By Salina Williams, Senior Consultant
Over 85 Human Resources leaders from various sectors including healthcare, financial services, retail, food manufacturing, technology, and education came together for the seventh in the series of Feldman Daxon HR Think Tanks to share their views and experience on effective leadership in a hybrid workspace. What took place was a richly rewarding discussion with insights into how leadership is shifting within the new hybrid workplace model. Here are some of the key learnings and takeaways from a vibrant and innovative group of HR leaders.
The Hybrid Workplace Model: Leading Towards a Flexible Workplace
Most organizations that participated in our discussion have finalized their initial approach to re-engaging their employees. Regardless of a remote, hybrid, or fully onsite approach, many leaders are focusing on balanced, fair, and consistent policies for all employees. While there is a multitude of different levels of readiness, many have already piloted a voluntary return to work policy with a defined return to work strategy targeting the first quarter of 2022. Mental health is a major consideration in implementing policies and different levels of pandemic anxiety/acceptance are being factored into strategic planning.
Executives are fairly consistent in that their selected strategy is stepping into uncharted territory and is by no means a final solution. Consistent and frequent monitoring of components has been built into many hybrid strategies with an understanding that changes in response to feedback and employee behaviour will be imminent. A number of organizations examined the process of defining flexible work policies based on what’s best for the individual, the team, the organization, and the clients they serve. This started with conducting both individual and team surveys to solicit input on hybrid work models.
While there were some exceptions, a common theme voiced by leaders in our session is that the majority of their employees want to continue to work from home. They also recognized that as employees work from home for longer periods of time, these habits, work styles, and preferences will become more ingrained, and changing back to an office-based model will become more difficult. Several leaders noted that there were significant generational differences in their employees’ workplace preferences. Many observed that Generation Z and Millennials had a stronger preference for returning to the office than other groups.
One large organization (currently underway with the hybrid workplace model) surveyed its employees over a six-month period and found that teams experiencing the hybrid model were most engaged; fully remote employees were not as engaged, and fully in-office employees were the least engaged.
Many organizations are seeking to encourage re-entry to the workplace. HR is helping leaders create incentives for employees to return to the office and providing a slow, gradual transition to return in the form of the hybrid model. Organizations are creating specific “welcome back” events to make it appealing to go into the office such as guest speakers, gifts, and planned social interactions. A number of HR executives noted that they are specifically “creating moments” internally for executives to speak and lead regarding new hybrid policies. Leaders are encouraging employees to “feel the magic” of returning to work and the experience of direct employee interaction. They recognize flexibility needs to be modeled from the top and senior leaders have to set the tone for flexible work and have to “walk the talk.”
A global financial services organization developed a hybrid model that incorporates four weeks’ notice of their employee’s return to office in a hybrid model. Their hybrid model will range from two to four days week in the office. As a global company with multiple branches, they are planning for a 60% hybrid workforce, 30% permanent offsite, and 10% onsite workforce. Many commented that each organization is required to align its hybrid models to their industry needs.
Equipping Leaders for the Hybrid Workplace
A general consensus was that equipping leaders for the hybrid workplace is a multi-faceted process that requires planning, training, and technology. Specific, bigger picture strategies and rollouts are being designed and implemented to ensure leaders are prepared.
Some organizations are rolling out mandatory sessions for leaders, identifying crucial behaviours, the first and foremost being empathy and building trust. Many leader-focused programs stress that leaders will benefit from practicing active listening and ensuring that employees are being heard which can increase the trust and support employees require. Organizations are motivating leaders to have increased one-on-one conversations and social activities for their teams, whether in person or remote, to help welcome employees back.
Organizations are also introducing training on outcomes-based management styles. They see this as being a critical component of a hybrid environment – a way to move away from old-school thinking that employees need to be seen at their desks and the work needs to be done in the office.
Leaders are being encouraged and guided to make a mental shift to measuring outcomes without needing the presence of the employees in the office. Managers and leaders need to trust that employees will get the work done even if they can’t be seen This is a significant change in what many managers have known under the umbrella of accountability, which is a results-focused versus process-focused approach. How and where the work it is done is less important; Leaders are becoming more comfortable now that they have seen work can get done remotely and, in some cases, with a rise in productivity as a result.
Many are implementing “team days” in the office. Organizations are recognizing that they need to create a compelling reason for why employees are coming into the office and managers need to determine what they will do differently for in office “team days” and communicate expectations. Leaders need to justify and define the intentionality of in-office meetings, who attends, the purpose, and expected outcomes.
Given the significant impact many organizations are feeling due to the “Great Resignation”, organizations are requiring leaders to increase relationship-building discussions, stay connected, and understand and empathize with their team to avert departures. A number of organizations have continued to increase their mental health resources, such as EAP and coaching programs, to support managers and leaders through this new reality.
Communication and Technology
Organizations have increased communication from CEOs, created monthly town halls to communicate return to office plans, and implemented bi-weekly team meetings for senior leadership to communicate plans and Q&A.
Leaders are encouraged to remain mindful and intentional of where and when they communicate and also train their teams to do the same. Leaders and employees alike need to “choose their channel” when communicating and consider whether email, videoconference, or phone is best. If an email goes unacknowledged, perhaps it was not the best method to communicate that information, or perhaps the email should have come from someone else. If the message is urgent, is a phone call or videoconference the best option? Since working from home can become a 24/7 activity for some, learning when to respond, and reducing the 24/7 mode means leaders need to role model it, recognizing when it is urgent, and when it can wait.
To encourage collaboration, the hybrid workplace is being redesigned for collaboration and creativity, which in many organizations results in more neighbourhood-style setups versus individual office space to allow teams to gather together. Meeting rooms are being set up to ensure inclusivity for both the in-person participant and virtual attendee. HR leaders are introducing training sessions for using technology for the logistics of scheduling office days and space, which is typically hotelling.
Organizations are still at the early stages of rolling out their plans and execution for a hybrid workplace and no doubt there will be more adjustments and learning on the way. Global organizations are faced with unique challenges of the needs and policies of different geographic locations. Managing the needs and expectations of employees working in a hybrid model and those employees who are required to work in the office or onsite may be one of the major challenges to the hybrid model. The pandemic has shifted to make the voice of the employee matter more than ever.