Reflecting on HPE’s approach to the future of work
One year after HPE started to re-open U.S. offices
- On July 19, 2021, HPE formally reopened its U.S. offices to most team members for the first time since the pandemic began
- HPE has adopted a hybrid working model called Edge-to-Office, which reimagines our sites into culture and collaboration hubs while providing seamless connections to HPE from anywhere in the world
The pandemic ignited a global conversation about hybrid work, and while other companies are still debating their approach, HPE is now fully realizing the hybrid vision we introduced during the fall of 2020. The decision for HPE to implement a hybrid work model, made well before the world reopened, relied on early bets based on internal cross-functional expertise, data insights, intuition, and feedback from our team members.
Today marks one year since we started the phased re-opening of our U.S. offices (many global sites had previously opened or soon followed depending on local health and safety laws and regulations) and since then our team members have embraced our new hybrid working model, what we call “Edge-to-Office.”
Reimagining our sites as collaboration and culture hubs was key to bringing our new hybrid office experience to life
Reimagining our sites as collaboration and culture hubs was key to bringing our new hybrid office experience to life. More than 100 of our sites around the globe have already been redesigned to align with our latest design standards, 10 additional site redesigns are currently underway, and 27 are in planning for future redesign. Our transformed sites include designs and features reflecting HPE’s hybrid work vision – more collaboration, meeting and social spaces and workplace technology team members can utilize for a seamless work experience.
It’s been inspiring to see team members come back to the office and reconnect with each other over the past year -- whether it’s catching up in person over coffee in one of our eClubs, or brainstorming for a solution to a business challenge in one of our tech-enabled collaboration spaces, or once again competing in the annual HPE Chili Cookoff in our Houston office. Events like quarterly All Team Member Meetings or cultural activities like Team Member Appreciation Day are a key driver of office usage, usually bringing in 20% more team members than the average day. These on-site events are an intentional design of our hybrid model and reflect many of the key reasons we encourage team members to come to the office for culture, collaboration and celebrating with meaningful in-person moments.
Even so, we know it takes time to rebuild the muscle required to create new routines, and that wearing jeans instead of pajama pants takes a little getting used to after two years. The feedback from team members has been overwhelmingly positive with 83% of team members saying they see value in our hybrid work model because it works for them – not because it was mandated. We’ve had the opportunity to listen and reshape our mindset to empower our team members to be collaborative and productive wherever they are. We’ve welcomed them back not only to redesigned offices, but with a framework that encourages trust, flexibility, and a commitment to culture, collaboration, and innovation. Embedding our culture into our hybrid strategy was key to ensuring our 60,000 team members feel connected to HPE regardless of where they work. Early feedback indicates that 78% of team members feel connected to the HPE community – whether that’s due to the seamless digital experience or because of the many resource groups and networking programs available to them.
As I reflect on the last year, I’m proud of the strong cross-functional partnership demonstrated by our Edge-to-Office team, which included Global Workplace (HPE’s Global Real Estate team), HR, Global Communications, IT, and others. Together we’ve delivered a hybrid work strategy designed with our team members in mind. And we continue to bring innovative solutions to address team member and business needs.
HPE’s Edge-to-Office hybrid work model was recently recognized by CoreNet, the leading industry association for corporate real estate
I’m proud to say HPE’s Edge-to-Office hybrid work model was recently recognized by CoreNet, the leading industry association for corporate real estate. This is yet another testament to the thoughtful planning and execution it took to deliver an evolved workplace experience for our team members.
At HPE, we believe that work should fit our team members’ lives – not the other way around – so we rose to the occasion and change that the pandemic presented to us. We’re now fully living in a hybrid world, but our work is far from over. I’m excited to continue enhancing our team member experience and embed our company culture into the work experience – no matter whether someone is working at the edge or in the office.