Top Workplaces 2021: At Talcott Resolution, a hybrid plan for the future balances work and home life for resilient employees

As Talcott Resolution Life Insurance Co. navigates the pandemic, providing work settings in the office, remotely or a combination of both looms large.

Talcott, a Windsor-based life insurance and annuity company, initially decided to send workers back to the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The hybrid work arrangement was to begin in September, but Talcott put it off, citing the delta variant that’s driven up COVID-19′s positivity rate.

“We’re going to kind of watch,” said Diane Krajewski, chief human resources officer and head of operations. “We have guiding principles: Stay safe, stay resilient and stay compliant.”

Plans are in place for a return to the office and Talcott will give employees as much notice as possible, Krajewski said. No date has been set “because it’s so uncertain,” she said.

Talcott Resolution is three for three in the Hartford Courant Top Workplaces survey, again placing at No. 1 in 2021 for mid-size employers. It is the third straight year in the top spot for the Windsor life insurance and annuities company.

Many employees insist that safety is the most important aspect of returning to the office, Krajewski said. In particular, Talcott heard from employees who care for elderly, children and other family members and asked, “How do I get back into the office and be safe and know that I’m not exposing any harm to family members when I’m returning back home?” Krajewski said.

About 99% of employees work remotely, with the few exceptions among essential workers such as those who handle mail and perform other duties, she said.

Among employees, 70% will work in a hybrid arrangement, 27% will work remotely and 3% said they want to work in the office Monday to Friday, she said.

“When you think about trying to separate your personal life and your work life, some of it isn’t conducive and those are the individuals that raised their hand and said they’re very effective working remote but most effective if I can get into an office environment,” Krajewski said.

Since beginning work remotely in March 2020, most employees use their cameras and video on Zoom, she said. All employees use Zoom regularly, making it Talcott’s “collaboration platform” connecting the company by phone, meetings, and chat, Krajeweski said.

With different work options Talcott gains flexibility in staffing and hiring, she said. Remote work helps with recruitment outside Connecticut and returning to the office has its fans among workers who want to put distance between work, family and home.

“It’s really hard when you’re working (remotely) how you separate your personal life from your work life,” Krajewski said.

Alternating work arrangements between full-time in the office, hybrid and remote “really gives us the flexibility as a company not to have a one-size-fits-all and really navigate the business need,” Krajewski said.

That approach is reaching workers. One employee praised the workplace for its “work-life balance.”

“My boss supports flexible work arrangements, which makes doing my job easier,” the employee said.

“I am able to have the ideal work/life balance schedule,” said another worker. “Managers understand that all of us have responsibilities outside the office and sometimes there are conflicts of time. No one penalizes employees for this.”

Talcott, which began three years ago in a sale by the Hartford Financial Services Group Inc, was acquired this year by Sixth Street, an investment firm. It employs 445 workers, with a little more than 350 in Connecticut.

“We had a change of ownership and completed the sale of our company to Sixth Street in June,” said Pete Sannizzaro, president and chief operating officer. “In September, we’ll begin our 19th month of operating as a remote company. Our employees have demonstrated resiliency, tenacity, and an incredible ability to manage through change.”

As Talcott negotiated the pandemic, it perfected its Zoom staff meetings and its cloud-based storage and computing. Establishing an early cloud-first technology for its information technology systems was instrumental when the company became fully remote in 2020.

Talcott manages more than $90 billion in liabilities and surplus for approximately 900,000 customers. Sannizzaro will continue to head the company.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.