Colorado ranks among the top states for remote and hybrid work.
The companies making it work recognize that flexibility needs structure to avoid chaos.
The most successful organizations share a few key strategies: They build flexibility on a foundation of trust, set clear guardrails and expectations, use the office as a destination for collaboration rather than a mandate, and support new employees with intentional onboarding processes.
By doing so, they keep employees engaged and maintain strong business results.
Denver workers clock some of the longest average weeks in the country. The city , with employees putting in hours that land it seventh nationally for average workweek length.
At the same time, Denver ranks 42nd for commute time, allowing many employees to work long hours without losing time in traffic.
Taken together, these factors highlight how Colorado workers are dedicated yet unwilling to waste time commuting. Leading employers are responding to this preference.
In Colorado, 55% of job seekers rank hybrid work as their top priority when evaluating opportunities, and the state consistently ranks among the national leaders in remote and hybrid adoption.
The employers rising to the top of this year’s Top Workplaces list didn’t stumble into flexibility; they engineered it deliberately, built guardrails around it, and kept tweaking the model as they learned what worked.
Trust is the starting point
Every successful flexible work model starts with the same foundation: trusting employees to get work done without someone watching over their shoulder.
Scrum Alliance operates as a fully remote-first organization.
Tristan Boutros, Scrum Alliance CEO, says the company focuses on results and maintains core hours to keep the team aligned, but beyond that, it gets out of the way.
“We trust our team to manage their schedules and focus on results,” Boutros says. That approach has paid off.
In this year’s Stay Interviews, nearly every Scrum Alliance team member cited a supportive and collaborative team environment as a top strength of the organization.
Luminate Bank CEO Marc Campbell says flexibility flows from the same values the bank brings to its customers.
“We recognize that people do their best work when they have the ability to balance professional responsibilities with what matters most at home,” Campbell says.
“By creating a family-friendly, trust-based environment, we give employees the flexibility they need to care for their families while still staying engaged and successful at work.”
The Nakupuna Companies take an outcomes-first approach across their distributed workforce spanning the continental U.S. and Hawaii.
Andy Minor, a project management professional at Nakupuna, says the company prioritizes results over physical location. That framework gives employees real control over how they structure their days while keeping performance expectations crystal clear.
Structure makes flexibility sustainable
Flexibility without structure creates confusion. So, companies that do this well have figured out that setting clear expectations makes hybrid models work.
Elevations Credit Union serves a membership-driven, relationship-focused business, which means it can’t simply send everyone home indefinitely.
About 30% of the credit union’s workforce needs to be on-site to serve members. Another 10% work completely remote in specific functions. The remaining 60% operate in a hybrid arrangement, with a requirement to be in the office at least half the time over any two-week period.
Shannon Sackmann, the credit union’s Manager of Workforce Strategy, says the model hits the right balance.
“Offering this hybrid option can lead to increased productivity, reinforcement of our relationship-based culture, and the ability to attract and retain top talent who value flexibility.”
Elevations doesn’t impose a company-wide anchor day schedule. Instead, each team and department sets its own within the broader guidelines, deciding when to meet face-to-face for collaboration, how to handle one-on-one meetings, and what communication expectations to maintain.
The one non-negotiable: everyone attends the annual all-staff meeting in person.
Madison & Co. Properties takes a more structured anchor approach. Operations manager Liliana Mendez says Mondays are non-negotiable.
“Leadership meets with every department each Monday to ensure clear alignment on goals for the week and to foster that essential human connection,” Mendez says.
The rest of the week opens up from there, with staff able to work remotely one day per week and additional flexibility added as needed.
New hires don’t move to hybrid arrangements until they’ve completed full training and integration, a deliberate choice to establish culture before extending flexibility.
The office as a destination, not a default
As Colorado’s top employers improve their hybrid models, something unexpected has happened: employees are returning to the office for new reasons.
Sackmann at Elevations described a genuine change in how employees relate to the physical workplace.
“Our locations are really experience hubs, offering more than just a desk and a monitor, and that matters to our employees,” she says.
Employees now come into the office when collaboration and socializing are important to them. The office has shifted from being the default to an intentional choice, making its role in the workweek more purposeful.
West+Main, a Colorado real estate brokerage, built that philosophy directly into its business model.
Founder and CEO Stacie Staub says the company has curated office spaces designed for agents to gather, collaborate, and host clients rather than work in isolation.
The company runs on Slack and weekly virtual meetings, so agents who prefer remote work stay fully connected.
“Real estate is flexible by design, which is part of why we love this business,” Staub says.
Bloom Healthcare operates differently. With most of its workforce delivering patient care in the field, flexibility means something more practical: scheduling autonomy, reduced administrative burden, and strong team-based care models that prevent any one clinician from carrying an unsustainable load.
For corporate and support staff, hybrid arrangements apply where the role allows. Jessica Maslow, Bloom’s SVP of Human Resources, says in-person time gets reserved for what matters most.
“For teams that are hybrid, we use intentional in-person time for collaboration, connection, and strategic work rather than routine tasks,” Maslow says.
Bringing new people into a flexible environment
Key takeaway: Successful hybrid work depends on structured onboarding for new employees. Ensuring clear support from day one sets the stage for strong long-term outcomes.
Elevations Credit Union runs a robust in-person onboarding process designed to connect new hires to their role, their team, and the broader organization across their first 90 days.
From there, managers maintain at least monthly one-on-one contact with direct reports throughout the employee lifecycle.
Sackmann says technology and inclusive practices ensure that every new employee receives full support, regardless of where they’re working.
Scrum Alliance pairs every new hire with a mentor and gives them direct access to the Head of HR during their first three months.
Quarterly planning sessions and ongoing performance reviews provide additional touchpoints, helping new employees feel less adrift in a remote-first environment.
Madison & Co. takes a deliberate stance: no flexibility until the foundation is solid. Mendez says the company keeps new hires on-site through the full training period to build relationships and absorb culture before loosening the structure.
“By establishing this foundation early on, we ensure that the transition to hybrid work is seamless,” she says.
What the best employers have learned
The state’s best workplaces have lived through the pandemic-era reinvention of where and how work happens. With a few years of experience, their advice for employers still figuring it out runs along the same lines.
Maslow at Bloom Healthcare cuts straight to it: “Flexibility works best when paired with clear expectations, strong leadership, and a focus on outcomes.”
Sackmann at Elevations adds that involving employees in designing hybrid practices increases buy-in and produces better schedules.
Minor at Nakupuna says the key is to focus on outcomes rather than location while maintaining strong accountability, “a thoughtful, balanced approach” that serves both employees and customers.
Boutros at Scrum Alliance keeps the advice simple. “Prioritize trust, clear expectations, and communication,” he says.
“Provide flexibility while maintaining core hours, invest in employee engagement and connection, and actively support professional development and well-being.”
Mendez at Madison & Co. frames it as a cultural question more than an operational one.
“Lead with trust and clear communication,” she says. “Flexibility is most effective when expectations are understood and culture remains a priority.”
Key takeaway: Colorado’s leading employers use flexible work as a competitive advantage, not just an employee benefit. It helps attract, engage, and retain top talent while driving organizational performance.
The commute might be optional. The results aren’t.
