As their staffs are called back into the office, advisory firms have consciously introduced programs and protocols geared toward the safety of those who are vaccinated.
“We heard loud and clear from our associates that they are most concerned about their personal safety, and we are as well,” said Stephen Langlois, president of Kestra Financial.
Langlois said Kestra has been up-front about bringing employees and advisors back to the office because their business is predominantly about “office culture.” He noted, however, that the firm has also recognized that people’s attitude toward where they work has changed during the Covid crisis and the firm is allowing associates to work remotely one day a week.
He said the company has created a “vax bubble,” for those vaccinated employees. The unvaccinated, Langlois said, are meanwhile strongly urged to get the shot. He said every message that has been sent out to employees and colleagues emphasizes the importance of getting the vaccine. “We believe deeply in the importance of getting vaccinated and we keep on banging that drum,” he said.
Langlois, who along with other company executives, shared a panel titled, “See You Back in the Office” at the FSI OneVoice conference last week, said that, as an incentive, employees who submit a vaccination card are given $500, which he said has helped drive up adoption. Still, he said about 25% of the company’s workers remain unvaccinated. “We don’t yet know how that’s going to play out over time,” he said.
When asked if it was rubbing people the wrong way that some are choosing not to get the vaccine and get to work from home, Langlois said the firm doesn’t have a sense of it being a “have and have not” situation.
“I think that’s a tricky issue and we are going to get feedback on whatever we do here,” said Lauren Brouhard, head of workforce strategy and talent management at Fidelity Investments. “If we are only allowing vaccinated people to come in, we get feedback on inclusion, haves and have nots, those kinds of things. We get it; we don’t want to be in that position,” she said. She did note that employees are being asked to self-report their vaccination status.
Like Kestra, Brouhard said Fidelity was clear in setting an intention from early on that employees would eventually return to the office. And while the company believes being in the office is good for business all around, she said the firm is working toward more of a hybrid model that it calls “dynamic working” that involves the best of both working in-office and remotely.
She said the company has created several pilot programs geared toward re-entry, and has developed a system that scores Covid risk factors in each of the regions where it has offices. The programs, she said, have helped the company make objective decisions on when to turn things off and pause certain programs. “And that has really helped [fuel] a lot of credibility and trust with our associates,” she said.
The latest program, Brouhard explained, is called Connect Week, which is available to fully vaccinated associates who have self-reported. It allows associates to come into the office one week per month and meet with friends, teammates and colleagues. And while on site, they engage in activities that support community, learning, coaching and career vitality and just kind of have fun together, Brouhard said.