CEO relocation plans shine a light on remote strategies
With a majority of companies now looking to introduce hybrid working models post-pandemic, a new survey has found that a sizeable proportion of company leaders themselves are looking for new ways of working.
US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz grilled 226 chief executives of client companies, arguing that a leading indicator for the extent to which a business will work remotely is whether its chief executive or founder plans to relocate.
“If the CEO is working remotely, it’s more likely the organisation will develop a true remote-first culture,” the report said. “On the other hand, if CEOs and leaders are in the office, there will naturally be a gravitational pull for more workers to be there, in-person.”
With a majority of companies now looking to introduce hybrid working models post-pandemic, a new survey has found that a sizeable proportion of company leaders themselves are looking for new ways of working.
US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz grilled 226 chief executives of client companies, arguing that a leading indicator for the extent to which a business will work remotely is whether its chief executive or founder plans to relocate.
“If the CEO is working remotely, it’s more likely the organisation will develop a true remote-first culture,” the report said. “On the other hand, if CEOs and leaders are in the office, there will naturally be a gravitational pull for more workers to be there, in-person.”
Andreessen Horowitz found that roughly 17% of chief executives and 10% of companies had plans to work elsewhere than their existing headquarters.
More than half (54%) said they would now introduce hybrid environments for board meetings, with a third prioritising remote-first and only 13% preferring meetings to be entirely in-person.
Two-thirds of chief executives said their companies will now operate a hybrid working model, with most expecting staff to be in the office for one or two days a week. However, Andreessen Horowitz added that a hybrid strategy is “less a definitive category and more a catch-all that includes a wide and growing variety of operating models”.
Chief executives including Firstbase founder Chris Herd were quoted in Andreessen Horowitz’s report on the role that remote working will play in the battle to attract talent.
“What people want isn’t necessarily to be remote, but to be arbiters of their own fate,” said New York-based Herd.
“Hybrid in that sense isn’t about how many days per week you require employees to be in an office, but how much flexibility they have in designing when, where, and how they work. If you aren’t as remote or more remote than your competitor, where will the most talented people go? In the next three years, I predict we will see the highest turnover in history of top tier talent.”
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