Nurturing Resilience and Creativity: Re-Vibe’s CARE Framework Response to COVID-19 Challenges

QUESTION

Revive Re-Vibe 

Janet Ross sat at her home office desk in downtown Toronto and stared at the bookshelf in front of her. She was not looking for anything in particular, but rather thinking about how things had changed over the last year due to COVID-19 and in particular, how the office environment had changed. She just read an article that got her thinking. It was about how to ‘CARE’ during the pandemic, and she was now reflecting on how it applied to her clients but also to ‘Re-Vibe,’ the company she founded.

Being CEO during this time has been a huge challenge, Janet thought. This was not only from the financial hit but also how it had impacted the employees. Janet is the CEO of Re-Vibe, a Canadian company that looks to reignite organizations through redesigning office spaces and furniture. Their goal is to re-vibe offices so that they are a better place to work.

Background 

Janet graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design 10 years ago, and the school is still considered one of the best interior design schools around. During the program, she focused her attention on office space design. She was naturally talented and got top marks. After graduating, she got an internship at Perkins + Will, which was one of the best office design companies in the world. There she worked for a year and learned a lot about designing space and integrating contemporary design. Very early, Janet realized that she liked to create spaces that were unique with pops of color and fun vibes. Soon, her internship became a job, and she joined a team of designers that worked on some major office structures around the world. Her biggest accomplishment was when she got to lead a team to revitalize the office space for ‘Blabber,’ a digital space in Silicon Valley that wanted to make it a funky and artsy place to work. It was a very engaging and interesting position for her as she got to use her creative energy and felt accomplished with the final look of the offices.

After a few years at Perkins + Will, Janet wound up doing her MBA at Esade in Spain. This was an opportunity to blend the creative side with business. Her idea was that she would like to start a boutique office design company. While at Esade, she made friends with Betty Lin, who was also a Canadian. Betty was very good with the quantitative side and Janet was great with the qualitative side. Janet shared her idea with Betty, who quickly embraced the idea of starting a boutique office design company. They came up with the start up of the business in Toronto in 2014 and named it Re-Vibe. Janet’s credentials at Perkins + Will opened many doors for her because her pre-existing portfolio was impressive. Slowly they began getting contracts and while at the beginning, the two of them worked well together, they began to start feeling overwhelmed as a two-person organization. Janet was working with clients who were office managers and looking to redesign their space and Betty was looking after the internal logistics of Re-Vibe. As a result, Janet was running around getting contracts that she was not able to really put her effort and energy to where she really enjoyed and that was the designing piece. They needed help and started looking around for people to work with them. Slowly the business began to grow and flourish. Janet hired Valerie Olsen, who was a contract HR specialist, to find some design talent from Toronto School of Art and Ryerson University. Equally, they were on the lookout for office talent that could help run the operations so they looked to University of Toronto and York University. Slowly the team started to grow as more and more contracts came in. Clients appreciated the unique style that Re-Vibe brought to their working space. 2

By 2016, Re-Vibe had grown to 21 people which included a blend of office administrators who looked after the office operations, business developers who would go out to seek contracts, creative content people who would envision the office spaces and a team of artists/craftsmen who would do the creation of what was envisioned. What benefited Janet the most was the business development team because they would secure the leads and then Janet, with a core team, would go in and work on the development/concept plans. Janet no longer had to go out looking for leads and could work on what she was best at – the design component. The other part that was beneficial was that Betty was able to run the office side of things, so operations were functioning well. Business was running smoothly.

By 2018, Re-Vibe had grown to just over 40 people and they needed a larger office space. They wound up picking an older part of Toronto that had nostalgic buildings. The new office interior was an open concept with brick walls and wood beams. Re-Vibe was expanding its outreach and was now getting contracts in Ontario and Quebec. Their home office was still in Toronto but as contracts started to come in from throughout Ontario and Quebec, Janet would send a small team to scout out the opportunities. Janet believed in the concept of huddles and team autonomy. She still wanted to be made aware of how things were operating but thought it was best to let the teams do their job independently. Most of the work was done inhouse so when leads came in, Janet and a small team would huddle. The huddle would be 3 office managers (because they understood the office environment), 4 designers, 4 artists/craftsmen and Janet. They had a huddle room where they would either bring the client in or would video conference the client to get a sense of what was required. The conversation would be about concept design and what the client felt would be helpful to revive their staff and the office space.

For Re-Vibe, they wanted to have office workspace that was fun, entertaining, and engaging. Ideally, people who came to work at Re-Vibe would do so because of the organic feel to the organization and the informal culture expressed through the casual setting. The last thing Re-Vibe wanted was a sterile and structured office space. As a result, they had an open kitchen plan, moveable desks, couches, hammocks, quiet rooms, a games room, and a room that they converted into a small gym. If you worked at Re-Vibe, you would have weekly happy hour events, games nights, professional development sessions, organized volunteering events, bring your pet to work days, catered lunches, weekend sporting leagues, etc. All of these opportunities appealed to the staff, and they had a lot of fun together. Janet often said, “If we are going to revive offices around, we better set the best example here and make sure people really enjoy Re-Vibe.”

COVID-19 Shows Up 

Business continued running smoothly and Re-Vibe had grown to 65 people by December 2019. Things were looking promising on the horizon as there was talk about expanding across Canada, and Janet pulled a small team to start visioning what that might look like. She thought that Re-Vibe could be bold in 2020 and look to a more aggressive growth strategy. Who knows, if the expansion across Canada was positive, then in a couple of years, an expansion south would be in their sites.

Unfortunately, by March 2020, COVID-19 started to show up and at first it was more cautionary but slowly, things got very serious as the government started to talk about cases rising and businesses needing to find ways to have their staff work from home. Janet pulled her IT team together quickly and looked at alternatives. The first wave was hitting Toronto hard, and Janet was bracing for the storm. She called an organizational meeting and shared the news that they were going to have to shut down the in person contact and do things from remote sites like working from home. The IT team activated their plans and people were now huddling in Zoom meetings and using a communication tool for work called Slack. The first couple of weeks was a bit of a challenge as people were getting used to working from home. They could still huddle, but as the weeks became months, it was no longer as much fun to be working from home. Janet decided that she needed support and asked her staff what they needed; they tried virtual yoga sessions, exercise sessions, and Zoom happy hours but it just was not the same.

Due to COVID-19, design contracts started to dwindle because clients were not working from offices as much any longer as their own staff were now working from home. Janet pulled some key staff to be the ‘Motivation Squad,’ where they would come up with some remote working ideas to keep their staff engaged. Added to this, unfortunately, some difficult decisions had to be made where some individuals had to be let go and some decided to leave on their own. This was because many of the contracts were either gone or put on hold by clients. Just prior to COVID-19, Re-Vibe had 55 employees and by the end of 2020, they were down to 25 employees. Janet noticed that staff were getting a bit tired of working from home because they initially got into Re-Vibe for the human connections and fun office environment. Desperately, the ‘Motivation Squad’ tried events such as virtual scavenger hunts, social gatherings, and virtual book clubs but they had little effect on creating the culture that Re-Vibe was known for. There was also the fear that employees would either leave on their own because they knew that contracts were dwindling or that they would be asked to take leave. Government assistance was available, and Janet did feel bad letting people go. She would do the calls personally as opposed to having someone else take the responsibility. For the remaining staff, one could sense that the culture and vibe at ‘Re-Vibe’ was fizzling out. In a couple of instances, on Zoom calls, someone forgot to private message and the message appeared to all and it would say things like: “I am trying but this really sucks!” (referring to working from home) or “I am worried that I am going to be let go, have you heard anything?”

The Current Situation 

It is now summer 2021 and people are getting vaccinated, slowly the curve is bending but what Janet is worried about is that more and more employers (clients) are looking to more of a hybrid model of back to work. What that means is that offices are looking to reduce their rental footprint and allow more people to work from home. It might mean that half the staff come in on Monday and Wednesday and the other half on Tuesday and Thursday and the rest of the time they work from home. This means that it is going to be more of a challenge for clients and contracts for Re-Vibe.

Janet reflected back to the article she read about ‘How to CARE during the pandemic’ and looked closely at the concept of CARE:

• Collaborate – A need to work together during the pandemic and this was both internal to the organization but also looking at your stakeholders.
• Adaptability – An organization cannot continue down their path with the pandemic in full force and what about post pandemic and how organizations might run. Organizations need to consider how they can be adaptable.
• Resilience – How can an organization build resilience into their business but also their employees knowing full well that there is concern and that this will not be over tomorrow or next week? We are in a marathon.
• Empathy – Individuals and organizations need to build empathy into their lives to show care, understanding and compassion.

Janet thought “So what now?” She picked up the phone and called your consulting firm to come in and help move Re-Vibe forward. Consider the following:

• Examine ‘CARE’ and apply it to ‘Re-Vibe’. How can Janet best implement the CARE framework to the organization’s current situation and moving forward?
• Janet has turned to you to come up with a short-term solution internally for Re-Vibe and a long-term solution on how they can help present and future clients out of COVID-19.

Explain!

• What is theexecutive summary?
• A little bit of background on the case (but not a lot)
• What is your solution?
• How did you come with this as a solution?
• Why is it a good solution?
• How can we implement your solution?
• Any applied concepts from the book
• What was it like to be a part of this team?
• How did you coordinate activities?
• Concepts from the course to be applied here
• You must cite your sources using APA 7th.

ANSWER

Nurturing Resilience and Creativity: Re-Vibe’s CARE Framework Response to COVID-19 Challenges

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted organizations worldwide, and Re-Vibe, a leading Canadian office design company, is no exception. As the CEO, Janet Ross faces the daunting task of reviving her company’s vibrant office culture and adapting to the changing landscape. This essay proposes short-term internal measures to uplift Re-Vibe’s workforce and long-term strategies to help clients transition out of the pandemic, all based on the CARE framework: Collaborate, Adaptability, Resilience, and Empathy.

Short-term Solution (Internally for Re-Vibe)

To address the decline in employee morale and creativity during remote work, Re-Vibe can focus on the following short-term solutions:

Virtual Social Events: Re-Vibe should organize engaging team-building activities, virtual happy hours, and interactive workshops through platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. These events will strengthen team bonds and maintain a sense of camaraderie.

Employee Wellness Programs: Encouraging online wellness sessions, such as yoga, meditation, and exercise classes, will prioritize employees’ mental and physical well-being. It will help alleviate stress and enhance their ability to cope with the ongoing challenges.

Flexible Work Arrangements: By offering hybrid or remote work options, Re-Vibe empowers employees to balance their personal and professional lives. This flexibility will boost job satisfaction and productivity.

Recognition and Appreciation: Janet can implement a reward system that acknowledges exceptional performance and showcases appreciation for employees’ dedication. This fosters a culture of recognition and motivates the workforce.

Skill Development Opportunities: Providing access to virtual workshops or webinars will enable employees to enhance their skills and knowledge. This investment in their growth demonstrates Re-Vibe’s commitment to their professional development.

Long-term Solution (Helping Clients Out of COVID-19)

As organizations transition to a hybrid model, Re-Vibe can assist clients in adapting to the new work environment:

Hybrid Office Designs: Re-Vibe can propose innovative office layouts that facilitate both in-office collaboration and remote work. By creating adaptable spaces, clients can seamlessly transition between different working models.

Wellness-Centric Spaces: Integrating wellness rooms, meditation areas, and green spaces in office designs will promote employee well-being and mental health. These spaces will offer respite from the stresses of work and foster a positive work environment.

Technology Integration: Re-Vibe can recommend cutting-edge technology solutions that facilitate effective communication and collaboration between in-office and remote teams. This seamless integration ensures a cohesive work experience for all employees.

Empathy-Driven Workplace: Encouraging clients to prioritize employee well-being and work-life balance will create an empathetic work environment. Re-Vibe can advocate for mental health initiatives and foster a supportive culture within client organizations.

Future-Proofing Designs: Designing office spaces with adaptability in mind will future-proof the workplace. This means that clients can readily respond to any future disruptions or changes in work patterns.

Conclusion

By applying the CARE framework, Re-Vibe can navigate the challenges of COVID-19 and emerge as a resilient and creative organization. The short-term internal measures will rejuvenate employee morale and creativity, while the long-term strategies will position Re-Vibe as a valuable partner for clients seeking to adapt to the evolving workplace landscape. Embracing collaboration, adaptability, resilience, and empathy, Re-Vibe will inspire organizations to thrive beyond the pandemic’s shadow.