Slack, the global technology company that offers the collaboration and communication hub that is part of our every day now, primarily worked as an in-office workplace in the pre-COVID era. Post-pandemic, they continued to encourage employees to work according to their lifestyles. In the first year of adopting the flexible work model, they increased their revenue by 43%. That is a clear sign of productive employees in an effective hybrid work culture.
Despite this success story, questions surround the hybrid workplace model.
Is it possible to maintain employee satisfaction?
And how?
Is it a trend that will die soon or a norm in the post-pandemic world?
Traditional workplaces have undergone a paradigm shift after the Covid pandemic. With the workforce increasingly pivoting towards remote and hybrid work models, it is evident that this trend is here to stay.
In 2023, 28.2% of employees preferred a hybrid model. While in-office work is still the preferred way of working, there is a clear upswing toward the hybrid working style.
Before diving into the nitty-gritty of employee satisfaction in the hybrid workplace model, let’s learn more about the working model.
Understanding the hybrid employee experience
The hybrid working model keeps the workplace location flexible, allowing people to combine on-site and off-site work effectively. It gives the employees the flexibility they want, thus improving overall productivity and enhancing the potentiality of job retention.
Hybrid workers save a whopping $19.11 daily on commuting. 79% also report achieving better mental health status as they feel less stressed and achieve a better work-life balance.
The HR leaders, apart from taking care of organizational objectives, need to design hybrid working arrangements catering to each employee.
Here are the top things for employees to consider:
- Creating a successful hybrid workplace experience requires employers to focus on three pillars: technology, space, and people. Each component can elevate the work experience for employees and make it unique. For instance, managers and supervisors must define team metrics, such as deadlines, to emphasize outcomes instead of working hours.
- The ideal way to balance remote and in-office work responsibilities is to prioritize right. It means consciously managing your time and energy to meet personal and work commitments.
- Addressing communication and collaboration challenges in a hybrid team is important to break silos and work towards common goals. Maintaining consistency in business communication is important to maintain cohesiveness and boost organizational productivity. Standardization of communication channels can help in this regard to ensure all employees get access to the same information.
Key factors influencing employee satisfaction in hybrid workplaces
Employee satisfaction is influenced by an array of factors that vary from one organization to another. Here are a few common and key factors -
Flexibility and work-life balance in a hybrid work model
The flexibility that a hybrid model offers-
- Encourages workers to work to their strengths, enhancing their productivity and preventing burnout. If an employee is most productive around 5 a.m. or 8 p.m., a hybrid model will allow the person to complete the work at that time rather than forcing her/him to complete projects in the conventional 9 to 5 timeline.
- The hybrid work environment has had nearly 56% of employees report marked improvements in their mental health.
- 88% of employees have admitted that the hybrid working model has enhanced job satisfaction.
Technology and infrastructure requirements for seamless remote work
Supporting a distributive workforce isn’t easy; hence, you need technology and infrastructure requirements to ensure seamless remote work.
- Video conferencing is the closest you can come to physical meetings. Zoom and Skype are a few of the most effective communication tools for easy collaboration.
- Messaging apps such as Slack, with easy-to-use features and extensive app integration, can be one of the most effective communicative channels for work collaboration.
- Project management tools such as Monday and Asana can enable managers to delegate tasks and subtasks and set deadlines. The comprehensive project management tool allows for extensive customization.
- Employee management tools like Amber’s Moment’s that Matter (MTM) module simplify listening to what the employees say about any change in their work, like location, project, role, appraisal, or manager—and take suitable action.
Supportive and inclusive company culture in hybrid settings
According to Forbes, organizations see a marked improvement in business results when cultures improve. A supportive and empathetic management can build a positive workplace culture based on trust, understanding, and mutual respect. Employers can nurture strong relationships with an employee-centric culture.
Managers can provide support and implement well-being initiatives to help employees overcome challenges and perform better. They can also offer proper training, guidance, or coaching to support their growth and development needs, even in a hybrid model. Providing equal opportunities for recognition and rewards for in-office and remote workers also improves employee satisfaction.
Strategies for enhancing employee satisfaction in hybrid workplaces
Working in a hybrid workplace can be challenging for many teams. It is often difficult to feel valued and connected with employees.
Here is how employers can ensure employee satisfaction doesn’t suffer in hybrid working models.
- Provide the team with everything they need, including the right tools and resources to enable a comfortable work setup at home or office and efficiently meet the unique challenge of the hybrid position.
- Improve social interaction. Remote work can be lonely, and encouraging social interaction can make employees feel more connected.
- Foster team collaboration. While collaborating can be challenging in asynchronous work employee engagement, virtual team building exercises and brainstorming sessions can help.
- Ensure employees are heard. You can implement effective communication channels and tools like inFeedo’s Amber to conduct pulse surveys regularly, gauge the employee mindmap, and make them feel heard. Amber has a whopping 80% response rate compared to traditional surveys.
Here is why Amber is effective in a hybrid setting to transition to a 100% remote workforce and enhance employee experience:
- It integrates directly with your internal BI and HRMS systems.
- It integrates seamlessly with communication channels like WhatsApp, Slack, and more.
- It offers best-in-class security to protect your data and privacy.
- It is powered by GPT-enabled conversational AI that converses empathetically with employees, understands intent, and acknowledges with context to help resolve employee concerns at scale.
- People analytics powered, it provides complete insights for improved decision-making.
- It offers 1:1 customer support for all queries.
The hybrid working model is the new norm.
Companies should ensure that their practices support the hybrid workplace, implementing specific guidelines for remote work to be successful.
The global workforce is on the cusp of a major change, and with the right practices in place, hybrid work can be an effective way to create a sustainable workplace.
Manage your hybrid workforce better and supercharge employee engagement with inFeedo's Amber today!