Hybrid work: the best of both worlds?

During 2020 and 2021, people across the globe discovered the joys and challenges of working remotely. The entrenched expectation of rigid in-person office hours crumbled, leaving both employers and workers trying to figure out how to move ahead once lockdowns ended.

Global expectations about the way we work have changed, but not in a consistent direction. The priorities of businesses and individuals are often at odds, and how much a person wants to (or indeed is able to) work from home will depend on their living situation, type of work and personality.

So how can Kiwi businesses strike the right balance to achieve the best of both worlds? This is the question we’ve been exploring, and we’ve released a playbook for successful hybrid workplaces in New Zealand.

 
Designing your hybrid workplace

Shifting from hybrid-by-crisis to hybrid-by-design requires some careful consideration. Being truly hybrid is more than just sometimes working from a home that is a short drive from your office. It could mean working from a customer’s premises, it may mean working from a different town or even a different country.

In the same way that hybrid works differently for different people, it works differently for different types of roles.  An office worker with a desk-based role could work from a shared workspace.  A customer service agent could serve customers on video chat from their home.  A building foreman could be onsite four days a week and spend one day a week at home completing paperwork.  So while many roles could include an element of hybrid working, the same approach won’t work for everyone.  

Getting it right means balancing organisational goals with people preferences, so you can tailor an approach that fits your organisation and culture. The first step is to get the foundations right, so your whole team can align their goals and expectations. This builds a culture of trust, which underpins all successful flexible work arrangements.

The foundations of a successful hybrid model

Starting with these seven foundations will help any organisation create a successful and sustainable hybrid work model:

• Customer - Design consistent customer experiences that meet your customers where they want to be served. Understand your customers’ current expectations because you may find these have changed considerably since 2020.
• People - Trust and accountability are vital to a well-functioning flexible work policy. Set clear expectations of your people and have systems in place to hold them accountable for their performance. Be open to exploring and addressing biases – how will you make sure everyone is equally seen and recognised? Having the right leadership structure and culture is key to the success of a hybrid model, without this foundation in place the chances of success diminish considerably.
• Policies and processes - Do your current procedures reflect new ways of working? It might be time to build new, clearer policies with appropriate governance and oversight. Consider co-designing a hybrid work team charter with your people.
• Regulations - Do the right thing the right way. Every workplace must be safe and healthy, so consider how the new approach impacts your team members and regulatory compliance.  What else can you do to support the physical and mental health of your people?
• Digital - The right digital tools are essential to the success of flexible work – even the most supportive manager can’t overcome a system that won’t let people connect to their vital documents remotely. Is your digital strategy robust enough to embrace future enhancements? Is your cyber security mature enough to maintain pace with continually evolving threats across distributed devices?
• Physical - The office should now be a place for collaboration and interaction. Is your physical environment set up for this? How do you make the office somewhere people want to work, and how do you create seamless transitions between different work environments?
• Measures - How do you measure whether your hybrid approach is working? You may need to rethink what productivity means to your organisation. Assessing your hybrid model and continuously improving it will help your company maintain a reputation for excellence as an employer.

Getting this right could help New Zealand attract world-class talent

New Zealand is unique in that we don’t have the ease of access to talent that some larger markets do. We don’t attract people looking for super-sized salaries or the chance to manage thousands of people. Instead, it’s our lifestyle that appeals – from our natural landscapes, to our fresh air and outdoor activities, to our relaxed attitudes.

If we could lead the way in hybrid working, this would be another lifestyle drawcard for top talent from across the globe. The pandemic changed the way many people feel about their work; they want a job that allows time for their hobbies and families. With a reputation for offering successful hybrid working policies, Aotearoa could be the destination of choice for brilliant minds who also want a balanced lifestyle.

Done well, this is a way of working that could drive greater success and productivity for individuals, businesses, and the prosperity of the New Zealand economy.