How Brands Are Navigating Return-to-Office Policies in 2024

A brutalist landmark that stretches 40 stories into the Ohio sky, One Nationwide Plaza—Columbus’ largest office building—dominates the view from nearly everywhere downtown. And while the steel and limestone facade has changed little since the building opened in 1978, things inside have changed a lot. That’s especially been the case since the pandemic, specifically on the 27th and 28th floors, home to Nationwide insurance’s marketing department. There are now unassigned offices anyone can use, and meeting rooms wired for video conferencing. “We’ve consolidated our space so that when people are here, you’ve got a better shot at running into somebody to facilitate those happy collisions that happen when people are together,” CMO Ramon Jones told Adweek. The renovated floors are the product of another new thing at Nationwide—its post-pandemic work policy. While Jones encourages his people to come in as circumstances warrant, “we have not mandated that people be in the office a certain number of days,” he said. As Jones likes to put it: “We’ve leaned into flexibility.” He’s not alone. Seven months after the World Health Organization declared the pandemic officially over, Adweek set out to discover where marketing departments stand when it came to returning to the office. What we found was a variety of policies, but nearly all entrust employees with control over their workweeks. While some brands (notably Chipotle) are requiring a near-complete return to the office and others (like Nationwide) require no formal return at all, most brands have adopted a hybrid approach: asking workers to appear in person for part of the week—frequently on days of their choosing—but allowing them to work from home for the rest. But just as the pandemic changed where marketers work, the hybrid schedules that arose from it have also changed marketing work itself—how it’s done, where it’s done and even the quality of what gets done. Study: Ad Agencies’ Return-to-Office Mandates Pose Hiring and Retention Challenges Come back, or else As Covid-19 began to loosen its grip, several big-name corporations including Google, IBM, Apple and Uber told their workers they were expected back in the office full time. Most outspoken was JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who told The Economist: “I completely understand why someone doesn’t want to commute an hour and a half every day,” then hastily added: “[That] doesn’t mean they have to have a job here, either.” But in August, a study from digital consultancy Envoy found that 80% of bosses who took those hardline stances now regret having done it. Why? Possibly because employees have delivered ultimatums of their own. “We’ve seen a lot of pushback on these full-return-to-office mandates—they’re just not something that I see is really viable,” said Ellyn Briggs, brands analyst for Morning Consult, whose research has found that 57% of Americans now say they’d only sign on with an employer that offered a flexible work arrangement. Little surprise, then, that the hybrid model has the edge. As of the third quarter, according to data from Gartner, 40.5% of employees are back at the office, 14.8% are working from home, and 44.6%—the majority—are following a hybrid arrangement that lets them do both. Does flexible work mean poorer work? Yet letting employees work remotely several days of the week raises a touchy issue for the marketing department. If conventional wisdom holds that creative work is best done collaboratively—that is, face-to-face and in the office—are hybrid arrangements negatively affecting the work? When we have gatherings, I want them to be intentional, so that they're getting the best out of the time together. Ramon Jones, CMO, Nationwide So far, they don’t seem to be. “Flexibility hasn't impacted our performance at all,” Jones said. “As a matter of fact, we're coming off a couple of really good performance years—not just marketing, but the company.” White Castle vp Jamie Richardson also has no regrets about adopting a flexible work model. In fact, he said, because in-person time is now limited—and hence, more valuable—“it’s made us more collaborative.” “We believe that hybrid work is good for business and people,” said Jessica Adelman, corporate affairs svp for Mars Wrigley North America, whose hybrid model asks employees to spend “about half” their time at the office. While in-person interactions do foster teamwork among marketers at Mars, Adelman also points out that “some of the most innovative brand campaigns and programs took root during the years our associates had to work from home during pandemic lockdowns.” Meet like you mean it While allowing team members to divide their time between their homes and their cubicles hasn’t changed the quality of marketing work, it has influenced how that work gets done. At Bacardi North America, for example, marketing svp Alex Tomlin now manages a department where people are at their desks on average three days a week. As a result, he’s had to be more deliberate about using the in-person time to greatest effect. Regional summits, marketing town halls—any event that “can maximize group collaboration”—lands on a day that everyone’s on the property. “I personally feel more inspired when I am surrounded by our talented teams,” Tomlin told Adweek. “I love the energy that comes from sitting together, playing off of each other’s ideas and enjoying the process.” We’ve seen a lot of pushback on these full-return-to-office mandates—they’re just not something that I see is really viable. Ellyn Briggs, brands analyst, Morning Consult Several weeks ago, Tomlin hosted a global marketing and commercial planning meeting at Bacardi’s offices in Bermuda. “It was the first time in a few years that we were all in person,” he said. “Hands down, it was the best global planning meeting we had in years, and many attributed it to being together. “When we have gatherings, I want them to be intentional, so that they're getting the best out of the time together,” Jones added, explaining how the aim of those office renovations was to make the most of that face time. “When you're doing strategy work or having a brainstorming session,” he said, “it’s best to have people together.” Just leave them alone But it can also be good to have people apart. Chief marketers report that the hybrid model can improve output in indirect ways such as stress reduction and the freedom to work when creative juices happen to be flowing. “There's something to be said for spending time together, and the chemistry that comes from that is powerful,” Richardson said. But it’s just as critical “to have days where they can spend time thinking deeper and wider because they're not running around from meeting to meeting. Marketing people weren’t created to be cogs in the machine. Giving individuals empowerment to make their own choices makes all the difference in the world.” There is no question that our collaboration and productivity improved dramatically when we all returned to the office. Chris Brandt, chief brand officer, Chipotle Caitlin Duffy is the research director for Gartner’s human resources practice. The research she’s done suggests that hybrid work gives creative workers the sort of variety and balance that can play to everyone’s strengths and ultimately solve more problems. “We have seen some benefits of in-person work—periodic in-person meetings can improve engagement and performance,” Duffy said. “[But] one of the problems with fully on-site work is that it doesn't harness [employees’] full potential. Extroverted employees might excel best with on-site in-person collaboration. Introverted employees end to prefer to have some time separately quietly to collect their thoughts and brainstorm.” We look forward to seeing you The hybrid model may be the new standard, but not every marketing chief is a convert. At Chipotle’s restaurant support centers in Columbus, Ohio, and Newport Beach, Calif., employees are expected to be at their desks from Monday to Thursday. Friday is the only “flexible” day for those who prefer to work from home. But having team members on site for most of the week has been effective, in chief brand officer Chris Brandt’s view. “In-person interactions and side discussions continue to inspire powerful thinking for our brand, and I think their influence is often underestimated,” Brandt told Adweek. “There is no question that our collaboration and productivity improved dramatically when we all returned to the office. A big part of our success is our culture, and being in-office has definitely helped us improve our camaraderie and our effectiveness.” T-Mobile has come to a similar conclusion, despite adopting a policy more liberal than Chipotle’s. The telecom giant asks people to report to the office “at least more than half of the time,” and management believes that that time produces better marketing. Adweek Research: Quantifying the Impact of Collaboration “We’ve seen that when employees come together in person there is more energy, ideas, and a stronger sense of culture and community,” the company said in a statement to Adweek. “For our marketing teams, face-to-face collaboration helps create clearer, more consistent brand messaging.” Seen any agency people lately? Despite the range of feelings that brand marketers have toward flexible work models, there’s one area of near total agreement. Asked if they care whether their agency partners require their own employees to show up for work, the answer was no. “We support our agency partners in whatever model works best of their organization,” Brandt said. “It’s up to each organization to decide what works best for them,” added Tomlin. Richardson said the only thing that matters to him is the quality of the agency’s work: “How we get there, that’s up to them,” he said. For his part, Jones admitted he likes to see Nationwide’s agency partners in person—so much so that he’ll fly his team to New York to meet with them. Or he’ll have them out to headquarters in Columbus. Which only makes sense: He’s got plenty of freshly renovated meeting rooms they can use.

Marketing Innovation

CMOs Think Flexible Work Is Here to Stay. That's Changing Marketing Departments

Most CMOs are fine with seeing their colleagues just a few days a week. But the feeling is not universal.

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara