Imagine this: You go to the office to grab your morning coffee and some conversation with your team. You complete a few assignments while there, and whatever you don't finish gets tackled from home after you head out for the day around 3 p.m.
And here's the kicker: your manager actually supports your routine. This is called "coffee badging," and more bosses should get behind it instead of forcing strict in-office mandates, says Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Boston-based Owl Labs, which makes video conferencing equipment.
"I don't hire people to watch them work. I do love the in-office participation when we get it, but I want it to be organic," Weishaupt tells CNBC Make It. "The office has a role but mandating that you must come into the office on this day, at this time, and leave no earlier than this time, that is a dead concept."
Employees agree, with 58% of hybrid workers saying they coffee badge, according to Owl Labs' 2023 State of Hybrid Work report. Moreover, employees with flexible schedules are more productive than those without, a 2023 Future Forum Pulse survey found.
In 2024, great bosses will ditch their outdated workplace practices, according to Weishaupt, who has more than 20 years of executive experience at companies ranging from startups to Yahoo.
Here are two other things that great bosses will encourage at work this year, he says:
The use of AI tools
AI use in the workplace is something a lot of business leaders are still figuring out, Weishaupt included.
That said, he isn't shying away from artificial intelligence or stopping his employees from exploring ways to use it for productivity and organization.
"I look at [AI as] more of an opportunity to enhance jobs, enhance the performance of the employee and also give them better tools to be able to execute [their roles]," he says.
Many other CEOs agree, including Mark Cuban, who deemed AI as a soon-to-be workplace essential in a 2022 episode of "The Colin Cowherd Podcast," hosted by Fox Sports anchor Colin Cowherd
"There's two types of companies: those who are great at AI and everybody else," Cuban said. "And you don't necessarily have to be great at AI to start a company, but at some point, you're going to have to understand it."
Money-saving perks
Amid inflation and rising costs of things like transportation and groceries, good bosses recognize that they'll need to provide their employees with some perks while they're in the office, according to Weishaupt.
"It's interesting because we used to pay commuting costs all the time," he says. Prior to the pandemic, most workers, including Weishaupt himself, had grown accustomed to the daily costs of commuting to work, like "buying gas to drive into the city, buying tickets on a train and paying for a sandwich at lunch."
"But when you start saving that money, and then you all of a sudden have to start going out of pocket again, it seems like a hit to your salary; it adds up very quickly," he added.
On average, workers spend $51 per day when they go to the office, according to Owl Labs' report, including parking, commuting, breakfast and lunch costs. Having perks like free lunch or free parking may make employees more excited about collaborating in person, and could even help attract new talent.
"For us, we have a home office stipend that helps offset some of the costs of working from home. We have done commuter benefits in the past [and] we pay for lunches several days a week," Weishaupt says. "So we've looked for that perfect combination of things that can satisfy a lot of different employees."
Most of these perks don't have to come with a major cost outlay for employers, but they add value by representing a one-word quality that all workers want to see from their bosses, he adds: Consideration.
Business leaders must find strategies and solutions that not only work for them, but "works for [employees] as well. It's a big [deal]," says Weishaupt.
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