After more than a year of working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are returning to offices, either full time or for a few days a week, leading to a rise in hybrid workplaces that are simultaneously in-person and remote. This creates both opportunities and challenges.
While it’s become clear employees value a more flexible work environment, there are indications that many managers are placing higher-value on in-person interactions. The key for the hybrid environment to work is to strike a balance where everyone can feel understood, included and valued.
Employees need to feel included and valued
With a combination of remote and in-person employees in the mix, companies need to proactively make sure everyone has equal opportunities for advancement, including fairness in evaluations and promotions. And that feeling of inclusion and a sense of belonging is key to not only engaging your employees, but also in keeping them on board. According to research from McKinsey, employees who feel included are three times more likely to report being excited about working for their organization and committed to its success. Another McKinsey report, focusing on attrition, shows that employees primarily leave companies because they don’t feel valued or don’t have a sense of belonging.
As pandemic restrictions ease, it’s clear that one big change to the way we work is here to stay: hybrid working. However, these environments run the risk of creating new inequities and exacerbating those that already exist.
— “Five Practices to Make Your Hybrid Workplace Inclusive,” Harvard Business Review
Disparities between remote and in-person employees
It’s difficult for employees to feel included or valued if false assumptions are formed about their work productivity. In his Forbes article, “The Hybrid Work Model: A New Challenge For Diversity, Equity And Inclusion,” executive recruiter, Aram Lulla with the Lucas Group, discusses the concept of proximity bias. In proximity bias, managers falsely assume people are more productive when they are physically close by. In a hybrid work environment, it may be a challenge for employees and managers alike to not let this type of unconscious bias creep in. In fact, as Lulla points out, research indicates remote employees are just as productive, if not more so, than their in-office counterparts.
Conversely, there may be situations where only a privileged few are allowed to work remotely, offering them greater possibilities for flexibility and work-life balance – while those in the office are expected to adhere to a stricter schedule. In either case, the hybrid model runs the danger of creating an unhealthy disparity between remote and in-person employees, further exacerbating inequalities that may already exist. But by applying a focused approach, organizations can take steps to course-correct toward a more inclusive and equitable hybrid work environment.
Creating an inclusive hybrid workplace
Whether your hybrid model is already in place or you are transitioning in that direction, now is the time to make sure you have the elements in place to ensure your hybrid workplace model is as diverse, equitable and inclusive as possible. Here are some concrete steps you can take to get started.
Just like any organizational transition, creating and sustaining a hybrid model will take ongoing commitment to make it work. The steps above will give you a start, but it’s the consistency and energy with which they are planned, integrated and executed that will make the biggest difference. With these steps, you’ll fundamentally be following a DEI (diversity, inclusion, equity) focused approach that will do more than benefit remote/in-person employees. It will lay the groundwork for attracting more diverse candidates and shape an inclusive environment that engages everyone to contribute, collaborate and innovate.
1. Adjust your interviewing processes.
Recognize and tackle interviewer bias. Because we’ve all had different life experiences, everyone has blind spots. As mentioned above, “proximity bias” perpetuates the false belief that remote employees are less productive, when indeed the opposite may be the case. Ensure interviewers are not inadvertently asking questions that might make a candidate feel excluded — for instance, by emphasizing the importance of in-person meetings for a potentially remote employee. In that situation, help managers understand that “face-time” can be successfully accomplished remotely. Through consistency of actions and words, demonstrate to candidates throughout the process that they will be included and valued.
2. Carefully craft your onboarding procedures.
Develop an onboarding plan designed to launch new employees on a positive trajectory within the company. Create a welcoming environment for your new candidates by giving them exposure and access to a wide group of their peers – people who have been with the company for many years and others who have just joined, those who work remotely and those who do not. Ensure your onboarding plan is cognizant of dynamics and issues that underrepresented employees may face. Establish mentorship opportunities where new employees can have easy access to company leaders and other influencers who can help them get established within the organization.
3. Shape an environment where all employees can thrive.
The danger of in-group/out-group dynamics is even greater in a hybrid setting. The first steps: weed out microaggressions. These are slights or barbs that intentionally or inadvertently minimize people. Ongoing training can help create awareness and offer tools and strategies to adjust those behaviors. Watch out for exclusionary behavior, such as in-person meetings that don’t fully include remote employees (side-bar chats, disapproving side-glances, whispering, etc.). Call people on this kind of behavior and make sure they are clear on the type of conduct that is and is not acceptable.
4. Create opportunities for healthy interactions.
Be creative in the way you put people together to make connections. Create cross-group interactions around either work-specific or culture elevating efforts. For instance, combining groups around brainstorming efforts will not only generate fresh ideas, but it may expose employees to new and interesting dimensions of the organization. Design your work model around the organization having a “listening ear” to give everyone an equal voice, putting the focus on uncovering and harnessing the value of diversity. And if you have Brand Identity Guidelines or other thought pieces that explain your organization’s mission, purpose and values, share and discuss these with employees. It will help them understand how to conduct themselves with each interaction, both inside and outside the organization.
5. Create equitable evaluations and ensure fairness around promotions.
To shape an inclusive culture, it’s essential that systems and processes around promotions are both transparent and equitable – much like your recruitment efforts, design methods and processes that screen out bias. That means vetting performance evaluation forms and establishing criteria for advancement that fit with the values of the organization and are applied widely throughout. As managers evaluate employees, ensure they welcome a diversity of experience and thought. This avoids perpetuating a “sameness” in thinking and approach that can squelch creativity and innovation. And most important: Give everyone an opportunity to succeed based on the value they create.
6. Sustain your commitment to an inclusive culture.
It’s one thing to set up an inclusive and equitable organization, it’s another to keep it that way. Strive to constantly adapt your culture so everyone can identify and belong to it. Listen for feedback both formally – through surveys and focus groups — and informally, through chats and manager/employee meetings. Turn individual learnings into sustainable policies. Do this by collecting and retaining feedback you receive from employees, translating those ideas into actions whenever possible. Design individualized career tracks that address the unique needs of your remote and in-person employees. If employees are being listened to and their personal needs are being addressed, they will be much more likely to contribute back to the organization in a positive and uplifting way.
Just like any organizational transition, creating and sustaining a hybrid model will take ongoing commitment to make it work. The steps above will give you a start, but it’s the consistency and energy with which they are planned, integrated and executed that will make the biggest difference. With these steps, you’ll fundamentally be following a DEI (diversity, inclusion, equity) focused approach that will do more than benefit remote/in-person employees. It will lay the groundwork for attracting more diverse candidates and shape an inclusive environment that engages everyone to contribute, collaborate and innovate.
