To be successful, companies must cultivate a workforce that is happy, engaged, and productive. The employee work experience must be positive, balanced, and inclusive, regardless of workers’ location or role. It’s a tall order, especially when the work environment and employee expectations have changed so dramatically over the past several years.
Remote and hybrid work has pivoted from a health and safety protocol to a lifestyle choice. A recent study revealed that only 2 in 10 remote-capable employees are currently working fully on-site—down from 60% in 2019—and more than 90% say they don’t want to come back to the office full time.
However, another study conducted in early 2022 found 60% of workers said they feel less of a connection to colleagues after 2-plus years of remote work, highlighting the challenges leaders face in managing remote and hybrid work environments.
The traditional in-person employee experience is multilayered, comprising every communication, activity, process, and interaction. It’s the look and feel of the environment we work in and the people we work alongside, plus the ability to have quick hallway conversations or grab a coffee together. A positive employee experience makes us feel like we belong—we’re in the right place doing the work we are meant to do with people we enjoy being with.
Recreating this in a hybrid work setting is not easy, yet HR leaders have a responsibility to provide a great employee experience despite its challenges. But how? Here are three key strategies we’ve seen work to overcome common challenges in ensuring a fair, equitable, and engaging hybrid employee experience.
Be Proactive About Reducing Burnout
According to a survey, nearly half (47%) of remote workers reported “remote work FOMO” (fear of missing out) because they were not present in the office. Another 17% couldn’t or wouldn’t say how they felt, indicating most remote workers have mixed feelings about the impact their remote status might have on their career trajectory. Some remote workers, feeling the need to prove their productivity, may work longer hours or put in time on the weekend, not to mention the blurring of the beginning and end of the workday when there is no commute involved. Add video call fatigue and meeting overload to the mix, and you get a recipe for burnout.
One simple way to surface issues and identify solutions is to conduct an employee survey. Hearing employee concerns directly allows leaders to develop focused efforts to address them. Similarly, a brief daily or weekly standup meeting can provide employees a forum to voice challenges they face, recognize peers for a job well done, and share personal updates to keep collegial connections strong.
Of course, taking regular time off is often the best cure for burnout. But encouraging remote workers to take time off when they already have concerns about visibility with corporate can be a challenge, so leaders need to “walk the walk” and find moments to prioritize rest. Virgin Pulse employees receive unlimited vacation time, and our leaders pledge to take a week’s vacation every quarter to demonstrate the importance of unplugging and resetting. Before logging out for their time off, leadership touches base with their teams to ensure priorities are clear while they are out of the office and to remind staff they will step away from e-mail and chat apps for the week. By committing to taking regular paid time off (PTO)—and setting boundaries around it—leaders demonstrate that a good rest ethic is as important as a good work ethic.
Prevent Proximity Bias for an Inclusive Hybrid Workplace
In addressing remote workers’ feelings of FOMO, proximity bias, a form of favoritism in which the people physically closest to us receive preferential treatment, has become the #1 concern for executives in 2022. Understanding that bias can exist is the first step in addressing and eliminating it. Unconscious bias training can shed light on the ways proximity bias, and other forms of bias, can manifest and cause harm, resulting in a negative employee experience. Data from 360 feedback processes and other forms of response collection can also help shed light on proximity bias concerns. Once leaders are aware of these perceptions, actions can be taken to ensure the team environment is more equitable and inclusive.
There are several additional ways you can ensure all employees have an equal presence regardless of where they physically sit. When conducting meetings, leaders should require others to join virtually even if there is only one remote participant. This prevents the remote employee from feeling ostracized for being the only participant not in the conference room. Additionally, digital tools can help reestablish social connections among those not in physical proximity to each other. Virgin Pulse colleagues across the country and around the world often use mobile devices to set up and participate in weeklong challenges, tracking daily activities like walking/movement, water consumption, or bedtime meditation. This helps create community, accountability, and some fun competitive spirit.
Own Change Before It Owns You
Inertia is a powerful force to overcome. Change requires planning; effort; and, above all, support at all levels of the organization. But taking what worked for your company during the “Before Times” and adapting it for today is possible. There are many organizational models that can guide you through the process, such as the Prosci ADKAR or McKinsey 7-S models.
Regardless of the approach taken, organizations need to act with a “people-first” mindset. Connecting the employee experience to business objectives can help with planning. Thinking about organizational change through the employee experience lens may feel new to some senior leaders. Aligning solutions to employee issues or challenges with business objectives can make it easier to sell new programs or policies to senior leadership. When the C-suite can see how these people-first initiatives can better the bottom line, they are more likely to embrace them.
During times of change, providing clear, transparent, and empathetic employee communication is important. Reflect on previous communication practices, and ask yourself: What was successful? What could have been better? Use this as a basis for future organizational communications. Finally, remind leadership that it’s OK when they don’t have all the answers; employees often just want to know the organization is aware of an issue and is working to address it.
The Bottom Line
It’s clear that remote and hybrid work is here to stay. The benefits to employee well-being in terms of reduced commute times and more time spent with family and other loved ones have been welcomed by part-time and full-time remote workers. Employers can capitalize on this optimism by encouraging a positive experience for all employees and a corporate culture that fosters engagement and belonging.
Incorporating employee engagement as part of the complete employee experience spectrum, from recruitment through departure, can result in a passionate workforce that is more productive and less likely to move on to another organization. While it won’t happen overnight, evolving your corporate culture to focus on the well-being of your people is achievable one step at a time.
Laura Walmsley is EVP and GM Employers at Virgin Pulse, where her focus and responsibility are to lead the creation of compelling value for employer clients through solutions and strategic relationships.
Di Holman is Chief People Officer at Virgin Pulse and guides all aspects of HR, including business partnering; talent management; total rewards; internal communications; and diversity, equity, and inclusion across all global locations.