Nutrisystem's Revamped Workspace Gave People a Reason to Come Back to the Office

The health and wellness company wanted to bring back in-person collaboration but also let people work from home. An updated office environment helped them do that. Here’s how.

It's the question on every executive's mind: Should they or shouldn't they bring their employees back into the office? Not surprisingly, the answer is mixed. According to a recent Microsoft survey, half of U.S. leaders either already require or are planning to require staff to return to the office. The same survey, however, found that 52 percent of workers are either thinking of switching to a full-time remote or hybrid job in 2022.

Over the last several months, Nutrisystem, the weight loss and wellness company, has been having this very debate, with the company's president, Steve Mikulak, spending countless hours going over the pros and cons of hybrid versus in-person work. His decision? Bring people back from Tuesday to Thursday, while letting them work from home on Fridays and Mondays. "It's the best of both worlds," says Mikulak.

Bringing back collaboration The hybrid model, he explains, allows for in-person collaboration, which Mikulak says was missing during the pandemic, while also providing the workplace flexibility his employees want.

"It's important that our employees are connected to each other and to the work that we do as an organization," he explains. "There's an energy, an excitement that fills the office and makes people feel like they are working on something bigger than themselves. And despite our best efforts over the last two years, we could not recreate that excitement without being together and in person. But we also acknowledge and respect their desire to work from home."