Tips for Implementing a Hybrid Model of Remote vs. In-Office Work
Over the last couple years, many employees have enjoyed the benefits of working from home as workplaces sought to minimize in person interactions during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, now that we are exiting the pandemic phase many employers have been eager to bring employees back to the office, only to find that many employees do not share this same sentiment. Many employees are resistant to the rigidity of returning to the office full time after experiencing the flexibility that working from home provides. For this reason, many workplaces are opting to adopt a hybrid model that seeks to find a balance between the old and new ways of operating. While businesses want to adopt this Goldie-Locks approach, they are struggling to implement it effectively. Below, I’ve shared a few tips to help implement the hybrid model successfully and in a way that meets your business needs.
Many employees are resistant to the rigidity of returning to the office full time after experiencing the flexibility that working from home provides.
Identify the Need. The very first step to creating your hybrid model is to identify what business need you’re seeking to fulfill by bringing staff back onsite. This will help you to identify the ideal number of days that should be spent onsite versus working from home. Is your need focused on building team cohesion and connection? In that case, one day in-person may suffice. Is your need focused on collaboration and innovation? If so, two to three days may be best. Or is your need focused on accessibility for clients? If that’s the case, three or four days may be needed. This will also help you determine whether you need full days back in the workplace or whether half days may be sufficient. If there isn’t a strong business need, you may also consider maintaining a remote model. Given the high expenses of fuel these days and rising costs in general, you do not want to create a policy that results in a high burden on staff with minimal payoff. Therefore, really consider what the need is and what is truly needed to address it.
Communicate the Why. Identifying the need flows well into the next step of communicating the why. Simply telling staff they need to come back to the office because you’re the boss and you said so is not a tactic we would recommend. This method is more likely to lead to resentfulness among employees, lower engagement and satisfaction, and increased production deviance (e.g., tardiness, excessive breaks, minimal effort). And while most leaders aren’t fully adopting this exasperated mom or dad phrasing, the impact of announcing the back-to-office policy without a clear why has a similar effect. Helping staff understand the business need behind the policy, as well as your desire to balance the business while trying to maintain some flexibility, will be a big step for gaining their buy-in.
Ensure the Policy Meets the Need. One mistake many workplaces have made when transitioning to a hybrid model is setting overly flexible guidelines. These guidelines often include the number of days a week staff are expected to work onsite without specifying which days. This has resulted in staff frequently returning to a mostly empty office and still conducting meetings over zoom since not all team members chose the same day to be onsite. This overly flexible policy ultimately negates the benefits of in-person connection and collaboration that onsite work is supposed to promote. To ensure the business need is met, we recommend setting specific days that staff are required to be onsite and allowing work from home flexibility on the other days.
Gather Staff Input. In order to determine which specific days staff should be onsite, we recommend gathering staff input to see what works best for them. If there isn’t a very specific business need for a certain day, allowing staff some ability to weigh in on which days are chosen will help to further gain their buy-in. Survey staff on their preference for in-office days, whether they have specific conflicts with certain days or times (e.g., mornings are fine but need to pick up kids by 3:00pm), and if there is anything else they would like you to consider. Using this information to create a policy that meets the business need, while also seeking to maintain some of the flexibility to which they have grown accustomed, will go far in increasing staff satisfaction with the new policy.
Create Incentives. Lastly, the transition back to in office after being fully remote may be something many dread. If your organization has not already transitioned back, utilizing incentives to help make the transition a little easier and more fun will help with a successful implementation. Incentives could include catered lunch one day a week, provided snacks, an early end to the workday for in-person days, a gas stipend, or some other incentive that your staff will appreciate. While many of these things may have been too costly for your organization to do five days a week, doing them for just a couple days may be a lot more feasible. Some of these incentives could be provided in an ongoing fashion while others may be temporary to help create some fun during the early phase of the transition. Either way, whether short-term or long-term, these incentives may help to ease the transition as staff reacclimate to going back to the office. Just make sure you communicate what the incentive is, the planned duration of the incentive, and how it will be provided, so staff have a clear understanding of what to expect.
These are just a few tips to consider to help ensure your transition to a hybrid model is as effective and smooth as possible—whether you’re just starting to think about returning back to the office or your approach is in need of a few tweaks! If you’re workplace has transitioned to a hybrid model, let us know how it went! Did it go smoothly? Did you experience some of the pitfalls mentioned above? If you have any questions about the tips I shared here or would like help creating processes and policies that fit the needs of your organization, C1C is happy to help! Feel free to reach out!