Deciding to Transform Your Workforce and Go Hybrid? Here’s How You can Do that Right

Organisations can rely on platforms like FlexC for better management of their hybrid workforce. FlexC is an AI-powered talent marketplace.

The hybrid work culture is taking place in industries ever since the onset of the pandemic. And now that the Omicron variant has shut down the workplaces yet again, many more companies are planning to join the bandwagon and go hybrid.

However one in every three managers is concerned about how they will make and manage this important transition and maintain the corporate culture at the same time, according to a Gartner survey.

Implementing the anywhere, anytime model is not easy. It will only succeed if it is designed keeping both human and institutional concerns in mind. It is important for managers to put a lot of thought into how they want their hybrid workforce to look like. To seize this once-in-a lifetime opportunity right, companies will need to follow adequate strategies.

1- Including the right leaders for a smooth process:

A hybrid work strategy is going to impact the whole organisation. Hence a team of right leaders should be a part of the process from the beginning. Leaders from different departments can take up responsibilities that will help to lay down a smooth and sturdy foundation of the hybrid workforce model.

For example:

The HR head explores and decides engagement and performance tools to keep the diverse workforce connected. Also, they look for new platforms to hire and manage the workforce.

The IT department evaluates new software programs that can help everyone stay connected.

The Chief Information Security Officers calculate the potential cyber-security risks and ways to avoid them.

- CEO contributing to decision making by evaluating different views from each department.

2- Defining hybrid work policies:

Calculating the flexibility level of a hybrid workforce is both important and challenging. HR managers will need to implement policies to solve the issue of how many days employees will work remotely and what restrictions will apply.

To crack an effective answer to this question, managers will need to delve down a little deeper and focus on the employee's nature of job. Every job has certain key drivers that are affected differently by changes in the place and time.

• Jobs That Can't Transition Remote

  Roles such as architects, administrative assistants, product innovators, mental health practitioners, engineers etc are not very likely to transition remotely. This is because place plays a very important role since face-to-face interaction is important for effective creativity, collaboration or an effective therapy session with a patient.

• Jobs That are Difficult to Go Fully Remote

  Strategic planners, accountants, auditors, consultants, analysts etc. For these roles, the critical driver of productivity is focus. They have to stay focused for a long period of time to show effective results. If their planning is freed from the scheduled demands, they can easily work from both home and office as per their flexibility.

• Jobs That Can Easily Go Remote

  Financial advisors, database or network administrators, marketing, jobs that require data entry work can smoothly go remote as they require more productivity from employees, irrespective of the place and time.

3- Ensuring equal status for both onsite and remote employees:

Managers should ensure onsite employees are not favoured over those who spend little to no time working at the office. The feeling of unfairness at the workplace can impact productivity, increase burnout, reduce collaboration and decrease retention. As companies develop new hybrid practices, pay close attention to inclusion and fairness. Managers can conduct online surveys from time to time to understand whether employees are getting clarity of their expectations, feedback and adequate growth opportunities they need. Conducting these surveys or one-on-one sessions with employees is important, especially at the initial stage. The input will help you make significant tweaks in the policies to improve the inclusivity quotient.

4- Creating opportunities for teams to connect:

Employees feel satisfied with their jobs when they understand how well they fit and how their contributions impact the business. Helping the hybrid employees feel this sense of satisfaction is no cake walk. When most of the workforce is partly remote and includes employees who may have never even met their co-workers in person at all, the element of connection with the workplace and the team members seems lost.

To take these woes away, make sure to find and use the best video conferencing tools during large hybrid meetings. Make sure every employee has a chance to interact with every team member of the organization. While looking for modes to connect, always think about ‘virtual first' and add the virtual element to team communications. Consider what technology will smoothly let onsite and offsite teams connect, collaborate and work together. And provide access to all communication tools to both onsite and offsite employees. No matter how much you or your employees hate it, sometimes it's okay to chuck the ‘this meeting could have been an email' mindset and schedule the discussion anyway. Because these discussions play a huge role in improving connectivity.

5- Updating HR Process:

Companies cannot rely on the age-old SILOs while handling a workforce that no longer conforms to it. HR policy updating is a crucial step for successful transition. Since most of the employees will be working from their homes, the HR department will need to evaluate the rules for employees to use the company's personal devices as well as tech policies. They will also have to take adequate measures to maintain confidentiality if due to any reason, the employee is working from their personal devices.

Since the pandemic has disrupted the hiring space as well, HR will have to find out new ways of hiring and managing their hybrid workforce. HR professionals will also have to take the call on what training programs can go virtual and update their training modules accordingly. They will need to use different tools to schedule virtual interviews and look for new platforms to find hybrid talent.

Apart from these changes, it is also important to focus on the safety of the in-office employees and redesign the workplace as per the safety norms. Another important aspect that companies will need to remember during policy formulation is adequate mental health assistance. Working from home boosts energy but it can also be isolating and hinder cooperation. Burnout is an extremely common behaviour noticed in remote employees. Hence mental health check-ins from time to time for both remote and on-site employees is important to help them maintain productivity.

Preparing to adjust in the hybrid workforce model is easier said than done. Once the important strategies are framed and good to go, organizations can plan a soft launch where they can gradually introduce employees to the new workforce structure in phases.

1. Phase I-

   Communicating the new onsite and remote working policies. This will include what the set up will be, maximum strength that can be present on-site and how many days employees will be working from home and office.

2. Phase II-

   Assessing whether the employees are achieving the productivity and efficiency levels as expected. Also, taking one-on-one sessions to check if employees feel equally connected and included.

3. Phase III-

   On the basis of their analysis and employee's response, managers will have to implement changes accordingly. This process will be ongoing and employers will have to constantly track any bottlenecks and ways to overcome the same.

How will FlexC help companies build and effectively manage their hybrid workforce?

Employers will need a blend of both technology and a great team to get on the other side of the road. The implementation of strategies, and their results will differ from company to company. So there are no shortcuts. Employers will have to think extensively, be extremely open to feedback from their employees and keep an eye towards eliminating the unproductive elements.

Organisations can rely on platforms like FlexC for better management of their hybrid workforce. FlexC is an AI-powered talent marketplace with in-built features that allows companies to fill vacancies for hybrid roles and also manage them at a single platform. FlexC helps companies in every process of hiring. From pre-screening through AI, scheduling virtual interviews, to final onboarding and payments, FlexC's customizable tools are available as per your business requirements. The platform also provides dashboard and monitoring support. This helps companies track real time productivity, and monitor & improve their KPIs.

Key Takeaway:

While formulating a hybrid workforce strategy, focus on the key productivity drivers along with the time and place constraints. On the basis of these key drivers, segregate which departments need to be more present at the office and which employees will be okay working at home for a longer period. Changing HR policies and installing adequate tools that satisfies both your organisation's and employee's needs is another important prerequisite. Instead of introducing the model in one go, launch it in phases so that the employees get time to adapt to the changes. Communicate broadly so that at every stage of growth employees feel included and understand how hybrid arrangements are impacting their productivity. Also, don't forget to take the employee's perspective into consideration. Their feedback is extremely valuable for your hybrid workforce model to thrive, in 2022 and beyond.