The New Work Scene: Why Employee Experience Rules in 2024

Alright, let's dive into the wild world of work, where the employee experience reigns supreme! The expectation to have a good experience when we go to a restaurant, to a concert, or shopping has overspilled into all facets of our life. We now also demand a smooth work experience. Picture this: you're balancing your laptop on one knee, sipping coffee in your pajamas, while your chihuahua tries to photobomb your Zoom meeting. Ah, the joys of hybrid working! It's like working from home meets the office, with a little flexibility and a tick of understanding.

Hybrid working is the expectation. It's not just a trend; it's a long-term relationship with the way we work. Why? Because it gets us, it really gets us. It understands that life isn't all about punching the clock; it's about finding that sweet spot between work and play.

Take young families, for example. They're juggling more balls than a circus performer, so giving them the flexibility to work remotely is like throwing them a lifesaver in a sea of chaos. It's not just about clocking in and out; it's about being there for school drop-offs, soccer games, and impromptu dance parties in the living room. Hybrid working says, "Hey, we've got your back, fam!"

And let's not forget the impact of remote work—it's the recipe for a better work-life balance. No more soul-sucking commutes. Instead, you can conquer your to-do list in your slippers, with your favorite playlist blasting in the background.

But hold up, let's give office life some love too. The physical workspace is a hub of creativity, collaboration, and connection. There's something special about bouncing ideas off your colleagues or having impromptu brainstorming sessions in the breakout room. But is it really still happening? Most offices have changed their setup to hot desks, phone cubicles, and an extreme effort to optimize the existing space, but they have forgotten to understand how creativity and ideas spark. Maybe it’s time to rethink your office setup and adapt it to this new reality.?

Now, here's the kicker: the employee experience. It should not just be about perks like ping-pong tables or nap pods (lucky those who have them). It's about feeling valued, inspired, and part of something bigger than yourself. In a hybrid world, that means finding purpose in your work, whether you're coding lines of code or crafting killer marketing campaigns. When we talk about the employee experience, it is more than how the office looks like. It is how that office fits their work with the space and the technology at hand.

And let’s face it,we are all talking about it: some tech companies are ringing the office bell again, expecting employees to clock in like it's 9 to 5 all over again. But times have changed, and so have our expectations. We want more than just free snacks and swag; we want a workplace that gets us, that respects our need for flexibility and freedom. And you know what else? We need the right tools to do our job, whether we're working from the comfort of our couch or holding down the fort in the office. Effective software that seamlessly integrates with our hybrid work style is non-negotiable. Give us the power to collaborate, communicate, and conquer our tasks from anywhere, and we'll show you what we're made of. Invest in understanding the cultural differences depending on where our offices are based, the needs of different groups of people being graduates, young families, employees with dependents, and employees with pets.

Let's keep it real: expecting us to park our butts in the office for five days a week feels a bit outdated. Same as forcing rotas and timetables on people. Not only does it mess with our carefully crafted work-life balance that we all need and love, but it also sends a message that you don't trust us anymore to get the job done unless you're watching over our shoulders. So, how can we meet in the middle? That is the question! And it is going to look differently for each organization.

But let's share some universal ideas!

Data to prove the point: when you change your office culture approach from on-site, to remote and back to hybrid, you will upset people. That is clear. If your argumentation to wanting people to return to the office is performance or productivity, show the data. If you do not have data but you have a “gut feeling” performance has dropped, get the software to measure it. Ensure all your teams have access to a project management tool, where they can log in their tasks and track the time it takes them to complete, collaborate across the organization, share ideas and inspiration and make collaboration core part of your project understanding stakeholders and responsibilities. A solution like Monday can help you track that data and prove your point with the reports.

Meaningful gatherings: Back to the idea of office experience. Rethink the space, provide the right set-up and tools for home and office but specially in the office. From seat booking software to interactive meeting screens, to collaboration hubs to healthy food. Offer the space to be a dog-friendly office and collaborate with local nurseries to help your employees with kids. Give people a reason to be excited about the office and let them use their time to learn and develop daily! Or like Yvon Chouinard would say “Let My People Go Surfing”.

Learning as the cord to bring people together: And the idea of meaningful gatherings is totally interconnected with the idea of learning. Keep the curiosity alive with speakers, training sessions, coaches… offer your employees the opportunity to come into the office and get inspired by talks and information sharing. Book clubs, baking clubs, or chess clubs. Offer the space, the time, and the budget. Encourage online training on your LMS but bring that training to life with practical and group sessions too. A solution like Cornerstone has a very strong personalization feature that helps you offer different formats and types of learning for your employees. We do not all learn the same way, and that uniqueness should also be acknowledged.?

Not all jobs have the same needs: Back to our differences and what makes us unique. Some departments need to work locally and be in the same physical space. Other jobs are global and require lots of zoom call emails. Making an assumption that you have an adult and mature workforce, everyone should understand that there are differences in people's salaries, education background, job responsibilities, personal circumstances and so also attendance policy. Being transparent about this is always the best policy.

So, what's the takeaway here? In the brave new world of hybrid working, the employee experience reigns supreme. It's about finding that sweet spot between remote work and office vibes, where flexibility meets purpose, where people's needs can be met, optimizing your process and the work experience with robust software so that you can gather data to ensure your company is on track whilst making the work experience of your people smooth.

Image: https://unsplash.com/@austinchan