The world underwent a major change a couple of years back with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses shifted gears to navigate tools and techniques for remote work productivity in 2020.
And, as many countries still ride the waves of COVID, research suggests that 76% of companies shifted to a hybrid working model. In this, employees work remotely for some days, and on other days, they work from the office.
A respite from the monotony of the daily commute has seen employees favoring this system, requiring some businesses to strike the right balance. And therefore, the role of Human Resource personnel gets crucial in harboring such a transition.
As the situation improves, many businesses are opening up their offices and looking to embrace the power of a "hybrid-work" arrangement. If your company is undergoing such a transition then your role as an HR personnel needs some refinements.
Here, we will discuss how you can bring human elements into the mix and help pivot to strategies that ensure a smoother transition from remote work to hybrid work.
Creating a safe environment for returning employees
First, you need to ensure the health, safety and well-being of employees returning to work from the office (even if for some days). And therefore, you must resume this responsibility for employees and other in-office staff.
Remember that there should be a harmonious coexistence of physical and digital space. Over two years, everyone now knows what is a digital workplace, but it’s time to strike the right balance between in-office and remote.
Eventually, you are responsible for putting forth COVID compliance in place. Keeping a close eye on the regulations is necessary as we are not over with the pandemic (yet). Also, many regulations continue to evolve and differ from one country to the next.
If your business operates in different countries, your HR team needs to democratize COVID-specific office rules for other countries. There are several countries where "best practice" may not be adequate and may need everyone in your HR team to be more vigilant.
It is about time for you to begin planning for the future reorganization of workplaces. For instance, HR professionals need to consider workstation space (social distancing), figure out how to dispose of waste every day, and ensure shared kitchens or small meeting rooms are well sanitized.
The modern-day business environment requires you to pick up the necessary skills for managing people in a hybrid work environment. Such an approach is needed to drive home the benefits of this new change.
Team Cohesion
Employees are more inclined to create in-groups during uncertain economic times. These in-groups are generally formed based on common ideologies shared by everyone in the group. It is easy to see how these in-groups affect a person's sense of community, but it is harder to gauge its impact on businesses. For example, downsides include employees excluding themselves from important talks and being unwilling to share knowledge.
If you have a team that works fully remote and others that follow the hybrid model, then there's a caveat to consider—your system is creating a group inside a group. Here, individuals at home may be perceived as less helpful than their office-based colleagues, who may be more active in resolving team difficulties and sharing expertise.
As an HR professional, it is your responsibility to detect and break down "weak ties" to ensure that information flows freely and widely across the company. Team cohesion is all about creating a friction-free workplace where personnel bonding is determined by the length of time, intensity and closeness of the connections and not personal beliefs.
You can achieve team cohesiveness by creating strong bonds between members and bridging the information silos by encouraging knowledge sharing on your team messaging app (Slack, Skype, etc.).
Continuing to support those working from home
In the wake of the repatriation of some workers, as an HR personnel, you need to continue helping others who work from home. Stay aware of employees who feel they are missing out on the action at work due to remote working.
For this, you may take steps to guarantee that all workers have a similar experience, regardless of where they are located.
Everyone in your organization should be aware of the perils of “availability bias” and take precautions to avoid it. No one should be given additional credit or perks for their contributions because they are physically present in the office room.
On-site workers should not be given preference for particular duties or promotions in the same way. As an HR staff, your job is to create a level-playing field for everyone regardless of their physical presence.
Another key aspect of hybrid work involves onboarding new employees. You may need to conduct more interviews online throughout the hiring process. Traditional HR practices may no longer be applicable when training new employees.
Additionally, employees should not engage in off-the-record talks with coworkers working remotely. However, sidebar conversations may undercut and exclude individuals, making remote workers feel more away from the organization's ethos. Nine times out of 10, such discussions won't stem from a bad intention. But such conversations have the potential to undercut and alienate remote people. Virtual team gatherings should also be maintained to allow all workers to socialize.
If you are an HR specialist in the company, you must support employees working remotely. Also, promote managers and bosses of remote workers to connect with such employees to make them feel included. Managers must be in frequent contact with remote team members to ensure that they are aware of any issues affecting their productivity.
Redefine onboarding of new employees in a hybrid work environment
Another key aspect of hybrid work involves onboarding new employees. You may need to conduct more interviews online throughout the hiring process. Traditional HR practices may no longer be applicable when training new employees.
For example, the pre-pandemic era may have your company's onboarding process let new hires spend the first few days shadowing various departments and meeting with department heads. Finding time for such onboarding activities may be more difficult if staff only come into the office once or twice a week.
Such pandemic-induced onboarding may need everyone in your HR team to help new employees blend with the team. You may also need to work closely with your IT department to implement robust workforce management technologies to help remote onboarding.
This includes leveraging digital paperwork for onboarding, sharing training videos (securely), and setting up internal communication and productivity tools. Such an arrangement will help new employees get started without any glitches and mingle well with their new coworkers.
The hybrid work paradigm is still in its infancy as most businesses are experimenting with various ways to see what works best for them. Such evolutions are bound to come as HR in 2030 will be more focused on people than processes. While the hybrid is one such approach now, there are methods that you can implement as an HR personnel to manage it and sustain staff productivity.
The modern-day business environment requires you to pick up the necessary skills for managing people in a hybrid work environment. Such an approach is needed to drive home the benefits of this new change. Employers and workers alike will face new hurdles in time to come, and therefore, the HR team needs to consider the wants and needs of both sides.
Hazel Raoult is a freelance marketing writer and works with PRmention. She has six-plus years of experience in writing about business, entrepreneurship, marketing, and all things SaaS.
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