Allstate's $10 million commitment to remote and hybrid employee connection

At Allstate, the insurance company has no plans to move their 57,000-person global workforce back to the office. But they are committed to fostering connection — and they're putting major investment behind those efforts. 

Allstate has earmarked $10 million toward employee recognition and connection initiatives, funds that can be used by managers and people leaders on in-person or virtual social events and meetups, travel budgets or other activities that help bring employees together, no matter where they're located.  

The company's recently-hired HR workplace futurist, Lauren DeYoung, says that while Allstate has always spent ample investment in these areas, their approach to connect with managers directly helped them maximize how far that money can now go. 

Read more: From personal milestones to great work, Allstate helps employees celebrate their wins 

"We've always invested in our people, and typically, it's worked well for us to say, you have this much money, you can decide how you want to use that," DeYoung says. "This time, we actually went directly to our mid- and senior-level leaders and said, 'help us figure out how to best drive engagement, connection and business results across your team.' It's empowered them to help us figure that out." 

DeYoung has been in her role for six months, a position that was specifically created to address how Allstate will navigate the future of work. Currently, 83% of their workforce is remote, and the company has reduced their real estate footprint, including downsizing from their Chicago-area HQ to a smaller office space in 2022. 

DeYoung says creating an environment where employees feel connected to each other is of the utmost importance — employee surveys revealed that while employees value the high level of flexibility they have in their work arrangements, they were still craving community. Taking this year to "test and learn" has been beneficial for everyone, DeYoung says. 

"We don't believe that going back to the in-office model and the way we worked before the pandemic will work for us in the future," she says. "We also know that standing still and doing nothing probably isn't the answer. We think we could collaborate and connect in better ways, so let's put some testing and learning in place to see if that's true, and then scale what works and stop what doesn't." 

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So far, managers have used their budgets to host team lunches with coworkers they've never met in-person or haven't seen in years. One team got together for a virtual Lego-building team activity that helped develop problem-solving skills. Other teams have used the money to fly in team members for strategy meetings, before heading out to a Cubs game together. 

"This is not just for social fun, or for business-driving meetings — it's a combo, and we need to do both. Teams are leaning into what makes sense for them," DeYoung says. "We've really had to dive into our data on where our workforce plan should go in the future and how teams should be distributed. And it's just not a one-size-fits-all." 

Read more: Are return-to-work mandates really the solution to productivity? 

Allstate will spend the rest of the year gathering data on how the money was spent by teams, in order to plan for future investments and initiatives for next year. Additionally, Allstate is focusing on helping employees connect with people outside of their direct team members: six teams have launched a pilot program that will be scaled to the broader organization in the coming months. 

"We want to be a place talent loves,, and we have the employee feedback and the external research to show that a part of that is how you connect and belong within the organization," DeYoung says. "Giving people a variety of platforms and programs and ways to connect is something that helps us engage our teams and helps us come together to collaborate and drive our business forward."