Connecting and Collaborating in a Flexible Work Environment
There’s no doubt that things were simpler a few years ago, before the pandemic upended the way we work — and before our company nearly doubled in size. From how we work together to where we work, a great deal has changed in a short time period.
At IGS Energy, our team members are encouraged to choose the work situation that best supports their needs. (Roles at IGS are classified as remote, hybrid, in-field, and in-office, and each job is reviewed annually to determine if the classification is still appropriate.)
Today, nearly 70 percent of our team is fully or partially remote. And yet, in many ways, we’re more engaged today than we’ve ever been. In our most recent engagement survey:
- 94% of IGS-ers responded that this is a great place to work.
- 96% of IGS-ers report that they’ve been made to feel welcome here.
- 94% of IGS-ers say they’re given the needed resources to do their job.
We’re committed to flexibility at IGS because we’ve found it works for us. As a people-first company, we’re constantly finding new ways to connect, grow, and celebrate in our hybrid work environment. And we show up each day both in-person and virtually to innovate through collaboration, challenge one another, and support our customers.
Bringing Our Whole Selves to Work
We believe in the value diverse people, ideas, and work styles bring to all we do at IGS, and this belief inspires us to foster an environment that embraces and encourages different voices and perspectives. We're driven by a vision to create a fair, safe workplace where everyone can bring their whole self to work and thrive. In recent years, we’ve taken several steps to ensure employees have a true sense of belonging at IGS, including:
- The establishment of IGS Communities, our version of employee resource groups
- Enhanced development resources for employees — and more formalized processes to ensure each employee receives the same skill-building opportunities
- A more personalized approach to hiring as well as the adoption of a skills-based hiring approach, removing the 4-year degree requirement from job postings when appropriate
IGS Energy Communities are employee-founded and employee-led groups that serve as safe spaces and educational resources for all employees. Our current Communities include IGS Pride (supporting LGBTQIA+ employees), Living La Vida Latinx (supporting Latinx employees), Melanin Moments (supporting Black and African American employees), the IGS Women’s Network (supporting the women of IGS), Mindworx (supporting employees’ mental health and growth), Caregiver Connection (supporting those who care for family members), IGS Interfaith (support networks representing different beliefs), and Emerging Professionals (supporting young professionals).
IGS-ers are authentic and empowered to be themselves. I admire our approach to people – it's not often a company lives up to its values and holds up to the people-first mentality, but I continue to see it guide our decisions daily. – Nicole Berger, Senior HR Business Partner
Prioritizing Wellness
We believe that life is optimized when we have the flexibility to live and work in the way that suits us best and, when it comes to thriving both at and away from the workplace, 92% of our team members reported in a survey that they're encouraged to balance their work life and their personal life. But we also know that remote work can lead to feelings of burnout or isolation.
To support overall wellbeing, IGS-ers have access to several valuable wellness resources, well beyond the more traditional physical health benefits.
All IGS team members have access to the Headspace meditation app, a monthly wellness allowance, and access to free therapy and life coaching. Through the full-service mental health platform Lyra, IGS-ers, dependents, spouses, and domestic partners have access to 12 free visits with a mental health specialist each year. Additionally, all IGS-ers have access to Positive Foundry’s BetterYet program. The program is focused on 12 skills — including leading with mindfulness, growing your EQ, and developing resilience — that support personal and professional growth.
Our benefits include:
- Medical coverage made more affordable through preventative screening discounts
- Prescription coverage that offers access to free preventive medications for heart disease, depression, diabetes, and more
- Participation in a program that allows members to receive some specialty medications at no cost
- Hearing coverage that includes appointments, hearing aids, and aid fittings
- Fertility, adoption, and surrogacy coverage, as well as family-planning support through Maven
- Weight management support through medical and pharmacy coverage including medication, surgery, and access to nutritionists
- Access to physical, occupational, and speech therapy
- A wellness allowance for gym memberships, healthy food subscriptions, and more
IGS Energy is a phenomenal place to work and grow. Over the last 10+ years, I've been dealt the ups and downs of life. During the good days, I can hear my colleagues cheering me on ... and during the tough times, I feel the unrelenting emotional and physical support from my IGS family. – Abbie Stair, Senior Commercial Account Manager
Making Time to Celebrate Together
Because of the flexible, remote-friendly nature of our business, we foster our culture of community through a variety of channels and initiatives. New-hire orientation, all-company meetings, and other key events are hosted virtually and in-person, while teams gather in-person quarterly for a day or week of development and team building. We use a variety of tools for presentations, brainstorming sessions, and one-on-one meetings, but, ultimately, we encourage people to choose what works best.
And we know it’s important to come together in-person when we can.
Our culture-building events include our IT-hosted Hackathon, the Renewable Energy Corps — a group that travels throughout the world in partnership with GRID Alternatives to support solar power job training and installation — and more traditional on-site events, like our annual Thanksgiving meal, happy hours, and seasonal sports events. And each summer, we host a massive all-company party to kick back and celebrate our successes together.
Though many of us split our time between the office, our home office, our favorite coffee shop, and more, we’ve made major changes to our offices in recent years to make working “from work” even better. From state-of-the-art meeting spaces and on-site EV charging to basketball courts and a beautiful (and complementary) cafe, IGS-ers who choose to work on-site feel right at home.