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Webinar Building a successful hybrid workforce
  • Sanja Licina, PhD President, Workforce QuestionPro
  • Crystal Wiese Director, Marketing QuestionPro
Overview

There are still many unknowns in how the future of work will look, but we are becoming more and more certain that the way ahead will need to be a hybrid model, where employees have the choice and flexibility of when and where they want to work.

Achieving this vision will not be a one-size-fits all across all organizations, and will likely take some time, and experimentation, to find the best way that fits each organization's culture.

Join Sanja, a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, as she shares her suggestions on the best way to build your "hybrid working model" experiment, and Crystal, who will give the employee viewpoint of the best way employers can stay tuned into their people's needs as they evolve their working model in 2021 and beyond.

Takeaways
  • doneBest questions to ask to understand how employees are feeling under evolving working arrangement
  • doneHow to have an effective and empathetic dialog with your workforce, at scale
  • doneHow to make timely changes in the working model
  • doneKey considerations for maintaining a strong culture in the hybrid working model
Presentation

Transcript

Managing expectations

At times, employees face a difficult time working for managers who devote a lot of time to work and have high expectations from their teams as well. Based on our research, we have found that many people find it very challenging to work for such bosses and often experience burnout. We believe that employees and managers should have more one-on-one discussions in current times to set goals and discuss expectations.

We advise to have a candid conversation with your boss on how you are feeling given the pandemic and let them know about your responsibilities apart from work. You can also talk about your overall well-being, including both your physical and mental health. However, if it doesn't work out, you should look for alternatives.

Virtual collaboration and engagement

Collaborating over tools can get difficult if teams don't sync up regularly. People can feel alienated while working remotely. To keep them engaged, throw virtual parties and connect over 'water-cooler' chats. Make sure to have some fun events every Friday or last day of the month.

A few things to keep in mind if you are planning an event:

  • Ensure it fits within the structure of hours your employees. You cannot assume that they will come to an event, even if it's virtual.
  • Don't always center around alcohol, it can be as simple as a coffee hangout in the morning! Or you can arrange a band to play live music, or may be a jam session.
  • You can check in with them regularly and get their feedback.
  • Continue to use digital channels so everyone has equal access to information.
Integrity and Trust

While working remotely, many managers can have concerns regarding the time spent by their employees on the work exclusively. We suggest to set clear timelines and let your teams know the quality of work you would expect. That way, regardless of the hours they dedicate, managers can be certain about the output and feel less stressed about deliverables. If there is a mismatch between your expectations and their deliveries, it's time to have a conversation to know what are the hurdles.

Managers can step-in to offer help, but if there is still lack of trust, you will need to work more closely or find out ways so that it's makes sense for all. At the end of the day, what's really important is your organizational goals are achieved.

Managing Finances

In the last one year, many have lost jobs and have found it difficult to manage personal finances. It can be quite stressful if someone from your family has lost a job or you are taking a pay cut. To add to this, working from home might require you set up home office and invest in infrastructure.

However, this can vary on a case-by-case basis. So, the employees who are not getting any WFH allowance, can have one-on-one discussion with their managers or HR. Organizations can support them in a way that will enable them to better work from home and improve their productivity.

How QuestionPro can help

We help organizations build exceptional culture, improve employee experience and gain real-time insights on how to drive performance with our product QuestionPro Workforce.

If you have any questions regarding your workplace culture, wellbeing initiatives, employee experience, employee engagement, or else, and you’d like to know how surveys can be a more powerful part of your strategy, please connect with us. We’d love to talk with you and see how we can help with your goals and initiatives.