Embrace the Hybrid Workforce

Jonathan Behnke, Chief Information Officer at City of San Diego

Jonathan Behnke, Chief Information Officer at City of San Diego

Many organizations have evolved significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most common changes was a shift to a hybrid workforce. During the pandemic many employees shifted to remote work and evolved how they collaborated, communicated, and delivered core functions and services. Some organizations only needed to make minor changes because remote work was already in place while others were completely disrupted and had to develop it from the ground up. Almost everyone had lessons learned and refined their hybrid workforce models to balance productivity, accountability, and flexibility.

Building a Strong Foundation for Success

A successful hybrid work model requires a strong foundation for success. It might be possible to hover over a 13-inch laptop screen on a coffee table and do your job, but a more sustainable model may require a laptop, docking station, headset, larger screen, and formal workspace. A noisy background and distractions should be kept at a minimum. Good ergonomic arrangements are also important to avoid feeling like you’ve been on a cramped international flight by the end of the workday. Simple things like good audio for virtual meetings and a robust internet connection can make a huge difference in productivity. Some remote workers learned that their internet service didn’t support the new load of bandwidth requirements with multiple home users or 4K streaming on the same home network.

Collaboration Tools Connect Teams Across the Organization

Alongside a proper workspace environment are the right tools that will ensure success. A hybrid workforce may have team members spread between remote locations and an office. File sharing, chat apps, and virtual meeting solutions are essential tools to connect remote users with each other and office employees. Office conference rooms need solid video and audio hardware to connect multiple in-room attendees with remote employees connected virtually. Collaboration tools to track tasks and projects will keep teams connected and tracking work consistently. Daily virtual stand-up meetings have become popular to conduct checkpoints on tasks, issues, and deadlines.

Hybrid Work Policies

A hybrid work policy is critical for organizations to manage the workforce and optimize operations. Security policies will ensure that when the organization’s network extends into employee homes, risk is minimized and best practices are consistently followed. Employees and supervisors can make appropriate plans for work locations, tasks, check-ins, and team collaboration. Standards for a callback into the office can formalize the process to initiate it and appropriate timeframes. Employee work hours and availability expectations can be agreed upon for core hours so team engagement doesn’t suffer. A checkout process for laptops and peripherals can keep asset inventories current and recorded.

Take Advantage of Digital Transformation Opportunities

A hybrid workforce will be more effective if digital services are optimized and manual processes are reduced. Workflows and digital signatures can provide visibility of processes and streamline approvals across teams. Robotic process automation can eliminate mundane processes and further engage employees in their operational tasks. The pandemic accelerated digital transformation and aligning these initiatives with a hybrid workforce can capture the most value from the changes.

Adjust Your Tech Support Model for Your Hybrid Workforce

Supporting a hybrid workforce is far more complicated than supporting someone in an office. The help desk model needs to include more scenarios for troubleshooting home users. Home networks can cause a variety of issues that might not be apparent to the user. Cheat sheets for best practices and education campaigns can help the hybrid workforce avoid common pitfalls of home network latency or issues. Regular patching cycles need to be accomplished to keep employees’ laptops updated and secure. Digital experience tools can proactively detect issues and remediate them before the user calls the help desk. User experience surveys can help zero in on pain points and drive continuous improvements.

Which Hybrid Model Works Best?

The news cycle has been full of stories about different companies making shifts with their hybrid work models following the pandemic. Some organizations have divested a large chunk of their real estate and shifted to remote workforce models for almost all staff. On the other end of the spectrum, some companies have completely returned employees back into the office. Many organizations have retained some level of a remote workforce with time in the office for a specific number of days per week or month. The debate about the best model rages on, but ultimately it is something that each organization will have to determine how to best fit their business model and culture.

The hybrid workforce shift has had an immense impact on downtown economies, traffic, families, pets, and how a new generation of the workforce views what is normal.

Without a solid plan, risks include employee burnout, increased security risks, lost productivity due to tech support issues, and perceived inequity between those that are allowed to work remotely and those that are required to report to the office.

If done well, it can increase employee satisfaction, improve retention, increase productivity and collaboration, and decrease carbon emissions. Many organizations are continuing to refine their strategies but those that have embraced the change and matured their models have been telling the most success stories.