On February 14, Ctrip announced that it will implement a hybrid office system company-wide. Starting from March 1, every Wednesday and Friday, the company's business departments and functional departments can implement or gradually implement 1-2 days of mixed office according to actual management needs, that is, 1-2 days a week, eligible employees can choose their own office location, which can be home, café or resort hotel. Ctrip has simultaneously released policies such as employee application and management processes and device support. Nandu reporter learned that this is the first company in China to take the lead in actually implementing the mixed office system.
According to Ctrip, this round of promotion is based on a mixed office experiment with more than 1,600 people from August 2021, and the results show that after nearly half a year of experiments, employees' willingness to participate has risen to nearly 60%, and the turnover rate has dropped by about one-third without significant impact on performance.
It is understood that after the epidemic, some leading high-tech companies, such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Apple, began to normalize and institutionalize remote work, and only required employees to come to the company for 1-2-3 days a week. China, as a labor powerhouse and an Internet power, has also begun to face this change. This time, Ctrip took the lead in promoting the hybrid office model company-wide, reflecting that the efficiency improvement effect of remote work is not only applicable to foreign companies, but also to Chinese companies.
Liang Jianzhang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ctrip Group, said that the promotion of the hybrid 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.
Semi-annual experiment: 60% of employees strongly support the turnover rate fell by one-third
It is understood that as early as 2010, Ctrip launched a mixed office experiment for customer service personnel, and the results showed that "working from home" improved the performance of employees by 13%, employees had higher satisfaction, and the job turnover rate dropped by 50%. After the epidemic, Liang Jianzhang once again advocated a mixed office experiment with a wider range of functions. It is understood that in the latest round of experiments launched in August 2021, a total of 1612 employees participated, including about 400 supervisors. The functions are mainly based on the core function of Internet companies - product research and development, and business and functional departments are also involved.
Tingting (pseudonym), a designer from Ctrip's AirFare Business Group, was not sure whether mixed working would have a positive or negative impact before participating in the trial. After five months of experimentation, her neutral attitude towards hybrid office turned supportive. As a designer, she found that when working remotely, the other person usually made an appointment with her to communicate first, which made it easier for her to rationalize her time and easier to focus without being interrupted. In terms of life, mixed office not only saves commuting time, allows her to have more time to sleep, and even "cosmetics are saved".
Ctrip's overall data on the "mixed office system" shows that the attitude of participating employees to the mixed office system has continued to improve after the trial: the number of unsupported ones has decreased from 1% to 0.1%, neutrality has decreased by 5.3%, and the proportion of strong support has increased by 6.3% to nearly 60%.
In the post-experimental survey, 71.9% of employees believe that mixed work does not have an impact on performance, an increase of 3.8%, while among supervisors, this proportion is higher, reaching 76%, and the proportion of improvement is also higher, at 10.8%. This expectation is also reflected in the year-end performance results of the experimental staff, with no significant change in the proportion of employees at all levels of performance, while the turnover rate has decreased by 32%.
"We didn't find a big impact on individual performance or the achievement of the overall goals of the business unit." Tan Dong (pseudonym), a person in charge of Ctrip's air ticket business group, found that the mixed office system is also very helpful for employee satisfaction and happiness, making it easier to retain excellent employees and improve the problem of attrition. "Supervisors need to be more open and inclusive. Don't have a congenital worry about the hybrid office model, in fact, it is not so terrible. ”
Alleviate high housing prices and regional disparities to better balance work and life
In a survey of nearly 60% of employees who supported hybrid work, Ctrip summarized the top three reasons for the highest vote: reduced commuting time and more efficient use of time (93.6%); ease of work-life balance (78.4%); and high happiness and more creativity at work (75.1%).
Some Ctrip employees said that after participating in the mixed office, the time spent on the commute per week was greatly shortened, and they often had a better working state during the mixed office. Because "I can spend the time I originally spent on commuting and adjusting my entry into the working state", this often makes Chen Silai have a more positive attitude to face the day's work. Another employee found that the mixed office effectively saved the cost of daily life, "If I am at home, I have the time and the conditions to cook my own meals, so that I can save fifty or sixty yuan a day." ”
Liang Jianzhang believes that the promotion of the mixed office system can help reduce traffic congestion, protect the environment, and alleviate the high housing prices and regional differences in large cities: "If an average of 20% of the people in a city use remote work every day, it can alleviate the traffic congestion on commuting days to a certain extent, and the lack of cars will increase commuting efficiency, and it will also make people more willing to live in the suburbs." In the long run, the total price of housing prices in the suburbs and the city center may be getting closer and closer, and the suburban sub-centers will be more prosperous. ”
He also believes that in addition to the suburbs of large cities, employees in small cities can also work from home for companies headquartered in large cities, especially those that are within 2 hours of high-speed rail from large cities. "If the government can increase the supply of housing land and public facilities on the outskirts of large cities and small surrounding cities, it will bring a new round of investment and construction, and it will also be an opportunity to drive economic growth."
It is worth noting that the launch of Ctrip's round of "mixed office system" also takes into account the positive impact on women's career development and fertility. Xiao Xiao (pseudonym), who works at Ctrip Technology Center, said that mixed office can better take care of children's learning, and the degree of freedom and flexibility in work is also higher: "During the winter vacation, children are at home, usually only the elderly can take care of it, if I work from home, I can take care of my children to a certain extent in those days, and I can also take time to help him watch homework during lunch breaks", and in terms of work, Xiao Xiao may pick up children at five or six o'clock in the afternoon, and arrange work to a quieter time at nine or ten o'clock in the evening "After actually experiencing it, I feel more efficient." ”
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".
"We will help employees and supervisors adapt and gradually gain the benefits of this system through equipment assurance, technical support and management assurance, avoiding negative impacts." 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.
Written by: Nandu reporter Fu Xiaoling