Before we explain how we came to our decision, here’s what we have decided upon:

• The future is hybrid and flexible. DCMN employees will be offered the chance to decide when and where they work, with a small requirement of five office days per month, plus the opportunity to work 25% away from your home city.
• The pandemic has exposed issues with work-life balance. That’s why we’ve made some guidelines on mental health a cornerstone of the concept, to ensure all colleagues are supported and are feeling good at work.

Working on the future solution

Over the winter, we started to collect feedback on the pros and cons about long term remote work. We heard from colleagues who were really missing the interpersonal nature of the office, but also heard from others who loved the flexibility of home office. Then there were colleagues who were struggling with their work-life balance in the new situation. There were a multitude of opinions to consider.

When the vaccination program started to kick into high gear in various regions, it was time to progress this topic further. We sent another, more detailed, survey around. As well as finding out how often people want to work in an office, we wanted to find out what they liked about both options – and the disadvantages too. Next, we assembled a taskforce with colleagues from across the company and our many hubs. We then shared the results of the survey with them and did an in-depth workshop one afternoon, in order to come up with a solution that fits the whole company.

A truly hybrid solution

As you can see from the above, we found out that our team members were inclined towards a two-day or three-day solution. Two things were abundantly clear: first, that we couldn’t go back to the old system of mainly working in the office. Furthermore, DCMN couldn’t be fully remote. Our offices are too vital a part of our team culture and fabric, offering a space for cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration that our team members really value. 

That’s why we’ve come up with a hybrid solution: DCMNer’s will only be asked to come to the office five days a month, including two team days. Of course, they can come more if they wish. Furthermore, we are an international team with colleagues from all over the world. We have seen how our team members want to travel, visit their families and escape the city sometimes. Flexibility has therefore become an important part of our concept, with all employees allowed to work 25% of their regular work time away from their home city and base office, from wherever they’d prefer.

At the same time, we want to ensure that our employees thrive in this scenario. That’s why we’ve also come up with a guide outlining some of the best practices and recommendations for dealing with the challenges of the hybrid workplace, including guidance for our leaders on digital leadership and on fostering mental health. That’s not all: we are working with a number of external services for wellbeing and work-life balance to help all our employees be happy and productive.

We trust in the judgment of our team members and that’s why we’ve gone the ultra-flexible route. After all, the DCMN culture is founded on self determination and offering our team members the opportunity to grow the way they want to grow. And we are well aware that maybe these guidelines won’t completely work: that’s why we will review our approach every six months, based on the experience and needs of our team members at any given point.