How to boost an innovative hybrid workforce

The future of work demands fast action from the employers of today if they intend to keep their boats floating. Embracing remote working and more so the hybrid work model as a permanent part of the company culture and mechanism is the stepping stone for it.

The pandemic forced businesses to reimagine the traditional ways of working as work from home had become the norm. Though vaccinations and reduced covid infections are offering employers the ray of hope to call their workforce back to the office, the option of completely retrieving the step taken earlier has dissolved itself. This is due to the risks involved, changed employee demands and a big shift of priorities. Hybrid working is the new normal and companies need to focus on strategizing plans to ensure this becomes a success so that they don't lose their talent to competitors who have already realized the power of employee work autonomy.

While enough has been spoken about remote working, hybrid work model is a relatively new phenomenon, which brings a whirlwind of uncertainties with itself- much to the dismay of businesses that had started curating 'Re: Back to Office' emails. If employers want to continue being in the race, this is the only way out as employees are consistently choosing flexibility and hybrid work in every survey conducted.

Here are the ways employers can boost their hybrid workforce to ensure the innovation is enhanced and productivity is accelerated:

1) Listen to your employees

More than often, employers tend to make decisions without discussing or even attempting to ask the opinion of the very people who will get most impacted- the employees. That's where the problem starts taking shape. Listening to the employees will allow companies to understand their concerns and the steps to be taken to resolve them despite the geographical limitations.

2) Bridge the new gap between leaders and employees

Due to the pandemic, most of the focus was on keeping the business alive and rightfully so. However, this soon led to a loss of touch between employees and leaders. This is the time to show that leaders care about their employees and are there to lead the way, not just monitor or allot their work.

3) High productivity is masking an exhausted workforce

Everyone needs a break, even your top performing employees. The pandemic has squeezed the energy out of every working person and without ample time to recover, the situation is only going to hamper companies that avoid this topic. Burnt out and exhausted employees lose concentration, interest and the will to work. Give them the break they deserve. Gen Z has a similar tale to tell.

4) Embrace digitalisation with a tech-first mindset

When the pandemic hit, companies that were tech-ready or had already adopted technology in their work systems faced little to no hindrance in continuing major tasks. Later, several jumped to join the bandwagon realizing the ease of work, accessibility, flexibility and support digitalization offered. While that was the need of the hour, the future of work demands tech assistance at every step to avert miscommunications and close gaps.

Make way for more autonomy and shared ownership

Organisational structures and workflows need to be altered to suit a work culture that provides autonomy to its employees. Moving out of their way is the first step to do so. Leaders need to show employees that they are trusted while also acknowledging that mistakes made have to be taken as lessons learned. This helps in increasing employee motivation, creativity, job satisfaction and contributes to their well-being.

(The author is a CEO at Keka HR)