CoworkingCafe’s Post

I'm an Allstater and I would say that we were ahead of the work from home curve because many people worked remotely even before covid. Some full time, some just a day or two a week. So we already knew that it could work, covid just forced it to work for almost everyone. Do I love it? Sort of. It's a little love/hate thing. I do love saving a little on gas, walking my dog over lunch, wearing my hair in a pony tail more often than not, not having to uncover the car if it's snowed before heading home, and lot of other things too many to mention. What I don't love is not seeing people that I don't work directly with. You know, the casual acquaintance or the person I used to work with who's now in another department. I miss running into people in the cafeteria and catching up on how their kids are, or walking from the parking lot to the buildings and chatting it up with someone I haven't seen in a while. There are some departments that have to be in offices. And they frequently ask us for feedback, so we know they are trying to do what's best for the company and the employees. I couldn't fathom being forced to go back to an office full time.

Love this quote: “You want me to commute to an office? We’re open to that, as long as there’s a reason". We've heard versions of that dozens of times, in companies of all sizes. The key is connecting place to purpose -- and for a company of All-State's size, thinking clearly about how those decisions are made. Great article.

I've been following AllState and its real estate decisions for a while now. One thing that is different about them is that they had made a decision (very early in the pandemic) to sell their hq and other offices while everyone else just waited to see how the forced remote work experiment played out before making major changes. From what I remember, their thinking was that the future is remote and that other insurance companies will soon follow. Over time people who AllState hired would disproportionally tend to prefer remote work as a result (one aspect of the remote debate that I think goes very underreported in the press is that a substantial number of people who want to work with others in person leave when their company makes a change like this so there's always some sorting both ways). Other companies haven't followed and AllState business results by 2023 weren't very impressive either. I believe AllState challenges with remote work are similar to others but they are in a different situation due to the aggressive early decisions. So it makes sense for them to bring back some in-person work in a limited fashion, via co-working spaces. Time will tell whether it will be sufficient to address their remote work issues.

Grateful for the spotlight! Flexibility, collaboration, and sustainability are at the core of how we support our teams and serve our customers

The RTO argument won't go away any time soon. For insurers, I suspect the correct answer lies in whether we are looking at Canada or the US, and if the business is commercial or personal lines. Speaking as a retired Canadian broker, I see no good argument for RTO with regard to Personal Lines, because that business has long gone to cookie cutter concept. There's no underwriting to it that requires skill, and IMO, that business will eventually all be done online direct by insurers with no place for brokers. The public will not be happy. Commercial Lines I believe is very different. If independent brokers cannot directly access underwriters, quality of placement and coverage will suffer. It already seems to be, and if RTO is not enforced, that problem will continue to escalate. Just my opinion.

What’s really happening in the world? People are hiring me as their art advisor so they can spend more time at home, surrounded by masterpieces they truly enjoy. If corporations want to lure people back to the office, here’s my suggestion: don’t just fill the workspace with decor—make it an art-filled experience. Real art, curated with Precision | Strategy | Profit. So if Allstate (or any other company) is serious about making the office irresistible again, I know a guy. 😉

love this approach. and more than (quoting from the last passage in the article): “Now, it’s ‘Let’s see where they go, and we will build there.’” it’s also, let’s listen to what they want and build that. i’m getting at this in my Work Style research. the quiet library (and hopefully quiet solo workspaces and places to rest) will make workspaces helpful to all neuro types. nice work Lauren DeYoung and thanks for gifting the article Matthew Boyle

Conventional office space is only going to decline! Time to move with the future: Coworking spaces. Face it: Forced RTO stinks of past inefficiencies.

Great article! In a company people want to connect and colaborate to deliver their tasks. Allstate saw very early that the office is just one of the means where employers can connect and collaborate and the alternatives might be better, using local co-working spaces. I love this part "Most of the ten Allstate employees who shuffled into a downtown Minneapolis conference room on a recent visit had never met before." Building businesses is all about putting your trust in people en let them decide about their work, how to do it, where and facilitate new connections! #changethesystem

I love being an Allstater and our flexible work environment is just one of many reasons that make working at Allstate great! As a Recruiter, I've heard many times from candidates that our flex work/remote work model is one of their attractors to our company.