As we continue to emerge from COVID, employers are planning their employees’ return to work. Many employers have already opened their doors for the return of employees, but how they return to the office and the flexibility provided by employers will determine the degree of success in the Return to Work. How important is creating an effective plan for hybrid work? Very important. Most employees want to work from home at least three days per week, and a large percentage of them will evaluate whether they stay with their current employers based upon their employer’s plan. There are three guiding principles that form the foundation for a successful Return to Work Plan.
1. The overarching principle is flexibility for employees.
Because types of work vary, and some employees need face to face interactions with customers or students, we should think of flexibility of work as more than just where someone works. Flexibility can also be gleaned through thoughtful planning around when the work gets done and the types of work to be done.
a. Evaluate options for where the work can be done. Throughout the past 15 months, we have experienced how effectively work can be performed remotely. Most organizations now have a clear sense of the kinds of work that can be done remotely. In developing a hybrid work plan, evaluate where the work would make most sense. Get together in the office when being there adds value. If employees can effectively perform some kinds of work at home or from anywhere, then that’s where it should be done. In fact, if employees come to the office to do work they can do just as effectively (or more effectively) virtually, they may resent it. Out of respect for employees, attention should be paid to commute times. Is it really a good idea to make people waste a couple hours in commutes each day, five days per week, when certain types of work may be most effectively executed from home or from anywhere?
b. Consider options for when the work gets done. If your organization has locations in various time zones, you may want to create certain “office hours” for employees to be available to others across the company. One client requires most employees to have scheduled work time in a “block” of time in the middle of the day for better interface from Eastern Time Zone to Pacific Time Zone. The East coast colleague may have 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. blocked off for essential office hours. Then, based on the other type of work they do, their other work hours may be more flexible, based on how much asynchronous work is required.
c. Explore alternatives about the type of work being done. There are likely some job activities that require a set time frame and a set location in a particular time zone. For example, some workers may need to serve customers face to face or produce certain products at a manufacturing site. If this is the case, you may want to evaluate allowing employees to do certain work from home such as project work or training activities that do not necessarily have to be done in an asynchronous way. I recommend that you look for ways to offer broader work opportunities to all employees. Is there any way that employees can revolve periodically into project work, task forces, or teams? Providing more interesting, flexible, and challenging work will enhance morale. If you want to be really creative, explore different ideas for more inherently motivational work design. Perhaps re-design workflows to improve efficiencies or redesign how employees move up or around the organization for better employee development. For more ideas about this, please contact us.
2. As with any major change initiative, there must be true executive support, and leaders should demonstrate the behaviors they expect from others. Executive leadership needs to ensure one voice and one communication plan for the entire organization.
Winning management support and building needed people-management skills may require training for managers. Some organizations are seeing a great exodus of employees from their companies. One firm in New Hampshire told me it had lost about 30% of its employees over the past six weeks. When I asked about causes, a connection said that exit interviews are frequently mentioning employee burnout and lack of appreciation from their managers. Many other organizations are experiencing similar mass resignations.
Employees’ job satisfaction largely hinges on relationships with their managers. Many managers did not have the competencies and skills for leading remote employees. Whether your organization goes to a hybrid model or not, employees expect flexibility and compassion; they have clearer goals and stronger demands about work-life balance that ever before. To make hybrid models work, leaders and managers need to understand the why behind hybrid work and the advantages it can bring, and they likely need training for the competencies and skills needed for the forward-looking organization.
3. Identify and overcome location bias.
One difficulty that impacts hybrid or remote work is a conscious or unconscious bias toward the people you can see every day. Even the most progressive organizations can experience this. Leaders will automatically think first of the people whom they see most often. A recent McKinsey article shared the story of a manager in a home office in Chicago who unwittingly showed favor to the people she saw on a regular basis. Managers need to combat this issue, to make sure project, work, and promotion opportunities are available across the workforce in an equitable way. To assist managers with this, organizations should develop systems or processes that will help leaders formally rotate project or work opportunities through an entire department and provide a regular way of interfacing effectively with remote workers to keep them top of mind and to develop them as well as the people who are at the office most often. Overcoming location bias will require feedback and accountability of managers, as well as training.
There is a lot riding on your organization’s plan for returning employees, and an effective plan based on these principles can help your organization make the right decisions. For more information about creating a great Return to Work plan please see our recent blogs.
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