Embracing a New Way of Working

When the global pandemic hit, we quickly understood that changes to how and where we work would be inevitable. At that time, I wrote about how General Motors was committed to getting the world right-side up. While we are not there yet, we learned a lot over the past year about new ways of working.

COVID-19 required changes across our business. For example, given the nature of the work, many employees never stopped going to a physical workplace – a commitment for which I am extremely thankful. In other cases – our manufacturing, lab and warehouse employees returned as soon as safety protocols were in place. We also have employees who have been working remotely for more than a year. 

Despite these major changes in how and where we work, I am extremely proud of the year we had. Employees volunteered to build ventilators and assemble masks and other PPE. In our quick pivot to producing these items, GM embraced a philosophy of “ventilator speed.” We kept our commitment to – and accelerated – our electric vehicle programs. We revealed the GMC HUMMER EVs and the Cadillac LYRIQ, and recently announced a Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup truck. 

The key to our success this past year was our people. We listened, learned, empathized and included each other. I am so proud of our team’s agility as they rose to every challenge. We are committed to bringing that same determination to all areas of our business.

The learnings and successes of the last year led us to introduce how we will manage the future of work at GM, called “Work Appropriately.” This means that where the work permits, employees have the flexibility to work where they can have the greatest impact on achieving our goals. The notion behind this approach – that our employees are capable of making smart decisions without overly prescriptive guidance – is the same notion behind our dress code, “Dress Appropriately.”

We know the future of work is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and our values and behaviors will help guide us. One of our values is Excellence, and part of its definition says: Each of us takes accountability for results, drives for continued efficiencies, and has the tenacity to win. With this in mind, we are focusing on the work and will give employees the tools and resources they need for success. What’s most important to recognize about “Work Appropriately” is that it’s a mindset – that all are responsible for driving maximum engagement and inclusion in how we work. 

While not every group at GM will be able to pursue this change with the same amount of flexibility, we are committed to doing more to help create balance for everyone. For example, we are adding more than 200 new manufacturing group leaders in North America to offer better flexibility for these front-line leaders. We may also provide additional laptops and other devices to manufacturing sites, modernize workspaces and allow online trainings to be completed from work or home, during work hours.

Achieving our all-electric future will require attracting and retaining top talent, and we are excited to focus our employee engagement and hiring on the work, and not the where in many cases. We’re already adapting our recruitment efforts to include hiring positions that are designated specifically as remote.

We are not yet “back to normal” and in truth, we may never be. But with changes like “Work Appropriately” we are glad to bring forward some of the more positive learnings of the last year, and perhaps create an even better “normal” and be a “Workplace of Choice” for all our employees.