More and more employees combine working from home with one day at the office a week. Now that, especially in and after the COVID-19 pandemic – we’ve all got used to virtual conversations and meetings we’ve seen that this may be an ideal scenario for a lot organisations. Some organisations show a large improvement on their Employee Experience since working from home became ‘the new normal’. This brings several HR and Communication challenges to your organisation. Traditionally all employees we’re ‘in’ and when we wanted to share or announce something we’ve just asked them to join in at the company restaurant. If there’s one thing – from an employee experience perspective – the pandemic learned us that a future with a hybrid-form of working will be here to stay.
The biggest difference with working from home compared to working at a physical site is time management. While working from home we are close to our loved ones and we could easily step out for a walk in the park on a sunny day and finish the work during the evening. We could argue whether this is appropiate within working hours but fact is that this is what Employee Experience is all about; in the end we’re all at work to give ourselves a purpose and a meaningful life so we should embrace the fact that those two are attached to eachother more than ever before. In other words and to put it directly: We will never get back to the ‘old normal’ where all employees hop into the office at 8.30 AM and hop-off at 5 PM.
Make sure employees are connected; whether they work remote or on-site.
Now that we realize this is the future of work we should make sure our organisations adapt themselves to this future way of working. In example: We were used to some ‘traditions’ and ‘rules’ at the office or site floor while there aren’t that hard rules when working from home. For sure, we’re talking about the home of an employee but on the other hand you do expect them to deliver outstanding performances; aren’t you. In order to do so, start up the conversation with all employees. How do they feel about working from home and how do they feel about catching up on the targets of the organisation. Make sure you listen to anyone within the organisation and shape up renewed guidelines: “A future way of working; from home and/or at the office”. By doing so you’ll make clear to all employees and so to your organisation where you stand at this topic. It let’s you and your colleagues feel comfortable by choosing to work the way they want.
Here are some guidelines for a hybrid working culture:
- Describe the tools employees receive and need when they work from home and make sure everyone got them.
- Put a statement about the minimum amount of working days at the office and in addition bring in a team day once every month; a day when we expect all members of a team to be at the office. Make sure that all single employees share one of their outcomes or experiences at that day to let them feel proud, let them understand what their colleagues have worked on and so, to keep them engaged (even more!).
- Create two time blocks when you expect all workers to be online at a working day. In example: When you have a working day be online from 10 AM to 10.30 AM and at 3 PM to 3.30 PM. This makes sure employees are always able to catch-up with eachother and thrives working structure and discipline.
- Set a clear structure for work compensation when travelling and working from a physical site and working from home. Ideally; compensate all employees whether they work from home or at a physical site and besides compensate actual travelling costs in addition. A cup of coffee at home also brings a cost, doesn’t it? 😉
