During this time, nearly every company has been impacted by the challenges associated with nationwide stay-at-home orders. We too, have continued to work and balance childcare, home schooling, and caring for loved ones. In response to the pandemic, our People Ops. Team took swift action.
In early March, we huddled with our leaders to implement safety measures and guidelines for hand washing, disinfecting high-touch areas, monitoring health symptoms, and social distancing. As cities and states leaders issued shelter-in-place orders in each of our market areas – everywhere we help homeowners and buyers, and everywhere Offerpad has working personnel, we had just a few days to move 65% of our workforce home. Remote work was not previously a common practice at Offerpad, but in partnership with our IT Team, we quickly mobilized and ensured that our employees had the resources necessary to work remotely, from their homes. In addition, we trained leaders on skills specific to managing remote teams, and trained employees on how to be successful while working remotely.
The remaining 35% of our workforce are in the field buying, inspecting, renovating, and helping customers sell their homes. Our highest priority while providing the best real estate solutions is to promote the safety of our employees and our customers.
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From the time the first stay-at-home order was issued, we monitored state and local municipality communications to ensure that the services we provide to our customers and consistent
We secured and distributed PPE and cleaning supplies to our field teams and quickly became ‘experts’ in hunting down face masks, hand sanitizers, booties, gloves, wipes, and disinfecting sprays in a world where these commodities were being gobbled up faster than they could be produced. All of these steps combined technology, science and real estate expertise to prioritize public health and safety for our customers, employees, and third-party vendors.
As a team, everyone came together and rose to this unique challenge.
With the safety of our team members front and center, mobilizing that many people across the country in a very short window of time was not only a big undertaking, but a business imperative,” Chief Human Resources Officer Heather Bailey said. “We were decisive in taking actions we knew would help provide a greater sense of safety for our employees, while at the same time knowing we were about to embark on a journey for which no one had a road map. We knew that at the heart of every Offerpad team member was the strong desire to do whatever it takes because every day matters at Offerpad, even when faced with the unthinkable.”
The amazing thing about all of this is that we realized just how committed and highly motivated our team members are. We saw their dedication when they were in the workplace, but to move two-thirds of our team members home and still achieve similar results was an incredible thing to witness.
We also found that our team members appreciated our support in putting them and their safety first. Our workforce includes single parents, dual income working families, people who care for their parents or grandparents, and people who are working alone without family nearby. These new working-from-home environments affect people differently depending on their situation. The stress of either being isolated and alone or having several family members living and working in confined spaces began to add new and unfamiliar stressors to many.
It has been an important mission of our People Ops. Team to stay connected to our people and understand their stressors. Regular check-ins are important with leaders and employees. We make sure that they have access and resources available through our healthcare provider, United Healthcare (UHC). And, we find ways to bring support to them, whether it be EAP Resources and tips to reduce and address anxiety and depression, or articles and links with tips for working at home, keeping children occupied, creating family activities indoors, virtual activities, and reducing stress while sheltering in place.
The health and safety of our employees has always been paramount to our work. We are living in unprecedented times right now, and the one very important thing that has been reinforced to all of us during this time is that we have a phenomenal workforce at Offerpad, and we are grateful to be a part of this team.
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Handling all the new changes put in place for the greater good of protecting our communities has been a challenge for everyone. At Offerpad, we’ve been fortunate to – through stellar leadership and employee dedication and flexibility – continue to do what we do best, while also maintaining high levels of employee engagement and commitment, which ultimately support our customers in receiving the best experience. This year has been full of challenges and struggles for all in a number of ways. This new ‘balance’ that we each personally and professionally are forced to find will go a long way to help us grow both personally and professionally. We’re confident that the unique challenges our Offerpad team is navigating will make us not only stronger as individuals, but wholly as an organization.