59% of workers now regard hybrid working, flexibility and autonomy over their day as a higher priority than salary when they are considering their employer choices. 

That’s just one of the findings from a 2021 Harris Poll (NCDA) of 5036 knowledge workers across some of the world’s largest economies. 

The same study shows that the traditional place of work, the humble office, for over 70% of employees is now seen as a social space, a collaborative hub and a space for engagement, and a service point for equipment challenges.  

In fact, they see that having an office space is a benefit, rather than a need. 

So, whilst it’s easy to forget that hybrid, remote and flexible working have all been around for a long time, ask any global project team and they can tell you how they flexed their ways of working to accommodate national and international teams, different time zones, experiences, and cultures…yet still achieved great things. 

The truth is that the work landscape has now conclusively changed for everyone. There is no going back. The onus is now on employers and employees to engage, adapt, adopt and thrive.  

But how do you do that? 

This month we will be exploring some of the critical building blocks of designing and managing a hybrid and remote workforce, and how by harnessing these fundamentals not only will you create a future of work that works for your organisation, but it will also work for your team too.  

And this is important because, even though employees want this flexibility, they also accept that there are challenges; namely what does it mean for their training, development, career prospects and general visibility within the business. 

Employees want employers who are prepared to address these concerns, because with the current scarcity of people compared to the number of jobs advertised, critical skills shortages in many industries and the onset of the great resignation, employees have proved that they do not need to tolerate a set of work conditions that simply do not work for them anymore. 

This time next year you will be able to look back and decide how your current hybrid and remote working policies helped or hindered you. You will know whether they caused you to lose people, or attract people, whether they fostered creativity, growth, engagement, loyalty, and goodwill, or if they disabled your ability to thrive. 

At Investors in People, we think 12 months is too long to wait, so join us this month as we celebrate some of the great work that’s already been done by our accredited community. Learn from leaders who are happy to share their wisdom discussing how employee engagement and listening are at the core of their model, how assuming nothing and getting data on everything helped them migrate some major pitfalls and how setting up community communication channels brought remote teams closer together. 

The route to a remote and hybrid workforce is rarely smooth so we will also be asking some of the tougher questions to help you get the clarity you need: questions like: 

What is the real function of your office in 22/23, is it one big server room/stationery cupboard or have you redesigned the space to fit the new function? 

How robust are your communication channels, is Slack just adding to the stress and isolation? 

How do you know when your team members are having a good day, bad day, same old-same old day? 

Out of sight, out of mind – when people become a name on a spread sheet and the get managed by exception – who spots and reverses the trend? 

What data are you collecting to monitor who is in your boat and who is drilling holes in your boat? 

Is your training and coaching to meet the developmental needs of your employees better now that you are remote working or worse? 

What training are you providing to help your employees adapt to being alone? 

How are you monitoring employee engagement, employee health and wellbeing? 

Caring and micromanaging – look exactly the same to a disengaged employee – what do you do? 

How are you still maintaining the ‘water-cooler’ moments across your teams? 

Do your teams still perform creatively in a remote/hybrid world? 

Are the workplace connections as strong? 

Join us this month as we cover all of these and more with some inspiring employers, insights from our own journey from the office to fully remote/hybrid and business leaders sharing their thoughts on the evolving nature of the hybrid world of work!