If your inbox looks anything like mine, you’re being inundated with articles and advice about return to work, the new reality of work, how to do hybrid well, etc. With good reason. While most organizations were learning that our employees are more productive and less in need of oversight than we thought, our employees were learning that two hours of commute time each day is wasted effort. Experts keep telling us we cannot go back to the workplace of the past. So if we can’t go back, where do we go from here? As we design how work will get done—hybrid, remote, or return to the office—there are several questions we should be asking.
The immediate challenge is: how can we design our best, customized model that will promote work-life balance as well as organization effectiveness and operational excellence? I suppose I am as much of an expert as any, with a 25+-year history of helping organizations design and implement remote and virtual teams, and I recommend that you look at designing remote work or hybrid work by looking at it from several perspectives because one size does not fit all:
1. What are your competitors doing?
This may not seem like it should be question #1, but let’s be pragmatic, you must compete to secure and retain the best employees. Whether your organization requires a return to the office may immediately impact your ability to retain employees. In the past, hybrid or remote work was seen as a perk; now many more employees will see it as more important—an employee satisfaction factor. Many organizations have been touting work-life balance for years, but now is the time to deliver. If your competitors are using hybrid or remote work, you should likely follow suit.
2. What makes the best sense to meet the needs and wishes of your employees while also meeting the needs of the organization?
One New York location of a Boston-based company moved to remote work in March of 2020, as many organizations did. However, there were a few employees who came to work each day with masks and social distancing because the office is where they did their best work and 8-5 was the best work time for them. To accommodate employee work styles, many organizations are designing hybrid models, with one or two days per week in the office. Other organizations want the absolute best talent regardless of where they live and remote work is the norm. There are also some organizations requiring a wholesale return to work.
The company should also keep in mind that whatever the return to work policies are, they should be applied across the hierarchy to promote fairness. I have heard of several situations in different organizations lately in which an employee tells his colleagues who are all required to return to work that he has earned the trust of the organization so he can still work remotely. You can imagine what other employees think about that, and potential negative consequences to the organization!
3. What does the work dictate?
Over the past 15 months, we have learned that work is not necessarily asynchronous and does not need to be done by people at the same time in the same place. Conversely, some workflows do truly require asynchronous work. What do your workflows suggest? One caution: if some managers feel lost because micromanagement is difficult in hybrid or remote work, that is a case for needed leadership training for managers, not a case for return to the office.
4. What does technology dictate?
With better use of technology, many organizations thrived during remote work and are positioned well for hybrid as well. Where does your organization stand related to technology improvement? Do you have streamlined systems that operate seamlessly? If so, remote or hybrid work may remain a common-sense solution.
5. What can you do to ensure employees of a safe workplace?
Whether evaluating a hybrid environment or full-scale return to work, the organization should address employees’ health and safety concerns. Collaborate with your CHRO or legal counsel. Will you require immunizations and provide them for employees as a large global manufacturer is doing? Will you filter people back to work once they are immunized? What will the guidelines be (and how will you enforce them) since herd immunity will not be reached for months or longer? How will you redesign workspaces to promote better health and safety than the pods of desks grouped together and facing one other of the recent past? Again, the answer is not one size fits all: in one small Texas company, masks are not required except when interfacing with customers because all employees have had COVID.
In designing return to work, there is no one best solution. Every organization is different. Fortunately, even if your organization has already returned to work, there is ample opportunity to improve what you have in place so that you meet the needs of the business, support employee work-life balance, and attract and retain employees.
For a complementary 60-minute return to work strategy session, please contact me at [email protected] or through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/transformingorganizations/.
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