The pull back into the office continues and so do our conversations with leaders about how the heck do they get people re-engaged and connected at work. Meanwhile our convos with recruiters look at how businesses can make their hybrid model attractive to candidates looking for maximum flexibility and choice. We are three years on from covid, and yet the conversation about hybrid still continues.
Employers looking to fill vacancies that need to be on-site full time are struggling to attract candidates (let alone the best person for the job) as people still value that choice and being able to do a good job whist having the flexibility to work in a way that suits their lives.
In its State of the Global Workplace 2023 report, Gallup concluded that 23% of employees are engaged at work, shockingly the highest figure since they began measuring back in 2009. The pull by employees towards a flexible and remote approach to work is invariably creating ongoing challenges and the need to adapt our approach to colleague engagement. In this, connection is critical,
- connection to our core purpose at work,
- our sense of belonging through our connection to our team
- our ability to connect our effects to the overall outcomes and success of our business is a key part of feeling values and useful.
The Gallup results and trends tell us some interesting things, that engagement and connection is not a new or a hybrid specific issue and if anything, the shift to more flexible and personalised patterns for many businesses have probably helped create the, albeit dismal, ‘high’ we are seeing this year.
As we watch the great call back to work by many, it strikes us that a lot of businesses doing this are focusing more on creating proximity than connection. I’m sure we’ve all got a friend, contact or personal experience of ‘needing to be in the office’ but then spending that time on teams’ calls, not talking to anyone they are physically near and so feel that they could have had a day at home.
They are also blaming hybrid for the already rampant engagement crisis that was at work in the UK. There are many things we can do to truly foster the right type of connection, while keeping ourselves attractive:
- Be purposeful in how time in the office is used. When you ask people to come in make sure you’ve put the steps in place for that proximity to be helpful and productive. Give them permission to manage their diaries around creating space to connect and collaborate face-to face, and facilitate team and cross team sessions to foster those contacts and connections.
- Audit and upgrade your comms approach, is it first for purpose for how your workforce now work and seek information, or is it still a Frankenstein of the panic add-ons you built to react to the Pandemic?
- Measure what drives connection and engagement in your business, we don’t just mean asking people, this is great start, but get a little of expert help to do some statistical analysis on your survey data to see what factors truly account for the variation in connection you see in your business. This can help you see past common narrative and grumbles to things that truly count.
- Empower colleagues to action ideas for building connection and collaboration across your business. Not everything has to come from HR and leadership, think about how you use could some action planning sprints / delegated but backs improvement projects that really involve and empower people across the business to make practical improvements for you.
- Don’t hide behind equality as the issue is much more complex, and using the argument that not all jobs can be carried our remotely just doesn’t cut it! If your organisation is asking people to be on site full time, make sure you know why, and crucially, you have a clear definition of what equality and equity look like in your business.
- Invest in your managers and tools to make sure you can get the best from your hybrid workforce. The world of work has changed for good, and managers need to trust and empower their teams in different ways.
The thing we encourage most is providing that challenge to yourself and others to see past hybrid and look at what is really happening in your business. There are lots of examples of business really thriving and engaging their people in a fully remote or hybrid context and while you may ultimately decide that isn’t what is right for your workforce, it will serve your well to be sure you’ve tried the right things to keep the competitive advantage of flexibility before moving back to a more business centric approach around where people work.