Since March 2020 we have experienced and embraced a major shift in how we work. Almost overnight we saw increases in the use of technology; to bring teams together in ways we would have not thought possible. Some people continued to attend their places of work and so the world of hybrid working became the new normal.
In October 2021, Microsoft carried out some fieldwork which showed that 51% of UK workers who currently have the choice to mix remote and office working, would consider leaving their company if hybrid working was removed. The same article shared the top five risks of not having a hybrid working model:
- Inability to retain new talent and risk losing staff to organisations that offer better hybrid working options – 38%
- Negative impact on productivity – 25%
- Negative impact on wellbeing – 24%
- Employee burnout – 23%
- Inability to keep up with industry competitors – 23%
As the pandemic rules are lifted, many workplaces are looking at making the shift towards hybrid working policies a thing that is here to stay, but organisations need to consider things like engagement, productivity, and wellbeing to get things right.
As April is ‘Stress Awareness Month’, I thought I would look at hybrid working and wellbeing.
Forbes recently published an article which looks at the links between hybrid working and workplace stress. The article shows five ways in which leaders can help to manage stress in a hybrid working environment:
1.Create psychological safety for open feedback – ensuring that wherever people are working they have an avenue to raise their concerns
2.Become a time-defender – manage meetings in a way that ensures people’s attention, energy and engagement can be present. Provide time for people to recover and reset by setting intentions, checking in and ending meetings early to keep them productive and added value.
3.Invest in company culture– designing ways to create meaningful interactions & those virtual water cooler moments.
4.Don’t over-rely on technical wizardry – try and keep it simple and tools that will work wherever someone is working.
5.Build in “agenda-free” moments – create space in your daily agenda and maintain it.
There are some great tips here and it is a useful article when thinking about the impact on wellbeing that hybrid working can have.
Hybrid working for me is not about trying to do the same work in different environments. If my day is full of online meetings, I would be more productive remote working with the opportunity to create some space to go for a walk or run at lunchtime; whereas if I wanted to collaborate with colleagues or sense check how a piece of work has landed, then this is likely to work better in the office where I have the opportunity to connect with new colleagues or reaffirm relationships with colleagues I have only seen remotely in the last few years.
Hybrid working is not something that can be seen as a one size fits all approach; it would not be possible to set about working out what a “typical” employee should do and then write a hybrid working policy around that.
There is a danger I feel, in some articles who provide top tips to solve problems and ‘off the shelf’ products. They could just be taken on face value and implemented in an organisation which could cause further issues later down the line. You need to take a more scientific and insight driven approach.
Using EX by design thinking will encourage you to not make assumptions but to excavate further and find out what people need at different points.
If hybrid working is one of the things that is causing you a concern and are unsure of where to start, People Lab have created a ½ day ‘Hybrid by Design’ course that delivers results for the organisation and your people, by helping you create a hybrid working solution that:
Enables productivity
Aligns to your culture & values
Helps you recruit and retain the very best talent
Is fair and equitable
For more information on when the next course is, you can find out more here.
