The Hybrid Work Is Here to Stay: The New World of Work (WOW)

The New World of Work (WOW) of Hybrid Work Environment

The new business reality is that there will be several challenges concerning the new world of work (WOW) that organizations are expected to face as we enter the 'new normal' or 'next normal' era of the endemic phase of COVID-19. Just as organizations across the globe went fully remote at the start of the pandemic, many organizations now need to build a successful hybrid work model—or risk losing their employees.

A hybrid work model allows some employees to work on-site while others work from different locations: work from home (WFH) or work from anywhere else (WFA). It’s about adapting work to how teams operate best and creating experiences that are as inclusive and reach as many people as possible. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to the new world of work, and how we work best varies dramatically according to our personal preferences. That’s where the hybrid work model comes in which includes combining office and remote work. Some companies have been working in a hybrid environment well before COVID-19, but many others are struggling to iron out all the particulars with this model.?

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO on the "Hybrid Paradox"

" ......the reality is close to 70% of the people say they want flexibility. At the same time, 70% also want that human connection so that they can collaborate. So therein lies that hybrid paradox.

Interestingly enough, if you look at the other sort of confounding piece of data: 50-odd per cent of the people say they want to come into work so that they can have focus time. Fifty-odd per cent also want to stay at home so that they can have focus time.

So the real thing I would say is right now, it’s probably best not to be overly dogmatic. Because I don’t think we have settled on the new norms.

These norms have to settle so that then we can have real causal relations that settle. And then we can understand what are even the broad contours of productivity flexibility."

Satya Nadella in the interview with Harvard Business Review (HBR) "Microsoft’s Satya Nadella on Flexible Work, the Metaverse, and the Power of Empathy" published on 28 October 2021, which is available at https://hbr.org/2021/10/microsofts-satya-nadella-on-flexible-work-the-metaverse-and-the-power-of-empathy.

In the latest Forbes article "Fed-up managers declare WFH is over, as 77% say they’d fire you or cut your pay for not coming back to the office" published on 8 April 2022, companies like Goldman Sachs, have been hardline with everyone coming into the office.

We have seen in the past year that many companies that adopt such a stance have lost talent as employees began asserting that they are not going to work at that company or in that industry if they’re not going to be allowed to exercise any flexibility in their professional and personal life.?

This is a new reality in an era where employees have experienced a different way of working, a different way of connecting with their colleagues and bosses, a reduced level of stress from the reduction of long commutes for some and saving more money for others. The fact is that many employees have a positive experience about it that they are now demanding it and want it.

The views expressed by former Google CEO and chairman Eric Schmidt, in the article, saying that "it's important people be at the office and he's happy the remote era seems to be ending" is misplaced. Microsoft's 2021 Work Trend Index outlines findings from a study of more than 30,000 people in 31 countries which have revealed that over 40 per cent of the global workforce considered leaving their employer last year hence this necessitates a thoughtful approach to hybrid work which will be critical for attracting and retaining diverse talent.

In the latest Report of Microsoft's 2022 Work Trend Index , one thing is clear:

"We’re not the same people that went home to work in early 2020. The collective experience of the past two years has left a lasting imprint, fundamentally changing how we define the role of work in our lives. The data shows the Great Reshuffle is far from over. Employees everywhere are rethinking their “worth it” equation and are voting with their feet. And as more people experience the upsides of flexible work, the more heavily it factors into the equation. For Gen Z and Millennials, there’s no going back. And with other generations not far behind, companies must meet employees where they are."

As leaders puzzle over how to make hybrid work?work, big questions loom: What is the role of the office? How do teams build social capital in a digital-first world? The challenge ahead for every organization is to meet employees’ great new expectations head-on while balancing business outcomes in an unpredictable economy.

To help leaders navigate the uncertainty, the 2022 Work Trend Index outlines findings from a study of 31,000 people in 31 countries, along with an analysis of trillions of productivity signals in Microsoft 365 and labor trends on LinkedIn. While we’re all learning as we go,?the findings reveal ?an urgent opportunity—and responsibility—for leaders to approach the transition with intention and a growth mindset, or risk being left behind.

The new book, “Leadership in Disruptive Times: Negotiating the New Balance” (Business Expert Press, 2022) is scheduled to be out on the market in July 2022, features several best practices case studies of leading global organization including Microsoft.

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With more than 175,000 employees across 74 countries, Microsoft was faced with an enormous number of people impacted during the onset of the pandemic?and the world of work largely moved to a remote setting. From creating connection in virtual environments to scrambling to keep up with quickly changing employee needs, the organization acted promptly to address these challenges. What are its key success factors?

Microsoft is undoubtedly one of the great places to work and its CEO, Satya Nadella acknowledged the importance of "empathy" as the cornerstone of the organization's customer-centricity approach also in how it deals with its valued resource, employees. In the US,?this would include special support for caregivers and employees of color, including training and encouraging managers to talk about their own experiences. They have successfully infused more flexibility in scheduling, location, and childcare arrangements to create room for more caretakers, women and returners to the workforce.

Microsoft employs about 22,000 managers, who became even more critical during the pandemic. In particular, the organization leaned on its managers to help acclimate the 25,000 new hires it brought on since the pandemic started, finding that new hires relied on managers for onboarding assistance 20% more during this time. In the HBR interview, Nadella articulated the importance of helping managers really recruit and retain talent through a framework called “Model Coach Care.” ?

"Everyday practice of great management is super important. That’s on the manager's side. Then on the employee side, we are doing everything we can to help employees feel that connection to the company’s mission and their coworkers– and coworkers both in terms of strong ties and weak ties. Because one of the fantastic things about having, let’s say, a campus like the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington, was you come to campus. You work with your immediate team. Those are strong ties." ?As a result, those with managers who were actively involved in the process were three times more likely to be satisfied with their onboarding. “When managers can create a supportive work environment where people love to work and [have] a sense of work/life balance, the natural byproduct is that people feel more connected."

Microsoft has been on a journey to transform its culture over the past years and that work proved vital during the pandemic. Their organizational culture is put to the test in the pandemic crisis.

Three aspects of Microsoft’s culture became the “guiding star” during the past 2 years as it operates as “one Microsoft team,” prioritize diversity and inclusion and is customer-obsessed.

On the latter front, for example, when retail stores had to shut down early in the pandemic, Microsoft created an emergency remote model that enabled 80% of retail employees to provide virtual training for customers–meeting the needs of customers while also keeping employees on the payroll.

The pandemic was a “wake-up call” to the inclusion issues remote employees have long faced: challenges in finding a workspace, broadband disruption, and caregiving complications–prompting many employers to finally tackle these obstacles. It’s also been an opportunity for teams to become more inclusive–particularly as employees got to see one another’s home lives, pets, partners and more. In an employee survey, nearly 40% of Microsoft workers said they are more apt to be their authentic selves at work since the pandemic started, and almost one-third said they’re less likely to feel embarrassed when their home life shows up at work. In a way, the employee saw each other’s humanity in ways they hadn’t before, and that pushed inclusion forward in leaps and bounds from Microsoft's perspective.

As the Great Resignation continues, employers are grappling with new expectations on the part of their employees–a trend that our research reveals will keep up. As stated earlier in the research findings published in Microsoft's 2021 Work Trend Index, more than 40% of employees surveyed planned to leave their employer in the next year due to burnout and a lack of flexibility. Employers need to pay particular attention to who exactly is leaving: Millennials, for instance, saw a more than 275% increase in job changes over the last two years. Hence, organizations need to get on the same page about what matters to their employees.

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Remote work is here to stay as organizations across the globe will keep supporting and developing policies related to?“Work-from-Home” (WFH)?even after this crisis is over. Since COVID-19 has upended work and office life, even companies with fewer resources and slower moving cultures are likely to follow. An emerging form of remote work allows employees to?“Work-from-Anywhere” (WFA)?so that the employees can choose to live in any geographic location of choice. While traditional WFH programs offer the worker temporal flexibility, WFA programs offer both temporal and geographic flexibility.

Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, deep learning, machine learning and natural language processing will make virtual spaces feel much more real, in-person, authentic and effective.

The hybrid model (also called the?hybrid remote work model) is one where some employees work remotely while some work onsite. Generally, a hybrid team is more flexible, and employees can decide whether they want to work in an office environment or a remote one. In the hybrid approach, having the choice to select the work environment may significantly improve employee productivity.

As organizations shift to more remote work operations, explore the critical competencies employees will need to collaborate digitally, and be prepared to adjust employee experience strategies. Consider whether and how to shift performance goal-setting and employee evaluations for a remote context.

Hence, the Remote (Virtual) or Hybrid model is here to stay, and leaders need to understand the benefits and challenges from a leadership and followership perspective.

Organizations need to develop a hybrid working policy that is formulated in the right way, balancing the needs of the business with those of the employees, setting out clearly how it will be implemented and most importantly effective communication is key to successful implementation.

On a final note, organizations need to be mindful of the current state of the great resignation and employee turnover that we have seen in recent years as adopting such hardline stances, With the kind of great resignation and turnover that we’re already starting to see, we would be surprised if, in the long run, they won’t start seeing people leave.

This is the era for employees. The power is in employees’ hands today because of the sheer scale and magnitude of the people who want to retain some kind of work-life flexibility in their professional arrangements, and if they can’t get it from their current employer, why not get it elsewhere!

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For information on CEE and DLI Corporate Profiles, please visit?https://cee-global.com ?and?https://www.disruptiveleadership.institute ?respectively.

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