Maintaining Employee Engagement in a Hybrid Workforce

With strategic and well-timed lockdowns in countries like New Zealand and Australia, many employers are welcoming employees back to their offices after many months of working from home. Although many restrictions have been lifted and the Covid-19 cases have dropped substantially, many employees still find it risky to join the workforce physically. There is always a potential risk amongst the pandemic, and with many members living with family putting their life on the line is something they would like to avoid. Employers, therefore, have to be considerate in this regard and work around the given scenario.

The hybrid workforce trend isn’t only affected by employee concerns regarding covid-19 but rather the flexibility offered from remote working is also a key factor. Many employees, therefore, prefer to work in this manner and would want to work like this for the foreseeable future.

HR Leaders should be aware of the hybrid model, and the potential challenges it brings along with it especially when considering employee engagement. Work may be completed from any remote area, however, creating an office-like atmosphere to keep all employees in the loop and fully engaged in hybrid discussion is something to be aware of. The HR has to be proactive on the matter to ensure the gap between the office team and remote workers. In this blog, we’ll discuss how to keep the employee engagement levels on a high with the hybrid workforce in mind.

 

  1. Rewards and Recognition:
    Rewarding and appreciating your employees is always a must, however in a time where financial stability is shaky giving out monetary rewards may not be the ideal solution. However, appreciating and recognizing the employee’s efforts should never be taken lightly, especially in a hybrid workforce where a job well done may go unnoticed due to the physical absence of the employee. Appreciating them for their efforts as we do in person should be transferred over to the remote workers as well, giving out titles such as employee of the month or openly congratulating them in team communication channels.

  2. Digital Learning:
    Keeping a constant check on remote workers is key for any HR Leader, keeping them in the loop and given the same respect as the in-house employees. Therefore Learning and Development opportunities shouldn’t be compromised, but rather be accommodated in a manner that doesn’t make the remote workers feel left out. Developing an L&D program that caters to both types of employees in the hybrid workforce will be a key aspect for the HR Leaders. Opting for e-Learning or digital learning modules for the continuity of L&D will prove to be the right choice. e-Learning modules are easily accessible and can be easily set up, providing the best solution to the problem.

  3. Proactive communication:
    During the lockdown, when all employees and other staff members worked remotely a greater emphasis was put on communication with constant updates in communication channels as well as multiple updates daily to keep everyone in the loop. However, with the ease in restrictions and open offices, communication has fallen off from what it was. The hybrid workforce demands the same level of commitment to keep communication effective during these times, with the help of Slack multiple channels can be created to accommodate both sets of employees. Similarly having discussions via video call or conferencing can help bridge the gap between the employees.

  4. Develop managers to adapt to the hybrid workforce:
    Modern problems require modern solutions, and a relatively new hybrid workforce requires newly upskilled managers to cope with this new age of working. The quality of managers during the quickly changing digital era is critical for leaders to support and engage with their teams. Tasks such as goal priority, team meetings, and employee check-ins should be included in this new upskilling of managers to ensure both in-house and remote workers are kept productive and on track. Similarly to managers, HR Leaders should learn more about the pros and cons of a hybrid workforce in order to stay on top of any potential issue that may arise.

  5. Align learning to strategic business priorities:
    After COVID-19, talent will heavily be relied on to help rebuild organizations. Expanding into new markets and territories to meet consumer demands. Therefore, aligning training with the most important business priorities is key. Relevant learning in line with business priorities will help HR Leaders identify which programs check all the boxes. In addition, in a distributed environment, ensuring that all employees work towards the same goal will help the team gel better together, something which has never been more important than in a hybrid workforce environment.

Boosting employee engagement in a hybrid workforce with the help of advanced digital tools such as the complete HR management of PeopleSonic is the modern way to go! Such software allows you to work with your employees and focus more on their engagement and productivity whereas the automated functionality does the rest for you. Keeping employees engaged with an online learning curve will not only help the development of related skills but ease their workload, which are all signs of a healthy workspace and engaged employee!

Why Strategic HR Is More Important Than Ever In 2021

We reside in the modern world where consequential approaches aren’t enough to differentiate between businesses. In the year 2021, heading forward without a strategic HR  approach is completely void. Companies require more on HR planning as opposed to transactional HR in a constantly changing and disrupted world.

The new approach revolving around strategic HR extends beyond the office cubicles and administration processes. Adopting this strategy means you’ll have to shift into a modern and future-oriented business that focuses on achieving its set HR and company goals.

 

Strategic HR: A work in progress?

The strategic HR approach is fairly dependent on the visionary mindset, having clear and set goals to work towards. Without these basics, the new approach may crumble.

Having clarity within your company goals as well as HR goals is the first base you’ll need to set. A solid method to set or highlight your goals would be to work from the top-down and from the past retroactively. This helps in visualizing what needs to be prioritized, what skills need to be implemented, and who needs to be hired to effectively reach the goal. Having it all laid out and planned will let you backtrack from the end result and possibly remove any hurdles from the get-go.

Nonetheless, upon classifying and identifying the required resources, working towards the vision requires thorough research and analysis of a variety of aspects such as behavior, skills, and knowledge within the company walls. Rectifying these aspects will help measure and align them with the set path, or help understand where you fall short of the vision.

 

Being an HR Professional and developing a strategic mindset

As an HR Professional being versatile as a manager and companion to the employees isn’t enough, you’ll also have to develop a strategic mindset and be able to think outside the box. The top-level HR Professionals will analyze the current situation, and align it with whatever the business is trying to achieve.

Although to the contrary belief that creative and strategic thinking are natural, our minds can easily be honed to produce similar results. Those looking to improve on such skills can follow these tips for strategic thinking:

 

  • Gain knowledge from inside the business as well as outside
  • Learn from your network/PR and be open to advise from other professionals
  • Ask for feedback to rectify mistakes
  • Be open to change, and mold your work in regards to feedback/criticism
  • Proactively work towards the identified company goals, even with small tasks

These will help you open your mind towards strategic planning and help you adapt as an HR Professional. 

Shifting the business to a strategic HR

To effectively proceed in this transition from a transactional HR approach to a modern Strategic Approach the only key factor you’ll need is an open mindset geared towards growth. This will tie in seamlessly with the vision you have set for the company. Even for experienced HR Professionals adjusting to and adhering to newly established goals is a challenge, as with the company changes each department and aspect will shift along with it proving to be a crucial weight on the HR’s shoulder.

Being future-oriented will require quick adaptation to the world, as well as sheer commitment from the employees and teams to strive for the top spot in the competitive market. Such a drastic transition will require assistance and for that PeopleSonic will tie in perfectly with the ongoing mayhem. PeopleSonic encapsulates and delves into all departments in one form or another, especially in the management side of things as the HR team now has a free and open role during the shift to a Strategic HR. Aspects such as Payroll, Leaves, Liabilities, Management, Attendance, Timing, Core HR processes, and detailed analytics will help ensure the business runs smoothly and as efficiently as possible.

Boosting employee engagement and running advanced HR systems with the help of advanced digital tools and a cost-optimized payment plan such as the complete HR management of PeopleSonic is the modern way to go! Such software allows you to work with your employees and focus more on their engagement and productivity whereas the automated functionality does the rest for you. Keeping employees engaged with an online learning curve will not only help the development of related skills but ease their workload, which are all signs of a healthy workspace and engaged employee!

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