Sarah Oknick, Author at NextLab

Sarah Oknick

6 articles published

What Lies Beneath: the real fear behind return-to-office policies.

PolicyOctober 29, 2024364Views 0Likes 0Comments

Halloween is fast approaching, and the spooky vibes are in full swing at my house. As I sat down in my gauze covered living room to write this month’s blog, I came across a statistic from the aptly named, Fears & Remote Work Report. This report, which surveyed nearly 4,000 Americans stated that 53% of…

Listen Up! The Value of Employee Feedback.

Employee EngagementAugust 28, 2024349Views 0Likes 0Comments

Two weeks ago, I was catching up with a friend over dinner. She’s one of those friends that is incredibly creative and engaging, and the conversation can jump everywhere from the Keith Haring art exhibit to jarring pickles to our favorite episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. While we don’t often talk about…

Did we just become best friends?!

RelationshipsJanuary 3, 2024577Views 0Likes 0Comments

A At least once a week, people at the office where I work show up in matching outfits. I’ve done it myself. Much to my delight, I showed up in the identical mauve maxi skirt as a fashionable Design Director, which reassured me that I’m not too far gone from what’s trendy. When these twinning…

Serendipity. It’s not just a heartwarming John Cusack romantic comedy. It’s fuel for innovation.

InnovationOctober 14, 2023535Views 0Likes 0Comments

A As I dove into the world of remote + hybrid work statistics, I set out to find data to support my theory that innovation was going to suffer with the lack of in-person human connection. It’s one of those things that intuitively, you know it to be true. But when presenting to a company’s…

As the great Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott once asked, “Is it worth it?”

AmenitiesOctober 7, 2023615Views 0Likes 0Comments

The phrase “earning the commute” has been around for the past year or so but continues to influence conversations around return-to-work strategies. Most people have a desk and a chair at home, so what is the organization doing to make their commute worth it? Office location and amenities play an important role, as do incorporating…

Sweatpants are bad for morale.

PolicyOctober 1, 2023500Views 0Likes 0Comments

M Mandate. It’s become a four-letter word these days. To employees, it’s a word that evokes feelings of confinement and a loss of autonomy. Lately I’ve heard business leaders swap out the word mandate for magnetize. “You need to magnetize people back to the office, not mandate them back.” While I don’t necessarily love that…