The events of the last year and a half have altered many workplaces around the world, as millions of employees and employers experienced remote working for the first time.
The flexibility offered by home working continues to be highly desired by many workers and evidence suggests that it has a minimal impact on productivity and massive benefits for employee retention and satisfaction. While employees are keen to enjoy a better work/life balance, there remain many benefits in having staff spend at least some of their time in the office, including greater collaboration and the ability to learn first-hand from more experienced colleagues.
This has led many businesses to adopt a hybrid work environment, where employees spend some of their time in the office and the remaining time at home. With so many businesses looking to implement hybrid work plans, here are 5 reason that 5 reasons why Communication is key for successfully adopting a hybrid workplace by HR Caddy's Nicola Callaghan for entrepreneurs to consider.
HR Caddy is an independent Human Resource Support Specialist based in Birmingham in the West Midlands. Our services are designed specifically to help businesses of any size benefit from outsourcing all or part of their HR function.
Update employment policies and contracts
Employment policies and contracts define the roles of employees and the expectations of employers. Business leaders should take the time to sit down with employees, to discuss how hybrid working will be implemented.
Working collaboratively with employees will create realistic policies that are easier to enforce – after all those required to abide by them will have had a say in their creation. By updating policies and contracts employers have a way of making staff stick to the rules, reducing the potential for disputes.
Communication is key
Employers need to talk with employees about the expectations of their role under a hybrid model and their concerns about the changeover. It is also important that employers send clear messages about any changes and confirm with employees that they fully understand what it means for them.
Hybrid models are a fairly big departure when compared to previous work approaches and so it can be easy for arrangements to become confused, which may lead to frustration, poor productivity or unexpected absences.
Continue to support those working from home
The term hybrid working model covers a wide range of arrangements. For some businesses, it may mean that employees enjoy one day a week of home working, but for others, staff may spend the majority of their time at home and only come into the workplace twice a month.
Although many staff members will have been working from home for more than a year and a half, it is important to check that they have the following:
- Correct equipment to fulfil their role
- Up to date training
- Emotional and wellbeing support
- A clear understanding of the business’s expectations.
Employers should continue to check these regularly. If an employee is struggling to fulfil their position because they don’t have the correct software or requires additional training then they are going to be less efficient.
Create strategies for remote onboarding
As well as supporting existing staff, employers need to think about how they will bring new team members on board. Joining a new firm can be nerve-racking, so everyone from trainees up to new directors should be welcomed using a developed strategy that takes into consideration training, mentoring and generally getting to know the business and clients. Doing this remotely may require a different approach, technology or set of skills, which employers need to consider before hiring.
Don’t discriminate
When implementing hybrid working employers must avoid any policies or approaches that could be considered discriminatory – whether by accident or design.
There will be certain roles that may require particular staff to spend more time in the office. For example, junior roles may require employees to undertake additional training within the office. If the majority of the trainees are young, then this may be misconstrued as age discrimination.
Equally, if certain roles are predominantly filled by female staff that doesn’t allow for remote working, employers need to consider whether this could leave them open to a claim for discriminatory working practices under the Equalities Act 2010. Given the challenges of hybrid working, entrepreneurs should seek professional help when preparing and reviewing policies and approaches so that they do not leave themselves open to disputes or legal action.
