Where the CEOs of Box, HubSpot, and Zoom see hybrid work in 2023
A lot has changed in the last few years, but there's been one constant — the need to be agile. Processes that had been in place for years (or took years to come to fruition), have been replaced with digital workflows that make work faster, and organizations are looking to new technology to shape hybrid work strategies. The move to a sustainable and flexible-first ecosystem is built in the cloud with SaaS software providing critical capabilities to transform businesses in every industry.
At BoxWorks 2022, Box CEO Aaron Levie virtually sat down with Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot, and Eric S. Yuan, CEO of Zoom, to discuss challenges they’ve overcome this last year, how their respective organizations have adapted to a hybrid workplace, and the changes that they think are here to stay in 2023. Here are a few key takeaways from their conversation:
Clarity is a key ingredient for getting results
Clarity comes in many different forms. As Yamini Rangan explained, “when you are working in a hybrid environment, it becomes especially important to drive clarity. This clarity of purpose helps people feel like they’re having an impact every single day.”
Organizations are continuously seeing that simplicity in a hybrid workplace is key. To empower employees, they need to have a common and clear goal to be working towards. This also means they need to have access (and the knowledge) to tools that enable them to do their best work, rather than create roadblocks or content silos.
Eric S. Yuan posed the question, “how do we deploy technology not only from a CIO cost perspective, but also from an employee perspective — prioritizing ease of use, secure solutions, and making sure no matter where they are, they can access those solutions? I think that we are still very early, so there is an opportunity for all of us.”
While CIOs around the world are looking to reevaluate their current tech stacks, Rangan says, “I think we should focus on not just digital, but level of effectiveness with digital technology. An average company today has 200+ SaaS applications, but it’s not about having all of those tools, it is about having connected tools that can make you and your employees much more productive.”
Culture and retaining talent go hand in hand
While 2022 was a time for organizations to nail down their hybrid work strategies, 2023 will be the opportunity to see them flourish. Many organizations no longer feel restricted by geography when making hiring decisions, so a new work culture is being defined.
“Everyday I use Zoom to talk to customers in Japan, Europe, and the east coast, and it makes it very flexible,” said Yuan. “We all understand that benefit; however, there’s another benefit which is recruiting and retaining talent.”
Rangan chimed in, “talent is global in nature right now. And part of getting to be a hybrid company is really widening our view of talent, and talent is not based on zip code.”
With companies now managing workforces all over the country and world, employers in 2023 will need to focus on ways to create a digital community.
“For us, we think about our culture as another product,” said Rangan. “So just like we measure NPS for a product, we measure ENPS for the culture. Just like we have features for the product, we have features for the culture. And what is exceptionally interesting now is that the most requested feature for culture is flexibility.”
There’s no going back now
“Besides extreme cases that require five days a week in the office or five days a week completely remote, I think that most companies will be doing three days in the office and two days remote, or vice versa. That will pretty much be the hybrid formula for most companies,” said Yuan.
With over 50 percent of Americans being given the option to work remotely, it’s time for organizations and leaders to look to the future. The pandemic forced companies to work differently than ever before, but now there is the opportunity to push boundaries in new directions. Work can be anywhere, and therefore, supporting employees with the goals, tools, and support they need to succeed is all part of the next frontier.
As Rangan wisely shared, “more than ever, people need to feel connected, systems need to feel connected, and we need to drive that connection with customers.”
Click here to watch the full session on-demand.