Hybrid Working

The pandemic has granted your business one of the greatest opportunities you may ever encounter.

This is the chance to reimagine and reinvent the model of how, where and when we work and reap the benefits of increased productivity, profitability and happy, engaged employees to boot.

Instead of planning how to leverage this opportunity, many businesses are responding with knee-jerk reactions or procrastinating, they are waiting to see what others are doing or ignoring the whole thing and doing very impressive ostrich impressions.

If you are one of the above, then you are going to f*** this up in a mega fashion.

Here are five f***-ups so far. 

1.        Everyone back to the office

You will have read plenty of coverage of the “everyone back to the office” decrees from organisations such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Barclays.

“It’s not a new normal,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said at a Credit Suisse Group AG conference in February. “It’s an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible.”

Jes Staley, chief executive of Barclays, voiced similar sentiments in January, describing remote working as a short-term measure that was not sustainable.

The latest has come from Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman who has said about his return-to-the-office plan, “If you can go into a restaurant in New York city, you can come into the office.” He has said that he will be very disappointed if workers have not returned to the office by September 6th 2021.

The pushback from the finance sector has not had any real reasoning presented. Solomon cited fears over the impact on collaboration and new starters at the company.

Staley said he had concerns about maintaining the culture and collaboration.

You know and I know that culture is not created or maintained by bricks and mortar. Co-location will not make up for a broken culture. Culture is about behaviours, not locations.

The entire workforce does not need to be back in the office for collaboration to take place.

Most of our workers are knowledge workers - they “think” for a living. This means they spend a good proportion of their time in deep thought and focused attention. They should work from wherever they will not be distracted. When they need to collaborate, they can attend an office.

This “back-to-the-office” response is a “bums on seats” mentality fuelled by managers who do not trust their employees to work when not in their line of sight 

It could be the accounting nature of these financial institutions that feeds the belief if we can see them, we can count them, and then we know who are working.

2.        Hybrid with decree

The hybrid model of work provides your employees with the flexibility to work in the office, work remotely or work between the two.

Whilst there are many variations of the model such as remote-first, office occasional and office-first-remote allowed, the essence of the model is flexibility and employee autonomy to fit work around the rest of our lives rather than structuring other parts of a weekday around hours sitting in an office. 

It should provide the best of both worlds: structure and sociability with independence and flexibility.

However, when you decree the days that an employee has to attend the office, the flexibility and independence are abolished.

The value of the hybrid model is revoked.

This is the hybrid working model to be adopted by Apple which requires employees to work three set days a week from the office.

The in-office days are to be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and as long as employees get management approval, they can work remotely on Wednesday and Friday.

Whilst this was a massive shift from the pre-pandemic stance of discouraging remote work, it was not enough. It resulted in a letter from Apple employees to Tim Cook and the executive team requesting that the policy be reconsidered. 2,800 employees signed the letter 

I understand that some organisations are taking this approach as they want to make best use of the office space they are retaining. If they reduce office space by 50% they want to control when 50% of the workforce will utilise the space and avoid underuse or over demand for space.

But this does not address the type of work that your employees do. If I need quiet space to concentrate and focus I would rather do that at home where I have no distractions. If I want to be part of a high-energy active collaboration session, I will go into the office. Telling me I have to be in the office Monday, Wednesday and Thursday every week takes no account of the work I am doing. You are just adding a 2-hour commute to my day for no reason.

Dictating the days in the office defeats the purpose of the hybrid model.

Why not treat the workforce as adults and let managers and their teams decide when they need to co-locate and book the available space they need? An effective workspace booking system can allow teams to book the space best suited to their needs and maintain optimum occupancy at the same time 

3.        Everyone remote

Remote work does not work for everyone. The everyone remote decree is along the same lines as everyone in the office. There is no consideration of the types of work being carried out by employees and the working environment best suited to maximising performance.

Whilst there are many workers who simply cannot work remotely e.g., factory workers, healthcare workers, construction workers and hospitality staff, there are many workers who just don’t want to work remotely all of the time.

Many of your employees may not have the “privilege” of a home office and a high-speed internet connection. They may not have an environment suited to certain types of work. These workers want a choice.

An often-unconsidered impact of remote working by both employees and employers is the fact that our brains have consistent ‘social cognitive needs’ that must be catered for.

Evidence shows that office life has traditionally brought with it a variety of ‘energy sources’ that feed these needs.

The brain chemicals we need are generated in the following ways:

·      Shared rituals trigger the release of serotonin

·      Public praise brings a burst of dopamine

·      Celebrating success together increases adrenaline

·      Informal chats at the water cooler create connection and a boost of oxytocin.

These brain chemicals can impact our ability to think logically, make decisions, focus and be creative.

If you cannot meet these cognitive needs in different ways, then an unprescribed hybrid model could address the dilemma.

Many people thrive on in-person interaction with colleagues and clients and feel isolated when working entirely remotely. Others are more than happy to work independently for the majority of the time 

If you don’t get this right you could be compromising the mental health of employees who find that remote working increases their feeling of isolation or increases their work intensity.

4.        Reacting Not Responding

I think the biggest f***-up is the knee-jerk reaction and wild declarative statements such as those from Cathy Merrill – CEO of Washingtonian Media – in an opinion” piece for the Washington Post.

“I am concerned about the unfortunately common office worker who wants to continue working at home and just go into the office on occasion.”

While some employees might like to continue to work from home and pop in only when necessary, that presents executives with a tempting economic option the employees might not like. I estimate that about 20 percent of every office job is outside one’s core responsibilities — “extra.” It involves helping a colleague, mentoring more junior people, celebrating someone’s birthday — things that drive office culture. If the employee is rarely around to participate in those extras, management has a strong incentive to change their status to “contractor.” 

So although there might be some pains and anxiety going back into the office, the biggest benefit for workers may be simple job security. Remember something every manager knows: The hardest people to let go are the ones you know.”

I do not see how those statements cannot be seen as a threat to an employee who does not want to return to the office full-time.

Rather than reacting in this manner, you should be responding.

The successful hybrid model you adopt will be the result of a deep-dive forensic examination of each role within your organisation and the type of work being carried out.

This is what PWC call the Six Cs. Each C can be mapped to provide an idea what work is more suited to the office and what is more suited to remote. Whilst these are not definitive they can guide the decision as to what work should be carried out in which location.

1.     Creating work products; data analysis, research, processing orders and writing documents. Focused tasks largely independent of the office. REMOTE

2.     Collaborating: Brainstorming, planning and solving problems with colleagues. Collaboration can be performed remotely but being in person can make a measurable difference. OFFICE

3.     Communicating: Sharing information, status updates, providing feedback and following up with clients. Much communication can now take place over phone, video, emails etc. REMOTE.

4.     Coaching: Developing employees and providing feedback. Most can be done virtually. REMOTE

5.     Committing: Commitments are often determined in formal settings such as steering committees. OFFICE

6.     Community building, or corporate culture: Social activities help employees get to know one another. OFFICE

The results of this investigation could determine that most work should be done in the office or could be performed remotely. This is ok because you have done your homework.

This is no right or wrong answer. Every organisation and the work undertaken is different. If you are looking for a cookie cutter answer, you are going to be looking for a long time. There isn’t one.

The bottom line is you need to take time to do the analysis which will inform the planning.

The question you are asking today “How much space will we need?” is the wrong one. Do the work and then ask, “How much space do we need?”

5.        Wasting time

The final of my hybrid f***-ups could be the most common and the most dangerous for organisations.

Although we keep saying the “future of work” there is no time to wait. It is a phrase that is breeding complacency.

The time is now.

As I mentioned earlier, creating a working environment and operating model that provides flexibility and can adapt to how teams work best, takes planning which takes time.

Some organisations are already well ahead of the game, and they are planning for what is not the ‘new normal’ but the ‘inspired different.’

This Is not just about where people work but considerations in regard to legal implications, policies and procedures, smart technology and equipment, employee wellbeing, employee experience, leadership development, inclusivity and equity, recruiting, employee onboarding and offboarding, and much more.

Organisations that waste time now will quickly become tiny specs in the rear-view mirror of their competitors.

Now that we have proven that working remotely can work, employees have the power.

They can choose from far more employers than ever before as they are not bound by geographical location.

Organisations who do not get their act together now will lose their talent. Employees will choose employers demonstrating that they are invested in the hybrid operating model and have already embarked on the journey.

They will look for organisations that have taken the bold step forward to a better workplace whilst recognising that it is a learning journey for everyone. It is uncharted territory, but the winners are those prepared to chart it and continually adapt and change course as needed.

Wrap

If you f*** this up you will only have yourself to blame. There is a wealth of knowledge and leading thinkers out there, ready to help.

You don't have to do this alone.