Is hybrid work the best approach?

Back in March 2020, thousands of employers scrambled to set employees up at home as the pandemic closed offices across the world.

Now, more than two years later, employers are confronted by another challenge: the hybrid model.

And the messaging is mixed. Some employers are looking for a full-time return, five days a week; others are testing out a hybrid approach of two to three days in the office each week; while a smaller group has embraced the fully remote concept.

But if they are to be successful with the hybrid model, they have some work to do, according to two experts who spoke with Canadian HR Reporter.

“This is going to be a new way to work. And the companies that are going to be really successful, or that are going to have the easiest transitions, are the ones who create this with people in the right way, to have the conversation to say, ‘We have needs as a business; you have needs as an individual — where do these two meet?’ Because it's not going to work the way that it's currently set up.”

So says Jim Frawley, principal and founder of Bellwether in New York, an executive coaching and people strategy firm.

“It's really a push and pull type of thing,” he says. “[Employers are] trying to figure out solutions around that, and it's going to be interesting to see how it all shakes out.”

The hybrid model is here to say, says Elora Voyles, people scientist at software company TINYPulse by Limeade in San Diego.

That’s evident in a recent survey by her company showing that hybrid work is the most popular arrangement for HR and business leaders, rising from 27.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, 37.8 per cent in the third quarter and 44.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges, she says.

“I think a lot of people are very optimistic of like, ‘Hey, we can be back in the office, and we can also allow employees to work from home.’ But as they practice this more, there are definitely downfalls that they are realizing as they do it.”

Potential downsides to hybrid model

For one, an earlier survey by TINYpulse in late 2021 rated hybrid as the most emotionally exhausting approach, before in-person or fully remote.

Why? It could be the fact that people have to switch back and forth to the different setups through the week, says Voyles.

“It's difficult, and it takes time to kind of get this new process down… it's an adjustment.”

Another concern is that a lot of organizations don't know how people should focus when they’re at the office and at home, she says.

“Many people are recommending, and I recommend this as well, collaboration when working in the office, and then focus time at home. But getting that practice down takes time.”

Also of note: In the second quarter of 2021, 62.8 per cent of HR said that a hybrid worker model is the best for optimizing performance, but this was down to 58 per cent in the third quarter and 22.2 per cent in the fourth, while in-person work has gone from 11.8 per cent to 24.2 per cent to 56.1 per cent.

“It's interesting to see this trend where HR does seem to be coming a little less enamored with hybrid work,” says Voyles.

Another challenge? Both employees and HR feel that in-person is the ideal work arrangement for establishing social and cultural connections at work, she says.

“There's not a lot of getting around replacing that in-person connection that we can have,” she says. “I'm interested to see what's going to develop in the coming months — there have been discussions of technology with avatars and virtual offices, and I'm curious to see that.”

In October 2021, Amazon announced it is allowing individual teams to decide the number of days employees will have to be in the office and the number of times they can work from home. Meanwhile, Deloitte Canada is giving employees the flexibility to choose where, when and how they work. Sun Life is doing the same thing.

Why do people need to be at the office?

In theory, employers may want people back because they imagine people are going to be more collaborative meeting in person and more innovative, but in reality, it doesn't work that way, says Frawley.

“So [it’s about] having the conversation on what value do we get by having people in the office? And what are you going to do with people in the office? And how are we measuring the value of each of our employees rather than just the person taking up a seat?”

There’s also the whole question of whether people are even needed at the office, he says.

“Is it so that you can monitor them? Or is it because you want to drive collaboration, push a broader agenda, and make sure your business goals are actually aligned the right way? And what does that actually look like?”

The whole virtual workforce aspect has really opened up organizations’ eyes in terms of what they really need from a workforce perspective, says Frawley.

“[They’re asking:] How many people do we really need from a workforce perspective? And what does productivity really look like?’ And those two realizations aren't necessarily aligned. And so a conversation is going to have to happen if the hybrid workforce is going to work.”

While one individual may be more productive working from home, there may be pockets of individuals who are less productive. And it’s debatable whether that work-from-home productivity is really pushing the business forward, he says.

“If we have 5,000 employees, 10,000 employees, 100,000 employees, we're going to have to make some sacrifices, make sure that we get the productivity that we need, the productivity that the organization is paying for.”

Another challenge to hybrid work is often leaders lack the resources or capability to manage a virtual workforce, says Frawley.

“When we think about culture, when we think about an organization and people getting aligned to go above and beyond, they buy into a corporation, they buy into a dream, they buy into all of that, but now working virtually, their one insight into the organization is through the line manager for many of these people, so they're just not getting the exposure that they typically would get from being within the office. That's providing some difficulty as well.”

While there’s been plenty of talk about getting back to the office and the hybrid work setup, few large employers are taking into account employee preferences in the planning.

Recommendations for success

A lot of organizations haven't explicitly talked to employees about the new strategy, says Voyles.

“It would be great for organizations to take the time with employees and discuss what's effective for hybrid work or when they're working in the office, versus what's effective for when they're working at home. And really setting those expectations and getting them training on how to work well in a hybrid environment, while also listening to the employees’ concerns at the same time.”

Voyles has five recommendations to make the hybrid model a success, and the first would be to formalize remote work policies.

“When there aren't formal standards, it's very easy for differential treatment to come into play,” she says.

Secondly, make sure to have one-on-one meetings with managers.

“This is the opportunity for employees to demonstrate their accomplishments over the course of the week. And it's also a chance for managers to check in and see what the employees need,” says Voyles.

Thirdly, it's important to establish equality for meetings.

“If you've ever been joining a meeting remotely and other people in the meeting are in-person, there's very much inequity where people who are in-person or having side conversations are bonding and as a remote person, you may not be able to hear all those side conversations or may not be able to jump in to the discussion because those visual cues aren't there,” she says.

The number one concern among executives with respect to flexible work today is the potential for inequities to develop between remote and in-office employees, according to a report from Future Forum,

Another tip? Make sure flexibility is available to all workers.

“There's this idea that if someone's working hybrid or remote, that they're not as committed to their work because they might be balancing other things during the day. I think in-person workers need that flexibility as well, to keep things fair,” says Voyles.

Lastly, employers should work to standardize performance evaluation methods, she says.

“Ensure that the current performance evaluation methods are fair for both in-person, hybrid and remote employees, and make sure that that people have the equal opportunity for promotion, regardless of where they're working.”