Many companies are calling remote employees back to the office, but at Cleveland Clinic, flexible work is only gaining speed.
In June 2021, the health system rolled out a long-term remote work strategy led by 25 stakeholders across the enterprise, including cybersecurity specialists, HR managers and administrative directors. These "remote and hybrid work champions," as Cleveland Clinic calls them, focus on educating leaders about remote-work strategies and providing opportunities for online employees to form communities.
The champions meet once a month to discuss the company's hybrid strategy, then update resource documents and tip sheets on Connect Today, Cleveland Clinic's online employee platform. They lean into asynchronous communication so as not to clog email inboxes, directing managers' FAQs about productivity and engagement to the online hub, according to a blog post from the system.
As of September 2022, 9,200 of the health system's employees had taken remote or hybrid jobs. Now, more than 11,000 employees spend at least a portion of their week working online, a spokesperson told Becker's Dec. 9.
Hybrid and remote jobs at Cleveland Clinic are mostly administrative roles, according to the spokesperson. Many roles have the option to work remotely, including systems and financial analysis; project, program and care management; HR; scheduling; patient financial advocacy; and authorization.
Cleveland Clinic supports these employees by providing IT equipment needed to work from home, along with discount codes for certain home office equipment. But "work from home" doesn't mean "work from anywhere" — remote employees can only work within the state where they were originally hired, according to the system's job-search site.
Learn how other systems are supporting remote work here.