There Is No Going Back - Make Hybrid Work

A few weeks ago, in my newsletter I discussed the procrastination of so many organisations and their leadership in embracing the future of work which is hybrid. I introduced the 5Rs to conquer the procrastination – Realise - Reflect – Rethink – Reimagine – Reinvent.

On 16 March, 2022, Microsoft published the 2022 Work Trends Index: Annual Report titled “Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work Work.” It contains findings from a study of 31,000 people across 31 countries.

The opening words echoed the sentiments of my procrastination piece.

“While we are all learning as we go, the findings reveal and urgent opportunity – and responsibility – for leaders to approach the transition with intention and a growth mindset, or risk being left behind.”

In this week’s newsletter I want to explore the Microsoft findings while casting my own opinions and conclusions.

There are five key findings.

1.   Employees have a new “worth it” equation

If we had been forced to work from home for a few weeks rather than a few years, things would be very different. Throughout 2020, 2021 and now into 2022, employees have had time to reflect on what they want from their personal and professional life. They have been able to arrange their professional life around their personal life where, for the majority, that was the other way around prior to March 2020.

Employees have reflected on what is important to them. A March 2022 McKinsey article explored the reasons employees were leaving organisations – referred to as The Great Resignation, The Great Reset, The Great Reshuffle or as I have coined it The Great Realisation.

The list starts with uncaring leaders, unsustainable work performance expectations, lack of career development and advancement potential, lack of meaningful work, lack of support for employee health and wellbeing. Only at number six in the list was “inadequate total compensation package.” So many employers think they can retain and attract talent with a large pay cheque. This is a transactional aspect of employment.  Employees want relational aspects such as feeling valued, flexibility, and having a sense of purpose. Whilst a decent salary is important to everyone, employees are looking for more than just that.

Employees are saying “I am worth more”, “I deserve more”, “I can find more.” Priorities have fundamentally shifted.

Employers need to wake up to the fact that employee expectations have changed over the past two years. There is no going back. Employers must build a culture that embraces flexibility, leadership excellence, employee wellbeing, and recognise that if they don’t, they will get left behind. They must engage with their employees, before they walk out of the door, find out what their expectation are, and meet them.

This is not succumbing to a whim – this is organisational survival.

2.   Managers feel wedged between leadership and employee expectations 

Microsoft use the terminology of leaders and managers. I would use the terms executives and leaders. It is the executives in many organisations – the C-suite – who are looking to return to the way it was pre-pandemic. They are demanding a full-time, in-person, return to the office. In August 2021, my newsletter discussed the real reasons employees are being asked to return to the office. This included a lack of real leadership, a fear of the unknown, comfort with the status quo, and the mindset that it is just all too hard.

Employees are adamant that they want to continue to work where they want, when they want and how they want. Leaders are stuck between the executives and the employees. They are hearing what employees want but the executive is not listening. Leaders are fully aware of the changing employee expectations and can inform the executive if they would be prepared to listen. But listening is dangerous because it infers that action will be taken.

Leaders have the power to unlock the new potential of the workforce. They need to be equipped with the development needed to be effective leaders of high performing hybrid teams. There are new capacities and competencies required. Leading a hybrid team is a different undertaking to leading an all-in-person-co-located team. There must be autonomy, empowerment, and trust. There must be mindful communication and collaboration. There must be equity and inclusivity. There is no place for micromanagement and measurement of performance by inputs rather than outputs. Leaders need to be adaptive leaders able to continually adapt to constant change.

For many leaders this is uncharted territory, and they need the support and resources to take themselves and their teams on the journey. As I have mentioned in previous newsletters, research has revealed that most leaders get put into a leadership position in their mid to late twenties. The first leadership development they get is in their early forties. That is possible over two decades in which those leadership roles have had no support, development, coaching or training.

The situation is worsened when you think that this pattern has been repeated for generations upon generations of “leaders”, which means that the only role models these new “leaders” have had are the bad bosses that have gone before them. And so, the cycle perpetuates.

The challenge is to break this cycle and prepare leaders now for the future of work. Whatever skills leaders have today will not be enough to lead a highly performing hybrid team. As the saying goes what got you here, won’t get you there.

 3.   Leaders need to make the office worth the commute

Employers who are dictating the days in which an employee should come into the office each week are missing the whole point of hybrid working. The true hybrid operating model provides both flexibility and autonomy.

In this November newsletter, I created a matrix to illustrate why without both flexibility and autonomy, the hybrid operating model is broken.

When there is both flexibility and autonomy, employees can work when they want, where they want, and how they want. There will be principles by which the leader, the team, and the team members operate. When the leader and the team decide that a face-to-face co-located meeting is the optimal way to achieve desired outcomes, they will decide where and when that co-location happens that meets the needs of most of the team. It is not dictated – it is a democratic decision, that has the needs of the team and the wider organisation at its core.

There must be a reason for employees to make the commute into the office. Just because it is a Tuesday and that is your allocated office day, is not a good enough reason. Why would I walk in the rain to the railway station, get on an overcrowded train and stand for 40 minutes, walk in the rain to the office, and spend 8 hours at a desk just because it is Tuesday? The reason to be in the office must be worth it. My son-in-law has decided to work from his office every Thursday. This is because his wife works on a Thursday and there is only one home office and one desk. So, he will relocate to the head office for a good reason.

Leaders must experiment with their team and determine what works best for team outcomes and maintains connection, engagement, and productivity. They can co-create a hybrid charter that defines what

The office must be repurposed to support hybrid working. More collaboration spaces, quiet spaces, ands optimised technology for the hybrid world.

4.   Flexible work doesn’t have to mean “always on.”

Whilst hybrid working offers employee’s flexibility there is also the downside of digital exhaustion. Meetings have consumed the lion share of an employee’s time. As the move to remote work was unprecedented, unprepared leaders replaced every interaction with a meeting to ensure no-one felt excluded.

Leaders must intentionally take control of the plethora of meetings. In a previous newsletter I suggested leaders ask a series of questions before a meeting is scheduled.

Is this meeting necessary?

·      If not, how do I accomplish what I need to achieve?

·      If it is, who needs to be there?

·      Who can provide input to the meeting without needing to be there?

·      Who needs to know the outcomes of the meeting but does not need to be there?

·      How am I going to make this meeting as effective and efficient as possible and make the best use of everyone’s time?

·      Can I circulate the agenda before the meeting and ensure everyone knows what will be expected of them in the meeting?

·      Can I distribute pre-reading material?

·      Can I ensure everyone knows the intended purpose of meeting and the desired outcomes?

Not only do these questions reduce the number of meetings but also ensure the meetings that are held are as effective and efficient as possible.

Leaders must think asynchronously first. Can these interactions be conducted via a shared document repository, collaboration platform or a workflow management tool? This consideration gets rid of the unnecessary meetings or reduces the time needed for an actual meeting because so much pre-work has been done.

Not everyone is as lucky as I am to have a purpose-built home office. In my world the delineation between personal and professional life is clear. When I leave the office, I leave my professional life and enter my personal life and vice versa. For many the “office” has become the end of the kitchen bench, the coffee table, or a make-shift desk in a previously unused alcove-type space. It is harder to walk away and not return which makes the workday longer and employees become “always-on.”

I have made this recommendation before. Wherever your workspace is in your home, make it sacrosanct. This is the only space in which you will work and when you approach it imagine you are opening the office door, and when you leave it you are closing the door. This helps to delineate the workday from the rest of the day. It takes practice but is worth the outcome.

Leaders must look for the signs that someone is “always-on.” Emails or texts sent at strange times might be an indicator and leaders should check-in on employee wellbeing. There is good guidance in the Microsoft report from Mary Czerwinski and Shansi Iqbal about making flexible work sustainable. Check it out.

5.   Rebuilding social capital looks different in a hybrid world

Social capital has been lost with the move to remote working. Communication and collaboration outside of the immediate team has decreased which reduces knowledge sharing and business effectiveness. The role of the leader is to intentionally connect all employees regardless of their location. This is one of the biggest challenges leaders are facing but it is one that must be prioritised.

Employees with good relationships with their team members are healthier, more productive, and less likely to leave the organisation than their counterparts with poor relationships.

Employees with good relationships outside of their immediate team have higher job satisfaction, increased fulfilment, and a more positive outlook.

Leaders must help all employees build strong and broad networks across the organisation. As the Microsoft report states,

“[Leaders] .. should prioritise time for employees to connect in more deep and authentic ways beyond the to-do list and foster a culture that rewards psychological safety, so employees can be vulnerable and lean on each other for support when needed.”

Conclusion

There is no going back to the way we were. Embrace it or be eradicated.

Empower leaders to deliver on employee expectations, connect the executive and the workforce, make the time spent in the office worthwhile, look after employee well-being and intentionally rebuild social capital. This is mindset shift that must happen.

“As the world continues to evolve, organisations that take a culture-first, learn-it-all approach will come out ahead.”

Karen FerrisComment