How to perfect hybrid working

One of the burning topics to have come out of the pandemic is the opportunity of hybrid, or blended working, and how this can ensure a connected wellbeing strategy.

At PCP, we’re big fans of removing complexity and challenges and, instead, finding a way to focus on success and win-win for both the employer and individual outcomes.

So, we think there’s a simpler way to consider what our working lives look like in the future, with a focus on purposeful working days. It shouldn’t matter whether you are a Tuesday-to-Thursday advocate or you love a work-from-home-Wednesday. What really matters – and ultimately drives the success of both careers and profitability, is that we have a purpose when we work and we deliver something meaningful at the end of each day.

What does a purposeful workday look like?

There are a few things that seem to continually surface for employers and employees in this debate. They are productivity, a sense of belonging/team, and accountability.

Let’s handle each one individually.

Productivity was seen to increase during lockdown and it’s certainly not an urban myth that most home workers are driven to work harder and longer. However, this often means boundaries are blurred and can result in other issues. A purposeful workday would be one where boundaries, outputs and working practices were clearly stated and agreed. For the employer, it’s important that their employee is able to work in an effective and efficient way (ie without undue distraction or interruption) when they aren’t in the office. For the employee, it’s important that they feel expectations are reasonable and achievable and that there isn’t a culture (real or perceived) of quantity over quality.

Having a sense of belonging is so important to us all. It gives us a sense of purpose if we feel we have a role to play as part of a team in delivering for our employer. Equally, for leaders, it is important to feel the team is aligned and united. Culture is one of the unknowns of our recent experience. Can it still form when workers are remote? How do we nurture it and still create a sense of ‘team’ if everyone has different working patterns?

Zapier are a great example of a business that’s never been anything other than remote. They tackle the issue of culture head on as part of the recruitment page on their website and have written a blog with ideas on how to build culture in a remote team. Essentially, it involves deciding what outcomes you want or need, investigating what tools are available to help you achieve them and using them to communicate clearly, consistently, and frequently to keep people on the same page.

Accountability is incredibly important when it comes to having a sense of purpose. We may enjoy working remotely and having flexibility in our week but we also all respond well to some structure and routine. Accountability can provide that by setting out goals and expectations and then following up to measure and assess performance. Providing this is done in a positive, collaborative way, it is a motivational experience which will create enthusiasm and energy which in turn drives effort and achievement.

Taking all this into consideration, there’s a common thread. Perhaps not surprisingly it’s communication. Being clear about what is needed or expected does mean the conversation about delivery is easier and a lack of performance is less likely to be an issue. But, in line with the concept of ‘purposeful workdays’ this expectation must be driven by quality and not quantity. To get this right, leadership teams need to be honest with themselves about the performance and behaviours that are truly business-critical and work out how they translate into guidance for their distributed workforce.

The simple solution to avoid the Great Resignation in your business

We’ve been posting on LinkedIn lately about how to stay in touch with your employees in a meaningful way, particularly in respect of their wellbeing.

Mental health and people’s resilience are factors that have been thrust into the limelight by the pandemic of the past 18 months or so. You could argue that this issue has been rising in priority for some time, but the pandemic has certainly accelerated the need for businesses to do more to proactively support wellbeing beyond having an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

A new phenomenon known as The Great Resignation is the reaction of employees to the way in which their employer showed up during covid-19.  We are sure you will hear more about it over the coming months and years.

It’s a matter of hygiene

It’s not news that people appreciate feeling valued in their work. Even money comes lower down the list of hygiene factors than feeling appreciated or listened to. Unfortunately for many employees it seems this was forgotten, perhaps in the panic to stay afloat when lockdown hit. The statistics now speak for themselves:

• 41% of workers surveyed are considering quitting or changing professions this year (Microsoft 2021 survey)

• 38% of UK and Irish workers plan to quit in the next 6 months to a year (Personio 2021 survey)

• In the US, in April alone, over 4 million workers quit their jobs. That’s the biggest spike on record

There’s certainly some truth that our unexpected ‘new normal’ will have caused people to question their life choices. There will be a proportion who decided to quit due to a change in their priorities, location, caring responsibilities etc.   But this doesn’t account for the huge trends being seen.

Hard times and heroes

And the evidence that we see in all the latest data, is compelling when you drill down into the reasons. The majority of resignations are down to individual’s treatment by employers during the pandemic. They feel their concerns – which include things like extra pressure or difficulty doing tasks remotely – are not being addressed (or in some cases, even heard); they perceive that when it comes down to it, making money trumps their wellbeing; they cite a lack of extra (or specific) support that they felt was essential given the nature of the crisis.

It was US politician Bob Riley who once said “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.”

Some top tips

For the brands who simply weren’t there for their people, the repercussions are likely to be long-term. Reputational damage such as this often runs deep when people can rate their employment experience on tools like Glassdoor.  It’s for precisely this reason that we’ve always worked closely with our clients to engage with – and listen to – their people. Our top tips are:

• Clearly articulate your strategy, along with how you will work together to improve culture because this underpins company success;

• Design and implement a listening approach that regularly tests what’s important to your people. It’s no longer enough to ‘take the temperature’ of the business in an annual survey. You need listening tools that enable clear and time-bound action;

• Conduct deeper dives to identify and enable action on the underlying issues that are affecting your people and their engagement with the organisation.

Getting these things right really will make the difference to productivity and therefore profitability for your business. Don’t forget, churn and recruitment cost money: it takes, on average, six to nine months to bring a new employee up to speed. Surely that’s far more time and effort than checking in with – and actively caring about – the ones you already have?

Why you need a wellbeing strategy and what might be in it

Prioritising wellbeing in the workplace is business critical as one in six of us will experience mental ill health this year (Mind), and recent evidence from the Institute of Fiscal Studies shows that mental health has worsened substantially (by 8.1% on average) as a result of the pandemic, with young adults and women hit hardest.

For us, at Practical Change Partners, it’s great to work with clients who care deeply about the wellbeing of their people.

We recently worked with Rachel Warwick, the Global Head of Culture and Engagement at Ocado Group on their approach to Listening, Wellbeing and Inclusion.  Ocado are really focused on using data to guide their work and are investing heavily in policies, processes and tools to support their teams.

Our experience in delivering these types of change projects has given us insights into how to reach every employee, and deliver authentic and impactful solutions. 

Here are some thoughts generated by our work with Ocado and others.

Delivering authentic & impactful solutions

So, what is the role of an employer?  With so many outside influences an employer cannot be wholly responsible for the mental health and wellbeing of their employees.  For this reason, it’s important to be aware of what and where you can add the greatest value to your people.  We think there are three core pillars to include in your wellbeing strategy:

○       Building skills - supporting employees to recognise and positively manage their personal mental health and wellbeing

○       Developing the right culture – managing, including and supporting people in the workplace through positive acceptance of difference and openly talking about mental health and wellbeing

○       Adopting the right policies and tools – implementing training, tools and approaches that increase understanding of, and support for, wellbeing

When the annual cost of poor mental health in England is projected to be around £119bn (Centre for Mental Health) there is a solid business case for investment in these pillars.  However, over three-quarters of managers believe businesses lack key support and education around mental wellbeing in the workplace and one in five employees with mental health problems worry that telling their employer could jeopardise their career (CIPD). 

3 steps to getting started

We think there are 3 key areas which, if made a focus, will support the most successful outcomes in mental health and wellbeing over time:

1. Employee Listening

Listening to employees from every corner of your business is crucial to being able to get support from leaders and invest in wellbeing solutions that are fit for purpose.  One size doesn’t fit all, and so you have to understand what will work in your context. The best people to tell you what they need are employees and managers.  For example, sending morale-boosting gifts such as chocolates and mugs is a nice gesture that will be much appreciated, but it won’t build the skills of managers and employees in recognising and supporting mental health and wellbeing.  Think about where any budget can be invested wisely by really asking your people what would support their wellbeing at work.  Gather the data and prioritise the actions, recognising any new approach needs time to embed so start small.

2. Change champions

Building a team of champions from all levels of the business will help to raise the profile of mental health and wellbeing. Building a ‘culture of comfort’ when it comes to talking about mental health needs people who are willing to share their stories.  When this starts with leaders you’ll gain buy in across the width and breadth of the business.  Your champions don’t have to be qualified mental health first aiders, but they will need help to equip themselves with skills to talk openly, recognise issues and navigate individuals to effective support.

3. Selection of the right tools

Thirdly, take time to decide what tools are actually required. You shouldn't feel that you have to spend thousands of pounds to drive great change. You probably already have access to some form of wellbeing tools through your insurers – private medical insurers particularly have developed great apps and often offer free workshops and training events that you can tap into.  There are also many free resources online.   

In Summary

As the world moves on past the pandemic, we are likely to continue to uncover ‘collateral damage’ for some time. People’s mindsets towards the way they live their lives will almost certainly have been affected by the events of the past year, and it is critical that this is considered and acknowledged in the workplace.

Authenticity is key to achieving a culture where people can thrive, rather than simply surviving. Your wellbeing strategy, in particular the way you talk about mental health, needs to link closely with your overall business strategy, and leaders need to be visible role models who support and embody the culture that the organisation wishes to embed.