Compared to many companies across the U.S. and the world, tech companies often have it easy, as many employees only need a computer, time, and brainpower to get to work. But prior to the coronavirus pandemic, most of our local employees were in the office full time, and our remote employees flew into our Schaumburg, IL office frequently to meet with their respective teams.
In March of 2020, CellTrak shut our doors and sent our employees to work from home for what we assumed would be a short two-week vacation, but turned out to be a much longer affair. Rushing to accommodate our customers, the CellTrak product team put together COVID screeners for caregivers and staff to use for visits in just one weekend.
With roughly 100 employees working across 3 countries, many team members were already working remotely prior to the pandemic, at least part-time. Though the uncertainty and stress of the pandemic made the switch less than seamless, working from home quickly offered a more flexible work environment for our team members.
Why work from home?
A Stanford study of 16,000 workers across 9 months reported that people who worked from home were 13% more productive than those who did not. Additionally, remote work allowed employees to save time and money by cutting their commute out. Dress codes working remotely became more relaxed and team members had more time in the day to work and be with their loved ones.
So working from home is great, right?
While working from home has been a welcome contributor in creating a more flexible work environment, we would be lying if we said it’s the perfect way to work 100% of the time. While working remotely, many of our employees missed the social interaction of seeing coworkers during the day. Though coming into the office full-time can be exhausting, the opposite can be equally true.
The cancellation of travel and in-person conferences and trade shows – which had previously been the definitive way to meet providers in the home care industry -- made it more challenging to connect with our customers.
Since the pandemic, we hired over 10 new employees remotely, many of who have not met their team person due to travel restrictions and have been at the company for over a year.
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“I definitely enjoy working from home, but it was a joy to meet my coworkers in person for the first time,” says Sales and Marketing Coordinator Sydni Rotunno, who started working at CellTrak in October of 2020.
“Of course, you meet everyone on Zoom or Teams but it’s a different dynamic when you meet them in person. I met a lot of my team in person in March [2021]; it was interesting to see people’s quirks and mannerisms that don’t translate over video.”
Merging Home and Office
CellTrak followed the restrictions set by the state of Illinois and the CDC until May 2021, when restrictions in Illinois and across the United States began lifting. By this point, many of our team members had elected to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and felt more comfortable coming to work in the office.
Our team is permitted and encouraged to come into the office to work as they feel comfortable but there is no expectation that CellTrak will return to 100% in-person 5 days a week. Many of our team members have elected a hybrid model, allowing them to choose a routine that works best for them.
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Technical Support Representative John LeMasurier has begun working in our Schaumburg, Illinois office more frequently since our office reopening, coming to the office about 4-5 days a week. John commented on his return to the office, saying “it’s nice to re-establish a routine and to see people in-person at work.”
CellTrak is committed to providing a healthy and safe environment for its employees. We are happy to be able to return to a new normal and provide a hybrid model that creates more flexibility for our CellTrak family. The safety of our employees is of high importance to CellTrak, so we continue to follow CDC, state, and federal guidelines. Above all else, we are happy that we can work through conflicts as large as a pandemic quickly and continue to empower personal care providers every day.
Join Our Team
Interested in joining our team? Check out our current openings at celltrak.com/about/careers to learn more about the benefits offered to employees at CellTrak. All qualified candidates should send their resumes for current openings to careers@celltrak.com