Here’s how Glia’s FlexWork policy lets every Glianeer choose where they do their most inspired—and inspiring—work.
Over the past year and a half, our understanding of work has gone through some rapid, radical shifts globally. For a while, it was all about remote. Then the world started gradually reintroducing in-office work to the equation, arriving at a crossroads we’d never seen before: Do we stay remote? Go back to the office? Or lean into some combination of both?
To all of that, we at Glia say: Yes!
We’ve learned that doing one’s best work can look very different from one person to the next. For some, the fuse of creativity is lit by surrounding themselves with inspiring coworkers and getting to jump into a room for a brainstorming session on a whim. For others, it’s the freedom and flexibility of working from home and weaving their work schedules more seamlessly into their lives. And then there are those who order two flavors of ice cream — the ones who want a bit of both options.
Wherever their productivity sweet spot lies, we’re offering Glia team members the flexibility to explore what doing their best work means for them, pandemic or no pandemic.
How does FlexWork look at Glia?
Our US-based teams are remote-first. People are more than welcome to work from the office, but there’s no obligation or pressure to do so (unless a specific role requires it). Entirely unsurprisingly, we’ve seen it pay off already: Some team members have used FlexWork as a nudge to make that cross-country move they’d been dreaming about; others report having an easier time balancing family lives with work.
For our Estonian hubs, we’ve taken a step further and introduced a comprehensive new FlexWork framework that empowers all Glianeers to shape their work lives just how they like them.
FlexWork allows our team members to choose how and where they’d like to work. We accommodate everyone’s preferences as much as possible, and our teams work together to find the right balance between group and individual needs.
While US Glianeers are mostly remote or work from our NY office, Glianeers in Estonia get to choose the FlexWork “plan” that best suits their working style:
- In office
- Remote
- Flex
Each option comes with a different set of benefits:
1. In Office
The In Office FlexWork option is for those who go to the office regularly and want an assigned desk that’s just for them and their photos and knick-knacks. This choice is best for Glianeers who work from the office at least three days a week.
Office Perks
Aside from organic brainstorming sessions and water cooler convos that get creative juices flowing, some perks of the In Office option include:
- A dedicated desk among fellow In Office team members
- Workstations outfitted with the necessary furniture and equipment
- Daily snacks and coffee
- In Office social events — game night or foosball tournament, anyone?
- In Office surprise goodies: meals, team events, and the like
- All of Glia’s global benefits
2. Remote
The Remote FlexWork option is the best fit for Glianeers who spend most of their time at the home office. They live further away from our hubs and were probably already working from home even before we all joined them and started asking for remote work tips.
Our Remote Glianeers are masters of working in their chosen space and connecting with their team members no matter where they’re working from.
Remote Perks
Remote Glianeers love the freedom to bend time to their will. Whether they want to throw in some laundry between meetings or have quality time with their loved ones instead of driving home from a hub — that’s up to them! Other Glia Remote perks include:
- A monthly allowance to order snacks and coffee
- Access to hot desks when visiting the office (as available)
- A one-time home office set-up budget to create a functional and ergonomically sound workstation
- All of Glia’s global benefits
3. Flex
The Flex option is for those Glianeers who want the best of both worlds. Flex Glianeers may drop into the hub once or twice one week, but then work from home the whole week after that. They like to keep things interesting, and we love that about them.
Flex Perks
Along with the flexibility of working from home or at the office, the benefits of this option include:
- A monthly budget for snacks and coffee
- A one-time home-office set-up option to create a functional and ergonomically sound workstation
- Access to hot desks when visiting the office (as available)
- Access to local In Office goodies while visiting — essentials like coffee, snacks, and socials
- All of Glia’s global benefits
How flex is flex?
When we say flex, we really mean it. We know that sometimes people need a change of scenery and perspective. So every six months, Glianeers can revise and change their FlexWork preferences if they feel the need to. Perhaps they chose to be Remote at first but found themselves wishing they had a bit more office time — then Flex is the way to go.
The FlexWork framework applies to our entire Estonia-based team, with small accomodations for the needs of our Engineering team. Given the collaborative nature of engineering work at Glia, all engineering teams agree on an arrangement that works best for the team as a whole.
That’s because even though individual schedules and preferences are very important to us, we also want to avoid situations where the majority of one engineering team is onsite together while a single person works remotely. To find the right balance, Engineering Managers coordinate the decision process and figure out, with their team, what works best for them as a unit. If the team agrees that it’s OK for everyone to choose different options, that’s perfectly fine — we just like to talk it out and be on the same page. Rinse and repeat six months later as usual.
The future is not one-size-fits-all. At a time when some companies are making people return to the office whether they want to or not, Glia knows we don’t get to tell people where they should thrive. By empowering people to shape the way they work, we are shaping the future of work itself.