Editorial
Discussions around back-to-the-office are dominating leadership meetings. Reports indicate that around 90% of companies plan to implement some form of return-to-office policy by the end of 2024.
Leaders understandably tend to focus on the office space's return on investment and the collaboration and productivity that comes with working in person. Conversely, many employees are concerned about time-consuming and expensive commutes, distractions in the office and their work-life balance.
The experiences of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overlooked. Many reassessed their values and embraced newfound flexibility. Notably, when offered flexible work options, 87% of individuals opted for them. Additionally, 72% of employees dissatisfied with their flexibility levels said they were likely to seek new job opportunities within the next 12 months.
It’s evident that hybrid models are becoming a permanent fixture. So, let's delve into how you can bolster team cohesion and motivation in this kind of environment!
Understand Your Employees’ Needs
Understanding employee hurdles to in-office work fosters innovative solutions and effective strategies.
As Sara Cooper, chief people officer at Jobber, highlights, “The workforce has undergone a significant transformation, and the desire for flexibility in the work environment is no longer just a luxury but an expectation for many employees.”
By grasping employees' needs and barriers to office return, companies can shape a productive and motivated workforce. Analyzing the office's role, communication, benefits, leadership and tools is crucial from this standpoint.
Related Article: You Think Everything’s Fine. Your Employees Might Not Be so Sure
Ensure Employees Feel Equally Engaged and Included
In a hybrid work setting, it's crucial for every employee, regardless of their location, to feel engaged, included, acknowledged and valued.
Craig Hinkley, CEO of CloudBolt Software, said that they use a variety of methods to engage their hybrid and remote employee base from physical events in areas where they have a mass of employees to full company virtual events.
“We host our Quarterly Business Review in-person meetings in different cities where we have a concentration of remote employees and plan an evening event where we invite those employees to join the executives,” Hinkley said. They also focus on celebration activities such as Thank You Thursday’s and monthly work anniversary celebration events that bring employees together.
Cooper also suggests having processes in place to ensure equal opportunities within a team and, avoiding scenarios where project assignments happen casually in passing.
“Regular virtual events have created camaraderie and connection among individuals from different teams, which have led to virtual side conversations for idea generation,” Cooper said, demonstrating that it can be possible to create collaborative experiences.
Assess your activities and processes for inclusivity, making adjustments to enhance connection, engagement and access to opportunities.
Communicate Effectively
More intention is needed to ensure that communications can bridge the gap between remote and in-office teams or employees and foster the collaboration and connection needed for motivation and morale.
Hinkley recommends, “where possible, having meetings all in-person, or all virtual, as hybrid meetings can increase the possibility of micro and macro inequities.” Where not possible, Cooper suggests that, “organizations should advocate for the use of video calls, providing each team member with a visible presence on the screen to facilitate inclusive conversations.”
Extending All-Company meetings to include leadership conversations can allow employees to ask executives questions on work-life balance, self-care or career growth. This interaction fosters stronger connections between employees and leadership, enhancing trust within the organization.
Nurture Team Relationships
Although maintaining team cohesion and nurturing relationships might pose challenges with physical distance, it is possible!
At Jobber, Cooper said that they use an app on Slack called Donut to give employees the opportunities to get to know each other outside of daily work interactions. “We also find opportunities to bring remote folks together in a physical location for planning and training sessions,” she said.
At CloudBolt, Hinkley said that when they bring people together, they try to include trust-building activities. He also encourages regular 1-on-1 meetings with team members to ensure that employees have time to space to discuss what is on their mind.
“Leaders need to be purposeful about what days groups come into the office to ensure there are times for collaboration and teamwork between functions that require that level of interaction and for teams even within the function,” Hinkley said.
Finding effective remote communication tools and optimizing in-person gatherings creates a balanced approach, especially as bonds created through in-person connection can carry forward into virtual work.
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Support Health and Well-Being
Hybrid work brings forth numerous challenges that can affect well-being, leading some employees to experience heightened stress and fatigue.Empowering employees to cultivate mental habits and behaviors supporting hybrid work, such as stress management, resilience, boundary setting and work-life integration, results in heightened productivity, engagement and overall well being.
Cooper highlights the importance of access to mental health programs as well as ensuring that remote employees have the tools, technologies and equipment for a comfortable and efficient workspace.
Matthew Roberts, director of group benefits at Hub International, acknowledges the complexity of mental health's individual nature: “As many companies strive to create a quality employee experience through personalized benefits, non-traditional benefits like Lifestyle Spending Accounts (LSA) are gaining traction.”
They can be incredibly useful as a part of back-to-the-office strategies. For example, if an employee has challenges around child or pet care, or if an employee is struggling with work-life integration, then there may be options for support through their LSA.
Beyond providing tools, services, and benefits, Hinkley stated the importance of “acknowledging challenges with balance and self-care so employees have ‘permission’ to ensure they are addressing their needs.” Start by assessing your employee options, the level of flexibility you offer and how your communications and culture support whole human well-being.
Related Article: 7 Ways to Support Employees Through the Holidays
Ensure Leadership Plays an Active Role
Leaders play an important role in the success of hybrid models from the choices they make to how they show up.
Roberts comments on the importance of consistency and transparency: “An organization can’t say we have this great hybrid work schedule, but supervisors and the c-suite really expect employees to be in the office 4-5 days per week.”
When it comes to hybrid working, Cooper mentions the need for companies to move away from measuring performance based on time spent at a desk — a flawed indicator.
“Instead, the focus should shift towards evaluating performance based on the quality and impact of work,” she said.
Hinkley notes the pitfall that, with hybrid, leaders can lose the ability to keep a pulse on company culture.
“Leadership requires greater thought and planning on how to engage, motivate and facilitate collaboration, as well as how to develop and sustain team and company culture,” he said. “It also requires leaders to increase sensitivity and awareness around employee engagement levels for signs of burnout or absenteeism.”
For success, you may well need to redefine how you see the role of leadership, be open to creating new norms and measures of performance, and accept the reality that we face with a hybrid workforce now, rather than pining for the previous times to return.
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