Advocate Aurora Health‘s makes remote work permanent for its 12000 non-clinical employees who have already been working remotely throughout the pandemic.
These employees will “no longer have dedicated workspaces” like desks, cubicles or offices, said Kevin Brady, Advocate Aurora Chief Human Resources Officer.
Advocate Aurora has a total of around 75,000 employees across Illinois and Wisconsin. Kevin Brady further said the pandemic necessitated the remote work move and the remote work model has proven that its employees can work efficiently remotely. This is why Advocate Aurora decided to make remote work permanent for non-clinical employees.
Advocate Aurora is calling this new working model “WorkForward”. Employees can choose to work from home or at any other location of their choice.
“For some departments, remote-first may come to mean monthly team meetings in the office, once-a-week collaboration sessions or a trip to an outside-the-box location that inspires the team.” Kevin Brady, Advocate Aurora Chief Human Resources Officer
A lot of other employers in the region are also evaluating their work policies to understand if remote work will be suited for them going forward. Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin recently announced their plans of selling the Greendale headquarters building because they’ve made a permanent shift to a hybrid working model.
Advocate Aurora will “regularly evaluate” their real estate requirements. According to a spokesperson, they’ve vacated their office spaces – the ACL billing office in West Allis, the Bluemound Business Center in Waukesha, the Aurora Family Services office in Milwaukee, and the Kensington Support Center and Philanthropy Office in Oak Brook, Illinois.
They also recently donated the Aurora Family Services building to Bethesda Lutheran Communities Inc. The facility will be demolished and a new housing for adults with intellectual and development disabilities will be built.
Aurora’s Family Services staff currently operate out of Aurora Sinai Medical Center.
“These decisions are not an indication of downsizing teams, but rather of our ability to reorganize to create a more engaging, collaborative and energizing work environment while offering team members the flexibility they value.” Kevin Brady, Advocate Aurora Chief Human Resources Officer
Kevin Brady also added that the health system is revamping its other facilities to have more “innovative and productive” work areas that employees could use for meetings or as a temporary work area.
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