With the grave incident of the pandemic, organisations adapted to a hybrid and more flexible work environment. In terms of definition, a hybrid workplace combines “work from office” and “work from home”/remote working to offer employees with higher support and flexibility. Not only employees but a hybrid workplace offers employers a diverse workforce ranging from permanent employees to freelancers to contractors. An increasing number of employees are opting for remote work the majority of the time. Trends indicate that:
- In 2022, the number of paid remote job postings witnessed a spike over LinkedIn by 15.9% due to its high demand.
- A survey of 9000 workers showed that 83% of the employees prefer a hybrid workplace model in comparison to on-site work.
- According to CNBC reports, there has been a 22% increase in the number of freelancers since the pandemic.
Since a hybrid workplace is still in a transition mode, yet to be entirely embraced by the employees, organisations are facing challenges to unify this scattered team.
The major challenge with hybrid workplace
When talking about hybrid workplace challenges, productivity is the first word that comes to mind. However, contrary to the general assumptions, productivity is not the major issue in a hybrid workplace. While productivity can be maintained and the seriousness of the work can be instilled in an individual, the fragmented work culture is the most significant risk in the majority of organisations.
Culture is the people’s mindset that influences their daily interactions. While productivity is posed as the major issue in a hybrid workplace, without healthy culture in the workplace, the productivity of the workforce decreases. Additionally, research has shown causation where healthy culture drove high organisational productivity. However, a big question looms about whether culture eases transformation. Examining the changes brought forth by the pandemic, there was no guidebook to navigate through the changes but to adapt according to the situation. For example, prior to the global viral outbreak, the workplace was focused majorly on getting the job done, however, in the current scenario, the workplace focus has been shifted to the employees. The major conflict is that certain HR leaders believe that a hybrid workplace is unable to preserve the organisational culture while other HR leaders are working towards shaping a new culture in the hybrid workplace.
Issues associated with fragmented workplace culture
Culture is an amalgamation of connection, conversations and morale. Without the intactness of these components, the organisational culture disintegrates, leading to low productivity and the ultimate failure of the organisation.
- Connection
In an on-site job, individuals working in the office connect with each other irrespective of the department and the team. They communicate over a shared meal in the cafeteria and while brainstorming sessions. However, in a hybrid workplace setting, connections are generally restricted to the teams and the departments. Interaction through the screen without human connection encourages the employee to only focus on deliverables rather than fostering and nurturing genuine connections and professional relationships. Such a limited opportunity for connection is a concern for HR leaders all over the world. The people leaders believe that the enthusiasm for remote work is driving away the organisational culture by increasing the human disconnect. This disconnect is leading to the rise of a “dominant workforce class” where certain employees feel they are central to the organisation. Such an environment leads to the other employees being low in productivity and looking for opportunities elsewhere.
- Career advancement conversations
As the world inclines towards a hybrid workplace model, several HR processes are changing. HR leaders are wondering how to maintain and improve career development conversations with employees scattered over different locations. “Proximity bias” in the workplace is rising with the increase in hybrid work. It is the phenomenon of providing the employees working on-site with career development conversations, opportunities, mentoring sessions and additional projects in comparison to employees working in a hybrid setting. Career development is an integral part of the organisational culture, however, with the shift from in-person to a hybrid setting, the culture is driving away from a professional development focus to restricting to assigning projects and obtaining deliverables. In the times of sole remote work, the employees were projected as “boxes” on the screen with equal access to opportunities. However, in a hybrid workplace, different employee groups (on-site, remote, freelancers etc.) have access to different development conversations and opportunities.
In a survey conducted for 1,000 HR leaders, 43% believed that a hybrid workplace is bringing “proximity bias” and hence, an on-site workplace is highly favourable for career advancement conversations and opportunities. In addition to this, globally, more than 50% of workers believe that their career advancement has been negatively impacted due to the hybrid workplace culture. Such data indicates the necessity for career conversations in the workplace. HR leaders are required to identify ways to enable avenues of growth for employees and ensure unbiasedness across all employee groups.
- Morale
A study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that more than half of business leaders are struggling to maintain employee morale, while the rest are facing challenges in maintaining the company culture. Research by Steelcase has shown that a significant number of employees prefer on-site jobs compared to the hybrid workplace to achieve a sense of connection, community and enhance their morale. Enhanced morale is a precursor to high productivity. So, while productivity may be an issue with a hybrid workplace, the lack of cultural integrity impacts productivity.
Prior to the pandemic, career and professional development have been a part of the workplace culture. However, with the shift from on-site to hybrid, a lot of focus has been diverted to the understanding of technological changes. This often proves as a roadblock to the identification of employee needs. Conversations regarding career development are essential to maintain employee engagement and uplifting morale. Failure to do so will reduce productivity and efficiency, leading to low performance. Moreover, the traditional ways of career development strategies have become lacklustre and hence, HR leaders are focused on identifying career conversation opportunities in a hybrid workplace environment to understand the need and skill gaps of the workforce.
Consequences of a fragmented culture in a hybrid workplace
A hybrid workplace approach witnesses culture as the major challenge. Often, in such a workplace environment, the workforce of the organisation lacks collaboration, innovation and feels isolated. 70% of the transformations fail mainly due to culture-related issues. In a hybrid workplace, different employee groups differ in terms of proximity. Hence, employees lacking a sense of belonging are at a high risk of low productivity and isolation.
According to Forbes research, it has been observed that hybrid workplaces facing culture-related issues witness the following consequences:
- Low revenue growth
The fragmented culture in a hybrid workplace drives the employees away from a common purpose. As a result, they are unable to comprehend their contribution and impact on the company. This further decrease employee engagement and productivity. Low productivity and performance by the workforce is the major reason for low revenue growth. Additionally, low revenue growth is a result of reduced trust and collaboration which is lacking in a fragmented culture. In a hybrid workplace, employees often work from different wakes of life. However, their contribution to the organisation is not felt due to their detachment from the shared purpose. Building a strong culture is necessary for a hybrid workplace to ensure high revenue generation. Strengthening the culture is not a micro-level strategy, but rather an organisational requirement that must be established at the top.
- Low retention
Employee retention is one of the most crucial parts of a high-functioning organisation. The HR leaders are responsible for strategies that ensure high employee retention. Think about it like this, you have hired an individual and enabled them to develop their skills. Now they are one of the top talents in your organisation. The next step is to ensure they remain in your organisation. Another way to look at it is that you have hired a skilled individual whose continued dedication to the organisation is of high importance. However, research reports that approximately 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged, leading to a low employee retention rate. Especially with the transformation to a hybrid workplace environment, the culture has become “assign work, receive deliverables”. This is leading to low employee engagement which, in turn, is leading to low employee retention.
- Low net income
The net income is an important parameter while measuring the success of an organisation. However, with the initiation of hybrid working strategies, the net income of an organisation has been impacted. It is a direct result of the instilled organisational culture. According to John Kotter, a strong culture is associated with the strong financial performance of the company. Cultures that highly value the employees along with the customers foster a positive work environment that enables high productivity. For example, if a firm has built a strong culture, the employees are encouraged to meet the changing needs of the customer through adaptation. Additionally, if the firm values its employees, they are highly empowered to transition and the adaption pace is quickened. This results in the organisation remaining aligned with the trends, which leads to high net income. However, with a hybrid approach, the lack of cultural intactness leads to challenges in adaption, which decrease the net income of the company.
- Low return on investment
Whether financial or non-financial, culture cannot be isolated from other organisational components. In terms of finances, the return on investment is evident immediately. However, with culture, the return is more long-term which includes changing mindsets of employees, high productivity and optimum performance. In a hybrid workplace, the culture can be fragmented due to the difficulty of managing people spread across different locations. Hence, gaining a high return on investment is challenging when the workforce is unable to picture the common goal. Moreover, the lack of a definitive positive culture in the workplace negatively affects performance, leading to less effective strategies and low returns on investments. Therefore, it takes a tremendous amount of work to build and maintain a viable workplace culture that will give you a high return on your investment.
Future direction for mitigating culture challenges in a hybrid workplace
There are certain strategies that can be applied to build and sustain a strong culture in a hybrid workplace, which ultimately enhances the productivity of the workforce. Certain effective strategies include:
- Enhanced transparency
In a hybrid workplace, transparency within teams and even between teams is often lacking. As a result, a high disconnect is felt among the employees. Therefore, it is essential that HR leaders ensure that employees are transparent about the organisational operations and activities for increased participation and productivity. Furthermore, enhanced transparency will increase employee engagement.
- Work towards unifying teams
A strong workplace culture is characterized by workforce unity. One of the excellent ways to enhance unity is to help employees understand the company vision, which is a common goal. In addition to this, unity brings along collaboration which increases the connection between different employee groups. This will greatly benefit a hybrid workplace where employees are scattered over different locations.
- Inclusion
Inclusion is the way to move forward in terms of providing career development opportunities as well as boosting morale. Brainstorming sessions, introducing new hires to the company, highlighting company values and effective conversation with each employee will enable the development of a strong and sustainable culture in a hybrid workplace.
In conclusion, a hybrid workplace is where employees work on-site as well as remotely. However, this arrangement often leads to significant challenges. In contrast to the assumption that productivity is the major challenge, it is found that culture is the main issue. A hybrid approach to work leads to disconnect, a lack of career conversations and low morale due to a fragmented culture. Without a strong culture, employee performance is low, which decreases productivity, net income, generated revenues, employee retention and return on investment. Hence, strategies like enhanced transparency, unifying teams and inclusion are required to improve the functioning of a hybrid work environment.
If you’re struggling to navigate the complexities of establishing a thriving hybrid workplace culture, our experts are here to help. Contact us today to learn more about our solutions and how we can assist you in creating a culture of productivity and engagement in your organization.
