The concept of the workplace has changed. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept in during the early months of 2020, it pushed a great many of us out of the office and back into our homes. Since then, it’s been an ongoing challenge to determine how best to operate in a world where “workplace” has begun to shift meanings from “office” to “wherever we work.”
But this is a challenge that’s matched by Motive’s unique strength and curiosity to reevaluate the status quo. As a result, the studio has implemented a new Flexible Work Model for all employees to ensure that everyone feels safe, supported, and satisfied. “The pandemic has been awful in so many ways,” says Director of Operations Ambre Lizurey, “but it at least brought the industry this idea that people can work from home. Our leadership team wants to protect that option of being at home, being close to your family, not having to spend an hour or two in traffic. With the Flexible Work Model, most roles have the flexibility to choose whether you want to work on-site, work from home, or a mix of both.”
It’s a deceptively simple-seeming solution. “The way it works is that by default, a person is now considered to be hybrid rather than on-site,” Ambre says. “When we say hybrid, we don’t mean that they need to be in the office a certain number of days per week; it could be that they come once or twice a month. It’s just the idea that they have a regular schedule coming into the office, which also helps people plan in-person collaboration. But for the majority of our roles, they also have the flexibility to be fully off-site; if they want to stay at home permanently, they can.”
Adopting this model wasn’t a matter of simply sending people home with a bunch of office equipment. It took several rounds of feedback to arrive at the ideal implementation, Ambre says—along with a reimagining of the office culture itself. One way the studio collected feedback was through an organized 10-person think tank made up of mixed remote, hybrid and on-site preferences who voiced their opinions and brainstormed future visions for the space. “In order not to force people to come on-site, to keep that flexibility,” she says, “we need to revise the way the studio operates, and the culture around it. Moving forward, the studio is becoming a collaboration and social hub, where people come for in-person meetings and celebrations.”
And Ambre is quick to point out that even these in-person gatherings are made accessible to all employees, by covering expenses for those traveling in and making sure that those who can’t are included in other ways, with a separate virtual event for example. “When we have meetings on-site, there’s always a Zoom option for people who can’t come in. So we’re trying as much as possible to be inclusive, and make sure that no one feels like they’re left out. That inclusivity is really important to us.”
Ambre is an ideal person to head up an initiative like this. She’s been in the video game industry for over 13 years, beginning as a data analyst while simultaneously pursuing studies in cognitive ergonomics—the study of how work and work environments impact a person’s mental state. That makes her especially qualified to navigate the rapidly changing nature of today’s work environment. But that’s not to say there haven’t been surprises.
“We’re seeing that people prefer to be hybrid rather than fully off-site,” she says. “At the beginning, there weren't many people coming into the office—but now we’re seeing more and more faces, and I think they’re going to keep visiting more often.”
The draw, Ambre tells us, is the human element. “Humans are social creatures, and when you meet someone in a hallway and have a discussion you didn’t plan for—you’ll never have that remotely, because you have to type ‘Sorry, can I bother you?’ rather than have an impromptu conversation. So there are benefits to being on-site, and I think people are going to see that.”
But there are many clear upsides to a flexible model, as well. Ambre says, “People like having some time to focus at home without people around.” A learning that has brought on more changes to the office space, in creating dedicated focus zones, and new collaboration areas. The idea is to build in as many new learnings as we can, for the office space to feel both creative and inclusive.“I think this model will help in terms of diversity, too, because we’ll be able to hire people who are not in Montréal, or even in the region.”
If you’d like to be one of those people, please visit our Careers page, where you can find lots of open positions and learn more about working at Motive—or at home, for Motive—or both. You get the idea.