majority of our teams will work primarily remote and spend two to four weeks every quarter collaborating in person at our hubs. Regardless of where our team works, our new remote-first, hybrid work model allows us to pressure test and rely more on our own product to help our organization communicate effectively in an increasingly digital environment.
Our new normal is focused on creating memorable experiences that enable every team member to feel connected to their work, team and leadership.”
What did you change about the hiring process to better accommodate remote applicants?
We care about providing candidates with an in-depth visual experience of what it’s like to work at Grammarly. That’s why we provide all late-stage candidates a “Day in the Life of Grammarly” slide deck. This deck outlines a number of initiatives, including our workout stipend, key Slack channels, and our employee-led groups that foster diversity, inclusion and belonging, which we call Circles.
How has the onboarding process shifted to ensure offsite employees feel welcomed and engaged?
Our new normal is focused on creating memorable experiences that enable every team member to feel connected to their work, team and leadership. Every new employee receives a welcome package, a culture buddy, a home-office stipend and a clear 30-60-90-day plan to help set them up for success. We also provide a way for them to connect across the organization through various Slack channels, town halls with leadership and virtual events. For instance, our Grammarly Donut program randomly pairs together different team members so they can get to know each other over a donut or sweet treat.
Our asynchronous digital communication and remote-first hybrid working model will also help us be closer to our users’ experience — which enables us to create a more thoughtful product.
