How to build a successful Hybrid Workplace Model

The flexibility in hybrid workplace models can deliver a good set of outcomes- only if the leadership has the mindset to become a champion and not a laggard of the new normal at the workplace.

The pandemic has disrupted the paradigm of the 9-to-5 traditional workplace. But the question stands that do if the hybrid workplace models can deliver a kind of flexibility in the outcomes, do our organizational leadership has the mindset to build highly successful hybrid models?

Many business leaders questioning the merits of the traditional workplace models, just because of the old ideas of the hybrid workplace models, and the unavailability of the data that could prove where, when, and how the employees can perform best. -

With employees and organizations settling in with Work from Home yet finding it more enticing. According to a global survey conducted by Barco, 77% of Indian respondents are finding WFH less enjoyable than at the start of the pandemic and 49% are missing the office social life. And this trend is not unique to India. The study, which surveyed 1,750 employees around the world (250 each from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, India, and the United Arab Emirates), found that only 15% of employees want to continue to work from home full-time after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Collaborating with colleagues, struggling to contribute to meetings, and stifled creativity are some of the challenges that are motivating them to return to the office.

There is only one question to make successful Hybrid Workplace models — Can the organizations and the leadership provide an exciting and flexible experience to all the three groups of employees, that is office employees, hybrid employees, and remote employees? Here are a few important aspects to keep a note of while building a hybrid workplace model for an organization.

· Reset your Mindset and build trust

Organizations need to reset their mindsets to trust their employees and provide the resources and flexibility to balance all three models of working efficiently. It may require organizations to rebuild their strategy of operating, culture, and people’s management.

Training the HR managers and the hiring group to ensure collaboration, flexibility, excitement, and performance among all the three groups is a crucial investment that firms should not miss.

· Restructuring the Technology Infrastructure

In the last 8 months, companies have invested heavily in automating their workflow, fast-tracking their data adoption practices, and realigning their office space (physical or virtual). Xerox’s recent global ‘Future of Work’ survey of 600 senior IT decision-makers, revealed that 56% of companies are increasing technology budgets, and 34% are planning to speed up digitization efforts.

Large investments in technology infrastructure to build flexibility of the hybrid workplace are becoming equally vital. Hence technology companies have been hustling to innovate, becoming the service providers of technology transfer for creating the perfect tools for a high-performing Hybrid Workplace.

· Craft the Culture carefully

The HR leaders and managers were busy making teams work consistently without losing productivity in-office or consistently virtual workforce. Now, the question is in a hybrid workplace, how can an organization or leaders combine three different groups of employees and still make retain their productivity and efficiency?

“I’ve worked in hybrid settings that have been disasters,” says Darren Murph, head of remote work at GitLab, the world’s largest all-remote company. Here are some of the actions that the companies need to take to tailor their Culture in a hybrid workplace model:

• Redefine milestones — Focus on what the organizations and the teams need to achieve without striking how. Let the teams design their workday schedule while maintaining transparency and keeping a note of the milestones and deadlines. Firms have to replace old performance indicators focused availability of employees.
• Invest resources– Incorporating new recruits, impacting large scale organizational changes are just some examples of actions that will become even more challenging with hybrid workplace models in place. Companies need to be thoughtful and invest more resources to mollify risks. Avoid ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ syndrome.

The skills needed in a hybrid-ready workforce aren’t new, but they do have to be developed. The expectation of flexibility in hybrid workforces is likely to make a hybrid workforce model more prevalent in the post-COVID world. The adaptability of employees to work in hybrid workplaces will, perhaps, be the secret sauce to balance the equation.

Enquire now about how Innvocon’s Workplace Learning Program can help companies achieve their talent milestones with reduced Cost of Hiring and reduced Cost of Training & Development.

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