Over the years, people have quit jobs for all different reasons and businesses had to adapt to the changing priorities of their employees to retain their best staff members. Now, with more and more companies accelerating their plans to go remote and more job openings with remote work as an option, businesses must once again look at the changing landscape of the talent market and be proactive with their decisions to stay ahead of their competition when it comes to winning the battle for talent.
If you haven’t already realized it, hybrid / remote work isn’t going away. Employees have now gotten a taste of remote working and they’re not willing to give that up. They would like some form of in-person and remote work schedule that would allow for flexibility and ability to step away from their work while at home. With the economy reopening and businesses starting to transition back to the office, we’ve already started to see the shifting of talent and the willingness of people to quit their jobs to find other options that will allow them to maintain some form of remote work schedule.
If you haven’t considered what the future of working will be like for your organization, here are a few tips to help your business thrive as you implement a hybrid work model:
1) Create a hybrid work culture that can last
Having clear guidelines on what the hybrid work model would look like is important. Employees need to understand the policies and procedures in place to ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them. Just like any other company policy, it must be reviewed carefully and implemented properly for it to work. It should be available to all those who is able to perform their role just the same remotely.
In some instances, it may not be the best option for certain positions, but still give employees the option and choice to decide what is best for them. Have a proper process in place to request for hybrid working when it is not a default option. Some people may choose to work in the office and not remotely. Everyone’s situation is different, no matter the department, or if they’re a front-line staff, or a senior member of management, the important thing is flexibility and the power of choice.
2) Treating Remote and In-person as the same
Employers and employees alike should be treating remote and in-person work as the same. Really the only difference is in the location. People should still be expected to keep up the same level of performance no matter where they are, be accessible to their teams, meeting schedules, and attending meetings all the same. You may want to encourage your employees to even dress the same as if they were going to the office so they can even look and feel the same wherever they choose to work.
3) Ensuring that teams are connected no matter where they are
If the you team is physically apart, it is very important that they feel and stay connected digitally and virtually. More effort and emphasis must be put to communicate with one another. Whether this is through internal messaging platforms, email, phone calls, or video meetings, employees should be encouraged to engage more in conversation with one another and make it easier to reach one another.
Keep in mind that employees who work remotely can feel excluded, alone, and isolated like they were on an island. Be more transparent and have more scheduled meetings for that team interaction. And rethink how to make meetings effective. Having that face time through video meetings will be better than phone conference / meetings.
Companies must also continue to encourage team building activities to work effective teamworking skills.
4) Equipped with the right equipment and technology
For employees to continue to perform their job properly in a remote environment, they must be equipped with the proper equipment and technology just the same as they would in the office. That could be anything from laptops to computers to phone systems to software to licensing of tools, and more. More importantly, a company’s data, digital solutions and platforms must be accessible whether it’s through a hosted server or on a cloud platform.
5) Ensuring that your culture, core values are not lost in the transition
As the way we work changes, the core values of a business should not change. A company’s mission, vision, beliefs, and culture should not change. Any changes to the way that a company operates their business should continue to reinforce those core values and make sure they continue to shine brighter.
6) Revamping evaluation and performance assessment metrics
With the way we work changing, the way we monitor and evaluate performance must also change. Employers need to reassess each role and their job duties to come up with new measures on how to track and evaluate an employee’s performance. Maybe it’s not able hours worked but more on quantitative output. Or maybe there’s more emphasis put on tracking communication between team members. Depending on the nature of the work and the position, businesses need to adapt to changes in properly assess performance going forward.
7) Understand that this is a work-in-progress
We’re all still new to this and how it works for every company will be different. Employers and employees must continue to work together for this shift to work and last in the long run. Getting feedback from employees to work out any problems and issues to continue to refine and redesign what working remote will look like.
Contact Us today to speak with one of our Recruitment Specialists and let us help you build your team with talent today!