Perk up: Why having a hybrid work policy is so important and how SMEs can get involved

From wellbeing to WFH, the past two years have introduced a glossary of new terms to businesses. But none have been as big a hit with employees as the idea of hybrid or flexible working.

Research from serviced-office provider, IWG shows that hybrid working – combining home and office working for added flexibility – is beginning to gain parity with salary, pension and holiday for job seekers.

88% of workers said hybrid working was an important factor for a new job this year. Notably, unlimited holiday and extended parental leave each scored almost 10% lower.

But while the ability to choose where to work is popular with employees, some firms – particularly those carrying out physical labour – remain uncertain about how to introduce the perk and navigate the challenges associated.

The below guide will teach you how to design a hybrid working policy, identifying the biggest opportunities and threats, to ultimately improve staff satisfaction.

Why is having a hybrid working policy important?

Our guide to hybrid working outlines the policy as a good compromise for workers, who can reap the benefits of a social and collaborative office culture whilst having time to focus on their personal life.

Keeping your workforce happy and motivated is beneficial to businesses for obvious reasons – but it’s particularly auspicious during the current talent shortage, which has made hiring more difficult to multiple industries.

Competition is increasing for attracting new hires, meaning the power is very much in job seekers’ hands.

In order to convince employees to sign up with your firm you’ll need to introduce smart incentives. As IWG’s research shows, hybrid working would likely be one of the most persuasive.

What should a hybrid working policy look like?

Earlier this year, we reported that, in a survey of 1,000 business owners, 45% of respondents planned to implement a hybrid working policy over the next 12 months.

But while most people know what the term ‘hybrid working’ means, few are aware of what it takes to introduce one into a remote or office-based team.

In fact, data from Indeed, the world’s largest job site, shows that year-on-year searches for the term ‘hybrid’ have increased by an astonishing 6,531% in the twelve months up to the end of April.

That makes it one of the fastest growing search terms on their UK website – and clearly a subject that people are curious about.

Below, we’ll go through five key areas to consider when designing an effective solution to hybrid working:

1. Current attitudes

At its heart, a hybrid working policy is all about flexibility. Yet, six months after COVID-19 restrictions were officially lifted in the UK, many managers have yet to review or update their hybrid model since the lockdown first began.

Your current workforce might be entirely against hybrid working. They might prefer coming into the office or being based entirely remotely.

That’s why it’s best to start implementing a hybrid working arrangement by first understanding their current attitudes.

Issue a survey to your staff members. Use this to gather information about your current model of working and what they might like to see change.

Still, we recommend you think about preparing a hybrid work policy regardless of the results.

Even if your results show your staff are against hybrid working, you might hire a new worker in three months time for whom it’s an absolute necessity.

2. Impact on inclusion

Digital inequality was another big topic uncovered during the pandemic. While reliance on technology developed, peoples’ personal technology budgets did not.

Those with slower broadband access or outdated hardware were not able to be as productive or perform as well as they would have liked, leading to an unequal playing field in terms of career development.

Offering home office equipment is a way to minimise this risk. Make sure you include the costs within your financial planning.

It’s also important to implement an induction process for hybrid workers. Keep them assimilated with company culture and values, and host remote events to ensure they can curate strong working relationships with other hybrid team members.

Our guide to how to keep remote employees engaged has more handy strategies to help shape your business’s hybrid policy.

3. Performance and management

Naturally, if your team is working remotely on certain days, you’ll find it more difficult to monitor their efficiency on tasks.

Instead of observing staff, managers will need to adjust to assessing performance through outcomes, contribution and value.

Making this change generates a number of questions. Chiefly, whether your managers have the right equipment to manage performance in this way.

Review your current mechanisms for performance evaluation. How regular are your catchup meetings? How might you address poor hybrid working?

Similarly, you’ll need to consider the impact on reward strategies. Recognition of outstanding work needs to be fair and not biased towards those spending more time in the office.

4. Contractual differences

Any formal policy change at a company has legal implications for an employee contract. Conversely, hybrid working can also be undertaken on an informal basis without any amendments to contracts.

It’s the employees job to ensure that staff and managers understand the differences and the implications of both.

For example, if you choose to introduce hybrid-working informally, employees need to be aware that the privilege can be withdrawn at any time.

There may also be tax implications if an employee wishes to work some of their remote time outside of the UK. Discussing this further with a legal expert is a good way to cover all bases.

5. Communication channels

Communication is both an enabler for hybrid working success and a potential risk area if it’s not conducted correctly.

Poor communication affects how involved an employee feels in the office, their training and development, and the simple sharing of information between teams.

We would recommend you consider hosting all of your meetings online outright to combat the above threats. This will ensure each employee has the same experience of a meeting and is just as able to share their thoughts.

Our guide to video conferencing technology will give you more detail on the tools needed to make this work.

Encourage your teams to decide on their own approach to communication, such as how often to meet physically. ‘Team days’ in the office have become a popular fix for this.

That being said, it is important for companies to not overuse video conferencing technology, to avoid staff members feeling ‘Zoomed out’.

Chat-based messaging apps like Slack or Bitrix24 can help to improve team working without contributing to unnecessary meeting time. We’ve reviewed the top collaboration software for small businesses for more information.

Conclusion

Hybrid working is currently one of the most sought-after employee perks – and its cultural impact means it will likely remain high up the job seekers’ agenda for the foreseeable future.

It’s easy to focus on the positives that hybrid working will bring to your office, such as market competitiveness and increased employee satisfaction.

But just as important is proper planning and preparation to ensure that you’re not sprinting towards a solution that instead requires a careful, measured approach.

Only by first considering the potential blockers – such as communication challenges and contractual requirements – can you unlock the many benefits that a hybrid approach has to offer.