Beijing News Shell Financial News (reporter Wang Zhenzhen) On February 14, online travel company Ctrip announced that it will implement a mixed office system throughout the company. From March 1, 2020, every Wednesday and Friday, Ctrip's business units and functional departments can implement or gradually implement 1-2 days of mixed office according to actual management needs, that is, 1-2 days per week, and eligible employees can choose their own office location. Ctrip also issued policies such as employee application and management processes and equipment support that matched it, which means that Ctrip became the first company in China to actually implement the hybrid office system.
As early as 2010, Ctrip launched a hybrid office experiment for customer service personnel, and the results showed that "working from home" improved employee performance by 13%, employees had higher satisfaction, and the job turnover rate dropped by 50%. After the pandemic, Liang Jianzhang, chairman of the board of directors of Ctrip Group, once again advocated a hybrid office experiment with a wider range of functions. According to Ctrip, this round of promotion is based on a hybrid office experiment with more than 1,600 people starting in August 2021. After nearly half a year of experimentation, employees' willingness to participate has risen to nearly 60%, and the turnover rate has dropped by about one-third without significant impact on performance.
Ctrip's 2021 hybrid office experiment data / Courtesy of Ctrip
In the survey of employees who supported the mixed office, the top three reasons for voting were reduced commuting time and more efficient use of time (93.6%); ease of work-life balance (78.4%); and happiness and more creativity at work (75.1%).
Liang Jianzhang said that the promotion of the mixed office system is a win-win situation for enterprises, employees and society. It not only improves employee satisfaction without affecting efficiency, but also helps to reduce traffic congestion, protect the environment, alleviate high housing prices and regional differences, and is also conducive to family harmony, women's career development and increased fertility. It is hoped that the hybrid office system will be promoted in more mainstream Chinese enterprises in the future, which will have a positive and far-reaching impact on China's society and economy.
Although the "mixed office system" is a win-win result for enterprises, employees and society, enterprises must also face the problems faced in the implementation of the new system. In Ctrip's experimental survey, some employees and supervisors also expressed concern about this model, of which "concerns affect colleague relationships" accounted for nearly 50%. As a supervisor, there will also be problems such as "worry is difficult to manage". According to the relevant person in charge of Ctrip's human resources department, the company will focus on empowering employees, improving remote office efficiency and empowering supervisors, and helping supervisors strengthen management capabilities.
Beijing News reporter Wang Zhenzhen
Proofread by Li Ming Editor Zheng Yijia