Do Your Hybrid Employees Believe You?

After three years of working in physical isolation, no return-to-work policy will be met without resistance. Throw all the reasons their way: networking, professional development, relationship-building, productivity, brainstorming, visibility, etc. They may not believe you.

Employees who prefer remote work will tell you they have demonstrated success online and that the onsite expectation is an arbitrary one. They may be right. A recent trend among employers is sending team members back to HQ only for them to show up to an empty office where they land back on Zoom. And, after a 30-minute commute!

Some organizations are failing miserably at designing purposeful, in-person work experiences.

What’s the answer? Here are 5 considerations for an effective in-person work experience:

1. Be intentional. Design a workplace plan that factors in business needs and employee work preferences and then blends them together as part of a hybrid work strategy. To learn more, check out our recent article: “Hybrid is One Thing and Not Two.”
2. Make it fun. If you need ideas, consider that a red flag. Employee engagement should be at the top of every leader’s list. 
3. Make it easy. Is your office within a reasonable distance to the team? Can they easily “plug and play” when they come to the office? Is there convenient parking? What about coffee, snacks and lunch?
4. Show up. If you’re a leader, walk the talk. There is nothing better you can do to validate the in-person experience than by being there yourself.
5. Consider ramping up slowly. Facilitate a powerful team or company meeting, to start, to demonstrate the impact of coming together and then build off of that. If you’re not certain about your long-term workplace strategy, use our environments as a swing space.

For a free consultation on flexible workspaces, employee engagement, and meetings, contact colleen@workatcoco.com.