Ensuring Equity and Inclusion in the Hybrid Workplace

As organizations around the world slowly start to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we all have to adjust to a “new normal” that is often quite different from how we previously operated. After a year where many office-based employees had no choice but to work from their home, organizations are finding that employees’ readiness to return to full-time office work is mixed—while some are excited to collaborate with colleagues face-to-face, others are demanding more flexibility in their work environment, feeling that they have proven themselves over the last year.

As a result, we see many organizations embracing the idea of a hybrid workplace—that is, one in which employees have the ability to spend some time working remotely and some time where they are required to work from an office. 

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the disparity faced by employees when having to work from a home environment that was not designed with that purpose in mind—an issue with added complexity when you take into consideration cultural and geographic norms like access to technology, work style preferences, and living situations, among others. To ensure that we maintain a focus on equity and inclusion in the hybrid workplace we suggest considering some of the areas below.

Leverage Lessons Learned in Virtual Collaboration

Even when we are co-located in the same building we often find ourselves sending e-mails or chats to one another, instead of meeting in person. While many of us may have been looking forward to reducing the number of Zoom calls on our calendars, the pandemic has taught or reminded us that we can, in fact, effectively collaborate through virtual communication mediums. Instead of having a cluster of individuals in one conference room and others joining in remotely, consider leading with virtual meetings as the default for hybrid teams so that everyone is placed in an equal position and nobody misses out on critical side conversations or comments.

Similarly, continue using the other tools that helped to keep your team on track while working from home. Slack, Asana, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms were adopted in force during the pandemic. These tools can provide equal access to information and joint planning efforts, ensuring that nobody feels left out of the process or out of the loop of communication.

There will no doubt be activities that are best suited to face-to-face collaboration or that require physical resources; in these cases, work on arranging times when all team members can be present so nobody misses out.

Keep the Employee Experience in Mind

Many organizations pride themselves on a best-in-class employee experience. Task your teams to rethink what this might mean in a hybrid environment. For example, are periodic catered lunches a perk that you offer? If so, how can you structure these lunches to ensure employees who are working remotely can take advantage of this on the days they are in the office? If some members are working remotely on a regular basis, consider providing them with a small budget to order lunch to their home and leverage video tools to invite them to eat with others who may be in the office. When employees are in different time zones, consider scheduling meetings that don’t involve venues others will miss out on.

Do you regularly offer opportunities for learning and development? If so, focus on maintaining a balance of training opportunities that are facilitated virtually and face-to-face. eLearning and other asynchronous resources can be effective for both remote and in-office employees to utilize. Virtual coffee chats can even be a great way to structure a formal mentorship program within your organization.

Stay Focused on Health and Well-Being

As an organization, you will need to decide if a hybrid work model is positioned as a benefit or a requirement. While it may not seem to matter, the responsibility that you have to your employees outside the office can vary based on your answer.

Many organizations have extensive training and measures in place to focus on topics such as proper workplace ergonomics. How does this then translate to a hybrid workplace? If working remotely in part or full is a requirement for the job, then policies should be enacted that enable employees to have the same types of resources at home that they would have in the office—this may include an ergonomic chair, computer peripherals like a keyboard and mouse pad, or even a dual-monitor setup.

If your organization has an employee wellness program, continue offering options that cater both to in-person and remote audiences. You may want to consider balancing your schedule of fitness classes or offering health challenges that all employees can participate in flexibly, regardless of their locations. It could be important as well to make counseling or extended medical support available for employees who have experienced COVID-19 themselves—particularly the so-called “long-haulers” still trying to recover —or within their families.

Balance Your Rewards and Benefits Systems

Over the course of the pandemic, many organizations were surprised at the number of jobs that could be done remotely. At the same time, this time also highlighted specific roles that were only possible in person. Now is not the time to forget about these essential frontline workers. Likewise, you may have employees in some global locations that cannot work in a hybrid environment for other reasons such as small apartment sizes, lack of a reliable communication technology infrastructure in private residences, or cultural orientations that prefer, value, and are motivated by face-to-face interactions. 

In these cases, consider other potential rewards and benefits you can provide them. Can you offer flexible hours if employees need to take care of personal matters during the day? Or perhaps you can consider providing them with a commuting benefit or support for a stronger bandwidth connection for after-hours communication from home? Get creative and make sure these employees understand that you value their contributions and recognize the unique circumstances of their roles.

Review Your Talent Cycle

Re-evaluate organizational practices with your talent management cycle in mind to ensure the treatment of employees in virtual or face-to-face work settings is equitable. Are employees across your hybrid workplace—including those who are geographically remote from headquarters— considered equally for developmental opportunities, promotions, or pay increases? Do your performance management and succession planning systems provide fair consideration of those who are in virtual roles, or is the reality, “out of sight, out of mind”? Pivot when necessary, and continually check in with employees to assess the benefits and consequences of their new work reality.

Embrace the Opportunity

This shift from the traditional workplace to the modern “hybrid” model can be a challenge for many organizations—especially those that haven’t offered such flexibility in the past. The key to making the hybrid workplace a success? Embrace the opportunity this new environment offers. 

Take a few steps outside the traditional comfort zone and feel free to experiment and try new things with work arrangements. See if you can create a “new normal” for your organization that embraces diversity and inclusion, provides flexibility and adaptability for your employees’ schedules, and makes for a happier, more productive, and more collaborative workforce. 

Keep this in mind: the hybrid working environment isn’t something to be feared. With patience, testing, time, and intelligent planning, it could easily provide your organization with the best of many worlds. 

If you support employees who are managing or working with others in a hybrid work environment, contact us to reserve trial access to our latest eLearning module, The Essentials of Managing a Hybrid Workforce.

Discover more about the module here.