There is a vast amount being spoken and written in regard to the benefits of hybrid working.

The consensus is that organizations who want to attract and retain talent and reap the benefits will have to provide employees with the flexibility to choose where they work from and when.

Work is what we do, not where we go.

Whilst many organizations are rushing to embrace this new reality and gain competitive edge, you also need to consider the factors that if not addressed could be your undoing. Do not ignore the hybrid hiccups.

Ignore These At Your Peril

I have isolated ten of them and I guarantee there will be more. Here i explore the first five.

This is a transformation that is multi-faceted.

1.   Security

There are many cybersecurity challenges that have to be considered.

Many of the third-party collaboration tools that have increased in usage since the start of the pandemic such as MS Teams, do not come with built-in cybersecurity features.

These tools can also be vulnerable to phishing and social engineering attacks. MS Teams has already been subject to a number of phishing attacks.

The increase in adoption of cloud infrastructure to facilitate employee corporate network access cannot neglect the need for appropriate cloud security. This needs to take into account all of the devices that employees can use to do their work.

Employees need up-to-date antivirus and malware software installed on all their devices and organizations need to encrypt sensitive data at rest and in transmission and multi-factor authentication should become a standard.

There needs to be organizational wide cybersecurity awareness training for every employee to reduce the risky behaviors that some employees have adopted whilst working from home. Everyone should know who to contact in the event of a perceived threat.

2.   Health and wellbeing

Out-of-sight should not mean out-of-mind.

Every leader should be checking the health and wellbeing of their teams on a regular basis.

The stresses, anxieties and uncertainties created by COVID-19 will not miraculously cease with the availability of vaccines and the opening up of offices.

Change will continue to be constant and disruptive. It will be unprecedented and whilst it might not be another pandemic around the corner I guarantee it will be volatile and you won’t see it coming.

Every organization should have a comprehensive and holistic program to look after the health and wellbeing of every employee.

Every leader needs to be equipped to identify the early signs of mental health issues and take the appropriate action.

Organizations that can demonstrate they care have a competitive advantage.

According to a study conducted by Virgin Pulse, a striking 88% of employees say they consider health and wellness packages when choosing an employer.

3.   The war on talent is global

Whilst hybrid working means that organizations have a global talent pool to choose from as geographical location is no longer an impediment, it also means that employees have far more choice about whom they work for.

If you want to attract and retain talent you have to be serious about being an employer of choice.

The Microsoft 2021 Work Trend Index report revealed that 46% of survey respondents are planning to move to a new location this year, and 41% of the global workforce is likely to consider leaving their current employer within the next year.

Why? Because they can.

Employer reputation will be key. The way in which employers look after the physical and mental wellbeing of their employees is now a top consideration when choosing an employer.

As mentioned earlier 88% of employees say they consider health and wellness packages when choosing an employer.

You have to get serious about looking after the mental wellbeing of your employees and you will attract and retain your talent.

Read my whitepaper “X I’s - The Workplace Mental Health Ecosystem.”

Potential employees are looking for a positive culture, a great brand, flexibility, opportunities for growth, employee autonomy and empowerment, inspiring leadership, in addition to competitive salaries and benefits. The winning organizations are those that realize that the latter is no longer the primary driver of employee choice.

4.   Performance measures

Unless you are on a production line and making widgets, the productivity of most employees is hard to measure.

Productivity increase is measure when more widgets are made in less time.

Many of our employees are knowledge workers and their outputs are often intangible and difficult to define. Knowledge workers think for a living.

There has to be fundamental mindset shift in managers who perceive productivity as the hours a person spends at a desk. Even in the physical environment, a manager cannot determine how productive someone is just because they can see them for 8 hours!

In the hybrid team this can be no different. Measurement has to be based on outcomes and not hours.

Leaders set clear goals and expectations which motivate employees. Motivation can also be increased by setting learning goals as opposed to performance goals.

Rather than a performance goal – “Run three town-hall meetings to reach over 700 of our employees”, make it into a learning goal by adding some discovery, problem solving and innovation.”

Turn it on its head and say, “Find a way to reach over 700 of our employees in the next quarter.”

This gives employees autonomy to find the best way to achieve the desired outcome themselves. That is an outcome that can be measured.

5.   Real estate

Hybrid working means that many organizations will be downsizing their office space.

This will need considered conversations, and collaboration across many functions including HR, property, finance, IT and security.

Leaders need to re-imagine, re-envision and redesign their workplaces to support the new era of work.

Some organizations are approach this with a floor-by-floor office space redesign incorporating more meeting rooms and collaboration areas, with advanced video technology, to encourage employee interaction wherever they are located.

Organizations will also have to consider the required capacity in the hybrid world.

If a survey of employee preferences indicates that the majority of workers want the flexibility of office and remote working, how many desks will be needed? If the employer requests that employees attend the office three days a week, the likelihood will be that employees choose Tuesday to Thursday so that the weekend if buffered with working-from-home days. If everyone does the same, there may not be capacity and there will be vacant offices on Monday and Fridays.

If organizations attempt to remediate this by specifying the days of the week employees should attend the office, this then removes the flexibility being demanded by employees.

Organisations have to be cognisant that as they create their hybrid model they could impact employee retention. Too much inflexibility could drive employees elsewhere as many workers have shown during the past year that they can work from anywhere.

This is time for diverse and different thinking.

Summary

The choices employers make now will impact the organization’s ability to compete for the best talent and retain it.

This is not just about employees have mobile devices to work from anywhere. This is a fundamental mindset shift and a new operating model for the new era of work.

Organizations should approach this in an agile manner and be prepared to keep building new plans as circumstances change and lessons are learned.

Next week I will share the remaining five hiccups to avoid.