Engaging Workforce Following Hybrid Work Model

74%* of U.S. companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model. 55% of employees want to work from home for at least three days a week. The disruption of the global COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that work can be done from anywhere. Hybrid work is not just a blip in traditional in-office work. It will stay and demand leaders to offer their employees a content and productive work experience, thus effectively managing remote and hybrid workforce while keeping it engaged.

Here are a few tips to better engage your hybrid and remote working employees while managing them well for years to come.

Tips on Engaging Your Hybrid Workforce

1. Press the refresh button occasionally

Working off-site for a long period can make employees feel disconnected from the organization. It thus becomes important to hit the refresh button occasionally. Whether through fun value-based initiatives or core values awards, making your employees revisit the company’s mission, vision, and values and thus re-engaging them works wonders. This makes them feel more included in the business goals and aligned with them.

Redefine your company’s mission and values to bring together your hybrid workforce.

2. Consider a collaborative tool

A crucial component of organizational performance, communication is frequently a focal point of any culture model used to gauge employee engagement. Where communication is challenging in traditional 9-to-5 work at the office, it can get trickier in a hybrid work model. But, investing in collaboration and communication tools, like UnlockWorks employee engagement software, enable leaders to maintain high levels of engagement as the workplace evolves.

Stay agile and be transparent in communication to push your boundaries.

Conduct frequent employee well-being checks

A lack of physical presence can make it extremely difficult for leaders to check their employees’ feelings regularly. Regular team check-ins and employee surveys related to the current challenges faced by your employees during hybrid working can help to spot employee burnout in time. Such surveys are not “feel good” but a way to engage your workforce and get candid, priceless feedback. Managers can thus have a clearer picture of how their employees feel, identify and remove blockers, hone their productivity, and take care of their well-being.

Focus on listening to your employees and collecting data to make informed decisions, driving improved business performance.

4. Control Zoom Fatigue

Nobody wants to spend their day on video calls or zoom meetings. You can use an employee engagement app and offer a breakout session to engage with a smaller group of people. Your employees should have a choice to join these sessions, if only they can manage their schedule. Host quizzes, polls, and other interactive events during presentations to encourage participation and make them more engaging. You may even record these sessions to ensure inclusive and equitable access to resources.

A collaborative fun-cum-work environment keeps remote and hybrid workers engaged while allowing them to manage their time better.

5. Allow flexible working hours

New work culture calls for new rules. Some workers might be able to work as per the standard 9-to-5 schedule. Others may manage their workload while attending to their inbox, resolving network problems, assisting their families, and attending distance learning programs. Flexi hours emerge as the new need for hybrid and remote working employees. Consider eliminating set office hours and allowing employees to work asynchronously.

People working in different time zones can interact and discuss work when they aren’t bound to operate in fixed shifts.

6. Build a community

Bring a change by organizing activities for your employees. Plan for team challenges, and hold coffee chats or trivia nights. You may even launch giveaways or competitions. Most of the organizations and businesses of today assert that their staff is a community. Regardless of where your employees are located, start a company-wide chat, and encourage them to trigger discussions within their teams.

Shaking things up by organizing events for your staff boosts engagement in a hybrid work model.

7. Recognize, Recognize, Recognize

You boost employee engagement in a hybrid work model by recognizing employees for their hard work and efforts. Product launches, customer wins, and personal successes – everything matters. Though you may save important announcements and recognitions for All-Hands, make them repetitive across employee engagement strategies. Your remote and hybrid working employees feel motivated and have a sense of teamwork.

Timely recognition to motivate employees with relevant awards or rewards and company-wide visibility helps build work satisfaction and engagement.

Hybrid Work Model and Employee Engagement Software

In a hybrid workplace, employee engagement is challenging. Today, it is uncommon to see your employees spending most of their workday on campus. As a leader, you must constantly expand your resources and keep your employees fully invested. Also, mulling over an employee engagement app is a smart business move.

Well-engaged employees are happier, more productive, and more loyal. Ready to deliver better customer experience and thus more profitable business outcomes?