The move to hybrid has a momentum all its own. As remote work companies continue to gain a foothold, companies of all sizes are investing in workplace cultures that deliver true workplace choice to their employees, and looking for ways to make their hybrid policies stand out.
Branding, and the messaging behind it, can help make the difference. Building a hybrid work model is a serious undertaking; it needs to keep your team connected and engaged; it needs to promote fairness, collaboration, and productivity. But there’s something else – it should look and sound like your company, too.
Hybrid working offers employees greater freedom and flexibility – they choose the workplace that works for them depending on their own personal needs and preferences. In return, remote-friendly policies give companies the advantages of an engaged, motivated worker that knows its employer has its interests at heart.
That’s no small point. In fact, it can be a sizeable advantage. When employees feel appreciated by their bosses, when they know they’re being listened to and that their needs are being heard, they’re more likely to go the extra mile. They’re more likely to think about ways to make the company better and to share those ideas with their managers. Happier employees are more committed and more industrious whose productivity levels routinely set the bar, and that’s healthy for any organization’s bottom line.
With remote work catching on, and study after study showing a majority of workers prefer a flexible, worker-friendly workplace culture, it’s not too late to build one for your organization. It will require planning and commitment, but the good news is, there are plenty of early learnings to build on. As Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO describes it: “Hybrid work represents the biggest shift to how we work in our generation. And it will require a new operating model, spanning people, places and process.”
Before you can create a policy, you need a strategy. Let’s quickly review Microsoft CEO’s “Big Three” – people, places and process – to see how each concept factors into the building of any successful hybrid workplace initiative.
Any successful workplace policy starts with its people. Taking into account employee needs and preferences is the best (and only) way to ensure equity and inclusivity for all.
People-related factors to consider include:
Place refers to the physical space needed in order to get work done. In today’s decentralized workplace world, that physical space might be an office, a home office, or, increasingly, a third space like a bar, coffee shop, or coworking space. An effective hybrid work model provides for a carefully curated mix of all three. It should underscore workplace choice and support culture- building and organizational alignment.
Place-related factors to consider include:
Process relates to the mechanics of your hybrid workplace strategy, the x’s and o’s that enable employees and their managers to maximize the benefits of a fluid, flexible hybrid model.
Process-related factors include:
Don’t overlook the value of communication. In the amorphous and ever-changing world of our post-pandemic workplace, the language used to describe your hybrid work policy should be both memorable and crystal clear.
This begins with the policy itself. A remote work policy is the official document describing specific guidelines employees are expected to follow when working from locations other than “the office.” A remote work policy might outline when employees are expected to work, how alternative space can be accessed, how communication between teams is expected to take place, and which meetings or company-sponsored events all employees are encouraged to attend.
That’s not all. The nuts and bolts of the program should be clearly delineated and made accessible to all. There may be eligibility requirements that need to be outlined or productivity benchmarks that need to be conveyed. Maybe there are security measures to be taken into account, or information about specific equipment.
Nuts and bolts aside, your workplace policy should also reiterate your organization’s commitment to flexibility, fairness, workplace choice. It might also reinforce the company’s commitment to team-building and collaborating. And it should reflect your organization’s personality, as if it flowed straight from the headwaters of its DNA.
Since the dawn of the modern office, workers have marched to the beat of their employers’ drums. These days, more and more are calling their own tune and it’s the employers who are having to dance.
One way companies are striving to make their employees happier is by delivering greater workplace choice. Every business should embrace permanent remote and flex work in its own way, in accordance with its own needs, but the best policies will be clearly thought through and detailed in terms of their inner workings. They may even have a catchy name to boot.