How to determine the right approach for your business and culture

For centuries – basically since the industrial revolution – most of society has shared the common experience of what it means to work. No matter what the work is, the process of coming together at a workspace has remained central to how work gets done. Or more literally: going to work.

The past three years have upended this, most likely for good. But while the disruption to past ways of working was cemented by the pandemic, it has only sped up a much longer technology-enabled transition to more flexible work arrangements.

This is one of the main reasons why there has not yet been an en masse “return to work” as was forecast as early as April 2020. Even so, many leaders are still looking for a silver bullet and the right answer for how to best manage their workforces as we look to the future.

The truth is, there isn’t one right answer. But there are better answers for different types of cultures, businesses and organizations.

For example, if silos are holding back the business, in-office interactions can help break these down. If innovation is critical, a balance of live collaboration and protected time for individual creativity might speed the path to success.

Rather than focusing on “returning” to work or even “going” to work, leaders should be intentionally designing policies that consider how to best bring people together to work.

Because getting it right is truly important.

Research from United Minds shows that hybrid workers are the most satisfied with their jobs, with over 6 in 7 feeling both loyal and proud to work for their employer (vs. 3 in 4 who are back in the office full time and 2 in 3 working from home full time). From a recruitment standpoint, Gen Z is most likely to value workplace flexibility (58%), especially when compared to Boomers (44%). At the same time, people working from home full time are the most at risk: more than half are worried about their mental health and wellness, they are experiencing burnout and are questioning job security – rates that are 10 to 70% higher than their hybrid and in-office peers.

Knowing that every organization is unique, let’s explore some of the common “work” structures:

1. 100% in the workplace. This structure works best when the majority of work required is regulated and/or collaborative and iterative – and is especially effective where there was already a strong pre-pandemic culture. To further the success of requiring full-time in-person engagement, consider allocating and protecting adequate time and flexibility for employees to manage personal commitments and supporting and destigmatizing mental health and wellness.

• Hybrid multiple, specific days per week. When the work requires regular collaboration and protected time, this structure might be most successful – especially where employees (who may skew more early-career) appreciate clarity, constancy and supervision. Outcomes can be improved further by providing guidance on the types of work that are most effective in-person vs. at home and encouraging leaders and managers to reinforce the differences.

• Hybrid several days per month, at manager / employee discretion. If fewer meetings are needed to achieve business goals, this structure might make sense – especially when managers and employees have high levels of trust and open communication. Ensuring managers have training and support to maintain equity and navigate issues that might arise from a less-structured policy will help promote effective engagement.

• Hybrid a few times per year, tied to major meetings. Where a strong culture of autonomy exists and/or workers (who may have more responsibility at home) are geographically dispersed, this approach might increase equitability. With limited time together, it will be important to make it count by focusing not only on achieving meeting goals but on creating meaningful, on-going connections.

• 100% work from home. When business infrastructure and/or budget does not allow for people to come together, it might be necessary to work completely remotely. This approach might also make sense if the organization mutually decides this is the best structure. To best support employees, team leaders should consider codifying and leveraging what worked well from the past few years of working from home and building these best practices into organizational values and norms. Similar to those who are full-time in-office, fully remote employees might also need extra support when it comes to mental health and wellness but in the form of creating and reinforcing boundaries to support work/life balance.

Even the above general rules are not necessarily iron-clad and there is no such thing as a “set it and forget it” structure. Getting it right requires an on-going assessment of what is – and isn’t – working.

This means surveying employees both on preferences and levels of satisfaction and engagement, taking a hard look at key performance indicators to determine where you might be falling short and if there are trends that could be linked to current work arrangements. And finally, testing, learning and being open to making adjustments accordingly.

Ultimately, it’s very likely that multiple work arrangements will be present at organizations now and into the future. To successfully navigate the complexity of these arrangements, aligning workplace practices to support the culture you need to deliver on the business strategy is critical. So are frequent communications that reinforce this connection.

United Minds is a Weber Shandwick consultancy dedicated to making business more human. To learn more, reach out to [email protected].