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Sustaining Culture In A Hybrid Work Model

A hybrid future appears imminent as an increasing number of people work in hybrid environments. Due to remote working becoming a reality, your company's culture needs to change in order to adapt.

In a hybrid work model, employees have more flexibility to get work done. Employees are able to work from home at their convenience, and they can also set their own hours. This allows them the freedom to travel for work, spend time with family, or pursue other interests outside of the office. Employers benefit because they retain talent that may otherwise leave due to burnout or boredom from traditional corporate culture. 

The challenge with a hybrid model is that it can be difficult to preserve company culture when some employees are in the office, and some are not. Fortunately, there are solutions. Keep reading for four recommendations to sustain your culture with a hybrid workforce.

Get Clear on Your Mission

Company culture often stems from management and executive teams having a clear mission for the organization. Think of the mission as a shared purpose that all team members can rally around. Unfortunately, many organizations suffer culturally because they haven’t set a clear mission—or they just haven’t communicated it to employees.  Make sure you know what your mission is as a company, and help employees connect that mission to their day-to-day work. When everyone is in alignment towards a common goal, culture often improves. 

Allow Time for Relationship Building

Next, allocate time throughout the workday for relationship building. Try not to focus too much on whether every minute is productive during Zoom meetings or how long is spent on water cooler talk in the office. While this time may appear to be “wasted,” in reality, it’s forging important connections between team members that help to sustain company culture. Try to shift your perspective to allow employees to mingle and connect with each other, and watch as the culture expands accordingly.

Build Tech Processes to Include Remote People

If your organization plans to have some people in the office and other people at home during the same workday, make sure your tech stack can support that setup. It’s frustrating for people at home to feel like they’re missing out on in-person communications. It’s even more frustrating if they miss meetings altogether because there’s no process set up to include them.

5 tech tools to facilitate a hybrid work model

G Suite

Utilizing the full suite of tools that Google offers is a must. Through video conferencing, chat, and their vast collection of productivity apps, businesses can collaborate no matter where they’re working from with streamlined, reliable access.

Asana

Asana can help you and your employees stay focused and productive with a virtual to-do list, letting team members know when it’s their time to review a project or keeping employees on track for tasks due that day.

Zoom

Using video conferencing apps like Zoom creates more opportunities for the free flow of information and feedback, which is necessary for maintaining remote workforce engagement.

Slack

Using instant message software such as Slack allows you to communicate with your team instantly and manage conversations through channels, keeping it more organized and secure than email.

15Five

Continuous performance management solutions like 15Five are constructive when facilitating effective feedback and regular check-ins between employees and managers.

Hybrid work culture only works if employees feel like they’re still included in the company no matter where they’re working from. Make sure your processes align with that outcome.  

Trust Your Employees 

Lastly, trust your employees to get their work done even if no one is watching over their shoulder throughout the workday. Nothing kills company culture like over-the-top surveillance or micro-managing. You hired your employees for a reason, so trust them to get their work done whether they’re at home, in the office, or somewhere else entirely. 

If an employee’s output seems to drop considerably when they’re not in the office, that’s a different story, but most team members don’t need scrutiny just because they’re outside your view. Empower your employees to own their deliverables, and they’ll feel more like part of the team. 

Conclusion

While these five recommendations don’t solve every challenge you might encounter with a hybrid model, they will go a long way towards sustaining company culture. To learn about getting assistance with payroll, HR, and benefits for your business contact Merritt Business Solutions today.

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