Hybrid work - What is it and how to make it work for your company? - Emptor

Before the pandemic, organizations operated primarily in an in-person environment, designed around physical locations and offices. During the pandemic, organizations quickly came together to virtualize this design and continue to be productive remotely.

Some leaders still believe that things will revert, but the pandemic has shown that many of our work assumptions are archaic and unnecessarily limiting, and now demand reinvention.

Many executives and managers doubt the productivity of employees who are away from a central workplace. However, what they are really saying is that they need to see employees to ensure they are productive.

In 2022, after the pandemic and a phenomenon called the “Great Resignation” due to burnout of millions of employees, the workforce is migrating to new work models, one of them being the hybrid model that allows for more flexible office attendance and remote environment. Here are more details.

The Future is Hybrid Work

The way we have adapted to work after the global pandemic of 2020 has brought new conceptions of location-centric work.

Companies are beginning to focus on a human-centric model, characterized by empathy and flexibility, which makes employees feel more empowered, which has directly impacted their productivity and loyalty to organizations.

C-level executives are the executives in charge of the most important decisions and therefore have the power to make policies more flexible to adopt a hybrid model and future.

The options are:

Reject the hybrid environment and return to the traditional location and schedule-centric model
With traditional 9-to-5 schedules, the probability here is that the best talent will leave in search of more flexibility and seek a better opportunity in a company that understands and adapts its offerings.
Accept the hybrid environment but not evolve the work model
This involves continuing to virtualize site-centric (workplace) practices and meetings as was customary during the pandemic, risking exacerbating employee fatigue.
Completely reinvent the work model and focus it on the human being
Optimizing performance, innovation and equity. Doing it well requires experimentation, constant iteration, learning and flexibility.

Employees improve their performance when companies and organizations adapt and implement flexible models. It requires a culture of trust, empathy and empowerment. This also means focusing on results rather than activity metrics and hours worked.

In general, employees perform better when:

They are listened to
They feel more committed when they know they have a clear future with the company
They have flexibility and balance in their lives
They seek to be fairly compensated and recognized for their achievements
They want to know that they and their families are protected

The key is to create intentional opportunities for collaboration

Leaders must integrate intentionality in collaboration as a key team norm to drive innovation, especially in the hybrid environment. Hybrid workforce models offer a critical opportunity to reinforce culture.

Employees do not magically absorb culture simply by entering a physical workplace. So far, more remote and hybrid employees report greater cultural satisfaction than on-site employees. Success requires intentional cultural change and role modeling, whether employees are remote or not.

To this end, it is important to consider the following points:

Human-centric work design

Increases productivity and well-being, giving employees more control over their work and work environment.

Rethinking the workplace

Define the value proposition for your workplace and reframe the workplace as a tool to engage employees, rather than an exclusively for productivity.

Changing talent and skills

Identify, retain, upskill and ensure the acquisition of skills and competencies that employees will need in the digital future and to achieve business goals.

Digital enablement

Facilitate, identify and invest in the technologies and practices necessary to optimize hybrid work in the short term and drive organizational prosperity in the long term.

Managing in a hybrid world

Ensure that your organization’s leaders have the necessary skills and competencies to effectively manage employees in a hybrid work environment.

Reforming culture

Intentionally integrate cultural rituals and attributes into the work design of the hybrid model, not the locations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How can employers support hybrid work?
A: Employers can support hybrid work by providing employees with the technology and equipment needed to work remotely, establishing clear policies and expectations for communication and collaboration, and creating a supportive culture that values work-life balance and flexibility.

Q: How can employees stay connected with their team when working remotely?
A: Employees can stay connected with their team through a combination of communication tools, such as video conferencing, instant messaging, and email. Regular team meetings and check-ins can also help maintain collaboration and cohesion.

Q: How can employers ensure that remote workers feel included and valued?
A: Employers can ensure that remote workers feel included and valued by creating opportunities for remote workers to participate in team-building activities, such as virtual team-building events and social activities. They can also ensure that remote workers have access to the same training and development opportunities as their on-site colleagues.

Q: What are some of the potential challenges of hybrid work?
A: Potential challenges of hybrid work include maintaining team cohesion and collaboration, managing communication and scheduling conflicts, and ensuring that remote workers have access to the same resources and support as on-site workers.

Q: How can employers address these challenges?
A: Employers can address these challenges by establishing clear policies and expectations around communication and collaboration, providing resources and support for remote workers, and regularly soliciting feedback from employees to identify and address any issues that arise.

A New Work Culture

The combination of digital, remote or hybrid models, excellent communication and collaboration software, and the Internet has allowed new ways of working and living to emerge. Faced with this, companies that do not adapt will be opening the doors of their talent to their competition, and companies that adopt remote/hybrid work will replace companies that do not.

Probably not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it is a movement that will revolutionize entire industries in no more than 3 years. Just as e-commerce has decimated many physical stores, remote and hybrid companies will surpass office-based companies.

Recruiting Remote Employees

The challenges of recruiting employees for your company in other countries in remote or hybrid schemes must have a clear strategy and due diligence and processes in place to ensure successful hires.

Emptor helps you perform background checks and identity validations in the candidate hiring process, conduct reference checks, and ensure the potential candidate has an impeccable track record. Perform automated identity validations with manual reviews by our legal experts.

We invite you to schedule a demo to learn how, in just a few minutes, you can perform hundreds of verifications with just a few clicks.