News recently broke that Epic will be requiring their employees to return to the office starting July 19th. After Epic’s failed return to the office situation in August 2020, I think we all realized that it was just a matter of time before Epic was going to require people be back in the office. During that time, it was clear that Judy Faulkner thought that being in the office was key to their success. She really valued the in person experience. So much so that she cancelled the Epic UGM in 2020 because it couldn’t be held in person.
In the article linked above, they share the details that starting July 19th, Epic is requiring their employees to be in the office 3 days per week. On August 1st, Epic employees will need to be in the office 4 days a week. Then, September 1st they’ll need to be in the office 9 days every 2 weeks. Then, they’ll reevaluate things in October. They consider this a slow phased in approach to returning to the office.
It will be interesting to see how employees respond to the requirement to return to the office. The article does note that a majority of Epic employees are getting the COVID vaccination which helps. However, it seems pretty tone deaf to force everyone back into the office. You’d think they’d be more sophisticated in their approach by understanding which roles really benefited from being in the office versus which roles weren’t affected by being in the office. Forcing everyone back into the office feels out dated and parochial. Plus, it feels like it shows a lack of trust in your employees and a desire to try and control them. I think we all get that some tasks are better done in person. Plus, in person can help build company culture. However, forcing employees back can also damage your company culture.
The article linked above also noted “About 4,000 of Epic’s 9,400 Verona-based employees are voluntarily working in the office on any given weekday.” That means about half of them have chosen not to return to the office. It will be quite interesting to see how many of those 4000 don’t want to return to the office. Will these people choose to take their skills elsewhere and leave Epic? We’re seeing this happening in other industries, so it’s hard to imagine that not happening at Epic.
In related news, the EPIC UGM (User Group Meeting) is being planned for August 23-25, 2021 and will be in person on the Epic campus in Verona, WI. This seems to be the path most health IT conferences are taking. Epic will be streaming the executive address and the cool stuff ahead sessions and audio recording the other sessions which they’ll be making available post conference. Following HLTH and HIMSS’s decision to require vaccination, Epic will also be requiring in-person attendees attest to being COVID vaccinated.
We all know the shift from pandemic mode and back to the office and conferences is going to be a challenge. How companies act is going to say a lot about the company. It will be interesting to see how this choice by Epic works out for them. Will it cause challenges with retention of current staff and recruiting new staff? Will they be impacted less because they’re in Verona where the commute may not be as bad as larger cities?
The theme for Epic’s UGM 2021 is “Stories of Legend & Lore.” I have to wonder if Epic’s return to the office will be one of those legendary stories we’re talking about years from now.
