How hybrid working can work out for bosses and workers
As our competitive world rapidly changes, one question emerges: are permanent hybrid-work arrangements feasible? We think so — and here's why.
Working from home is not, and should not be an entitlement. Your employees' wellbeing should always come first, and with the persistent health risks of Covid-19, everyone should have the equal right to whether they work remotely or on-site.
In Singapore, there have been plans to make hybrid-work arrangements across various industries permanent. Research has shown that employees prefer hybrid work arrangements rather than purely remote working or working on-site approaches, and has seemed to have become a crucial criteria for job seekers.
Photo by Simon Abrams on Unsplash
In order to keep pace with the competitiveness of our rapidly changing world, hybrid-work approaches should not be ignored. Therefore, here are some ways you, as an employer, can accept and embrace such changes in your workplace.
Understand the changing ways of measuring productivity and performance
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have always been an essential and important method to keep track of individual and organizational performance. However, some of the ways in which KPIs are measured are no longer relevant in our changing work arrangements — without the right system, and in the absence of face-to-face work settings, it is difficult to understand how your employees are truly doing.
Asa Team allows employers to create weekly or monthly surveys for employers to gain a better understanding of how each employee is coping with their tasks, what they have completed, and what they might need extra help with.
Additionally, employees can voice their opinions and feedback and submit them anonymously. This anonymity helps employees feel more at ease when providing feedback, which could increase honesty and transparency in their comments and answers.
The right data is important to help you identify employees that require extra support for you to take further measures. Hence, the frequent and continuous collection of feedback from employees is essential for you to take meaningful and impactful actions to drive performance and understand how your team is managing.
Make appropriate amendments to your company culture
Our past two years grappling with remote and hybrid work arrangements as we ease ourselves into this new normal can be argued to have had a diluting effect on company culture. However, hybrid work models are here to stay. With many employees based in different locations, company culture and practices designed for the physical world have not been embraced by employees, and the ways in which companies' purpose, values, and beliefs are conveyed to employees have become less effective.
Employers should take the necessary measures to ensure the assimilation of shared purpose and goals to foster greater inclusivity within your team regardless of where they are. To counter these challenges, organizations should find new ways to establish more touch points with their team, such as reaching out to employees more often.
If you cherish a caring culture within your company, it is necessary to ensure that your employees feel looked out for and taken care of. On the first clock in of the day, the Asa Team bot allows team members to log in their daily mood.
This is a good way to track the mental wellbeing of your employees. Employees who show any signs of burnout or stress will be assisted with ways to cope with their stresses such as through the use of the self-care journal app, Journey.
Understand employee preferences
Photo by BRUNO EMMANUELLE on Unsplash
Your team's capacity to operate at optimal productivity and performance heavily depends on individual preferences and needs. When designing hybrid work arrangements for your employees, it is hence paramount to consider and accommodate the preferences of your staff.
In order to achieve the most ideal work arrangements, one way you could go about this is through surveying your staff to attain a better grasp of their perspectives. Asa Team enables employers to create surveys for employees to gain a better understanding of the team's needs.
This feature enables employers to ask questions such as desired work arrangements or how often they would prefer to work on-site. With the reduction of in-person interaction, it is essential to search for new tools and ways to build an online community with your staff, to as easily as communicate they did in the office.
Such attention to your team's needs and accommodating their personal preferences can boost their morale and productivity, and can go a long way. Happy workers lead to higher productivity for your company, a win-win for both employers and employees!
As we face the next evolution of working life — hybrid work arrangements, it is essential that you take the time to understand and craft your approach based on what works best for both yourself and your team. Lastly, remember to always ask yourself this: does it accentuate and fall in line with my company's core values and culture?