Holland America Group interior design director My Nguyen explains the considerations and positives of hybrid working
Holland America Line and Seabourn have adopted a new hybrid way of working – and the result has been a positive impact on recruitment, retention and work output for the interior design team.
Holland America Group interior design director My Nguyen opened up to Passenger Ship Interior & Refurbishment Review about the benefits her team has reaped, and the main considerations when it comes to establishing a hybrid-working model.
Holland America Group decided to embrace this new work model post-pandemic due to an overwhelming response from employees that they preferred hybrid working. Therefore, the company decided to allow employees to work from home with the option to come into the office.
“The pandemic showed that the majority of departments were able to work from home and be effective in their jobs,” Ms Nguyen explains.
The impact on recruitment has allowed her to hire globally rather than just locally, for example, recently hiring designers living inMontana and Munich. “If you were to tell me that two years ago, I would not have thought it was possible. It has expanded my options of where to look for talent,” says Ms Nguyen.
Broader perspectives
The benefits to the interiors team include creating broader perspectives, with Ms Nguyen explaining, “I have always believed design is most successful when collaborating with multiple perspectives. To have a global team with different backgrounds and perspectives can only make our teams stronger, which results in a great outcome.”
Furthermore, one advantage of having a team member based in Europe is she can co-ordinate with European vendors in the same time zone. She can also visit vendors or ships much more quickly than if employees were to fly from Seattle.
Ms Nguyen also says a hybrid model has helped inclusivity, providing parents with more options to return to work. She explains, that while cruise interior design is an exciting career path, “The long hours and demanding travel schedules have not historically made it easy to start families or come back to work with young babies. The hybrid model provides flexibility for parents for day-to-day activities that would not be possible if you were in an office every day. For example, being able to take your kids to school or pick them up.
“The time you would spend getting ready for work and commuting could be spent with your family. These activities may seem simple, but they add up quickly to create a positive outlook on whether it’s worth returning to work.”
Ms Nguyen’s current team has five career women that are mothers.
She says, “My vision is to have a team that can fill in the gaps for when someone goes out on leave, and to inspire others to know that being a career-driven parent in this industry is possible, especially if you have a supportive network behind you.”
Ms Nguyen also highlights that hybrid working encourages productivity, commenting, “It is evident, especially in the younger generations, that flexibility fosters motivation which fosters productivity. Forcing a 9-5 office model doesn’t always foster motivation.”
To set up a successful hybrid model, some changes are needed. Ms Nguyen singles out major considerations: how to communicate and feel connected as a team when spread across so many time zones; how to design spaces when the main resource library is out of Seattle, of which only two out of eight have access; how to connect with other departments and vendors when some are only in the office twice a week.
The key, she says, is to be agile and open minded. For communication, Ms Nguyen’s team uses Microsoft Teams as a platform for video calls.
She adds, “Design from home rather than being near a design library to quickly reference samples means we need to divide and conquer design tasks, ship samples to multiple locations, and meet with vendors in a different platform. In the past, we would see at least five vendors a week in the office to learn about new products. In this new normal, the team unites a few times a year at trade shows such as Cruise Ship Interior Expo to meet with vendors, see new products, and bond in person as a team.”
Leadership evolution
Ms Nguyen has found her role as leader of the department has evolved. She says, “The hybrid working model has broadened my perspective as a leader. It has encouraged me to think outside of the box about how to best support my team. What was so simple in the past, such as answering a quick question at my desk, or grabbing coffee to discuss an issue, takes a lot more effort and co-ordination in this new normal.
“One of the main roles we have as leaders in a hybrid working model is to empower our teams to make decisions, trust the way they spend their time is purposeful, and not get too caught up in the details. You must let go of the need to control all aspects and replace that energy with supporting your team to clear bottlenecks.”
She says that support can come in the form of approving something that normally you would need to see in person or creating a meeting culture that protects people’s time, allowing them to do their work rather than be in an ineffective meeting.
She advises, “Rely on your teams’ eyes and judgement to make decisions that may normally filter only to you. It’s also important as the leader to encourage open communication. It’s easy as humans to revert to being in a silo and getting into tunnel-vision mode. Value team meetings and add fun activities that are not always work related. Creating a trust and bond through a screen takes a lot of effort.”
She singles out the importance of the leadership trusting and empowering teams, to build a successful hybrid model.
Ms Nguyen sums up, “I am grateful and hopeful about the open doors that are created from this new way of working.”
