Succeeding with the hybrid model? It’s in the inclusivity of your culture

Are you loving the hybrid model, or are you struggling with it and wondering how it will affect the future of your organization? Whatever your situation, the fact is that after taking a firm hold during the pandemic, it looks very much like the hybrid model is here to stay. With that new reality setting in, what can we do to leverage this model to its fullest? How can we make sure that collaboration, innovation and performance remain high?

The answer to these questions may surprise you: It’s in the inclusivity of your culture. In this article, I will explore this idea by first considering what we’ve learned in recent years. Then, I will share some specific steps you can take to create an inclusive environment that will help to optimize the hybrid workplace model in a way that will benefit your organization and everyone in it.

Prevalence, success and challenges of the hybrid model

There’s been a definite ramp up of popularity for the hybrid work model for both organizations and employees. Research from career expert Zippia reveals that 74 percent of U.S. companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model and 83 percent of workers would prefer a hybrid work model in the future. The top five factors organizations considered in choosing this model included employee health and wellness, employee productivity, access to talent, aligning workforce plans with mission and diversity, equity and inclusion.

And according to McKinsey & Company,”Of employees currently working in a hybrid model, 85 percent want it retained going forward and 71 percent would leave if hybrid work was no longer available. This strong preference appears across industries, geographies, and demographic boundaries.” They also found that “traditionally underrepresented groups demonstrated an even stronger preference for hybrid work.” All of this speaks to the connection between a hybrid model and the ability for organizations to recruit and retain an effective employee workforce.

Further, the choice of a hybrid model seems to be working from a performance standpoint as well: 83 percent of companies say collaboration on new projects has been as good or better than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was in the office full-time.

However, the hybrid model is not without its challenges. Gleb Tsipursky, consultant and author of the best-selling book, “Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams,” points out that “One potential issue is the impact of cognitive biases on decision-making. For example, the availability heuristic, which refers to the tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is most easily available to them, may lead leaders to rely too heavily on their personal experiences with remote work rather than considering the unique needs and circumstances of their organization.”

This might mean, for example, that if a manager is distracted when working at home, they might assume others are as well. That kind of thinking limits the manager’s ability to see beyond their own life experience and leads to a narrowing of decision-making based on their own biases.

10 ways to strengthen your hybrid workplace through inclusivity

Because of the complexities of the hybrid workplace, to function effectively, it’s more important than ever to focus on inclusion. Here’s why: One of the biggest risks posed by the hybrid work model is feeling out of touch with our peers, and disengaged and disconnected from our organization. Inclusion is a powerful combatant to those risks because it serves to break down barriers — creating personal connections and unifying people around mutual goals and an overarching common purpose. 

Let’s look at 10 strategies for using inclusivity to strengthen your hybrid work environment.

1. Commit to and model inclusivity from the very top

Leaders must be at the forefront of committing to a hybrid model — which often means they need to learn to think and act differently to create an equitable and inclusive work environment for both in-person and remote workers. Experts at McKinsey suggest that leaders manage performance through outcomes, impact and ownership – such as setting clear roles, tangible goals and milestones, providing support on any roadblocks, ensuring workloads are manageable, establishing accountability, facilitating and engaging with teams, and encouraging team problem solving. 

They also advise building trust and togetherness, expressed in this way:

• Reliability: “You can count on me to meet my commitments.”
• Acceptance: “I accept who you are and respect your perspective.”
• Openness: “I share what I think, do, and feel, and I am open to feedback.”
• Authenticity: “I walk my talk.”

2. Understand the needs of individual employees, teams and the organization as a whole

While the basic tenets of inclusion, (fair treatment, belonging, feeling included) apply widely, the specifics of how they are applied is unique for each organization. In other words, inclusion is not the same thing for everyone. To get a pulse on what inclusion means in your hybrid workplace, collect data, gather opinions (formally and informally) and honestly consider what you’ve learned. Ask yourself: 

• What are the needs of each individual, each team and the organization as a whole? 
• In what areas are we already inclusive? Where do we fall short? How can we improve? 
• What can we do immediately and what needs more careful consideration?

3. Cultivate social connections with intentionality

Humans are social beings, and we need to have positive interactions with others to bring out the best in ourselves. The remote/hybrid model creates some challenges in this area, but they are not insurmountable. But it will require you to be intentional in how you help employees make personal connections. And you’ll want to be creative with how and when you make these opportunities happen. For instance, some organizations hold “coffee chats,” or dedicate a portion of each meeting for informal talk about life outside of work, or they might infuse meetings with fun activities like show and tell. But keep in mind that not everyone feels the same need to share, so it’s best to allow people to communicate only what they feel comfortable revealing.

Finally, consider whether your onsite location is designed to nurture personal relationships. Do people have a comfortable place to congregate and talk without disrupting others? Does your culture encourage, rather than discourage informal chats?

4. Choose tools and systems with a human-centric approach

When it comes to selecting the right digital tools for the hybrid environment, Harvard professor Tsedel Neely advises companies “to make sure that we’re matching our digital tools for the work in front of us.” Teeley cautions that, “We are over indexing on certain technologies,” such as videoconferencing which can lead to people experiencing tech exhaustion, which is something we can all relate to. The best way to avoid this, says Teeley, is to match our intentions with the right digital tools in a balanced way. It’s an approach that puts people first and technology second. As an example, for video-conferencing it might mean making it known that it’s acceptable to sometimes go off camera in a meeting, limiting the length of meetings and ensuring they are focused, inclusive and interactive.

5. Prioritize the employee experience 

In the same way technology is adjusted to fit with what people need, similar considerations can apply to any decision that affects your employees. When it comes to prioritizing your employees’ experience, here are a few critical questions to ask. Does your culture substantively promote the mental health and well-being of your employees? Do your policies, processes and protocols reflect that commitment? Do your employees feel psychologically safe to share their thoughts? Do you prioritize empathy as a critical skill for all employees, and most especially leaders and managers? All of these questions speak to the degree to which your organization values the employee experience — and have a direct relation to whether you are cultivating a hybrid environment that embraces inclusion.

6. Make DEI education applicable to your employees’ daily life

Education and training are an important part of helping employees to build awareness and  understanding around inclusion. But to be effective, learning must go beyond theory and rhetoric and connect with employees at a deeper level. Guidance must be specific, actionable and applicable to daily life and it must involve opportunities for practice and reflection. And it must be relatable for people working in a hybrid workplace. Finally, inclusion means that education should never shame or blame. As experts at Gartner put it, “When individuals from dominant groups feel shamed or blamed for DEI challenges in the workplace, they can be motivated to respond defensively to restore a positive sense of self. This defensive posture may manifest in pushback.” This is as true in a hybrid environment as it is for in-person or fully remote. 

7. Provide leaders/managers with guidance on inclusive practices

Managers are your most powerful asset when it comes to creating an inclusive workplace. They are a critical conduit between employees, leaders and other managers. In a hybrid setting, managers must learn to apply performance-based accountability (rather than time in the office), understand how to support their employees’ psychological safety, learn to lead with empathy and ensure the work environment is both inclusive and harassment-free. But to understand what is expected of them, managers will need more than basic DEI education, they must be equipped with the knowledge they need to address their own biases and be adept with inclusive practices around recruitment, onboarding, promotion, conducting meetings and supporting their employees’ growth and well-being. 

8. Evaluate and improve your equity practices

Extra vigilance is needed to address inequities in a hybrid environment. For instance, some jobs require employees to be in the workplace more than others. Neeley suggests giving those employees greater flexibility whenever possible, such as remote learning days or other activities that can be done offsite. Overall, the goal, according to Neely, is to find new and creative ways for “democratizing” the workplace as much as possible. That includes putting a focus on equitable salaries and promotions, where problems can sometimes surface. Consider a Gartner survey which showed that 64 percent of managers thought more favorably of in-office employees and were more likely to give them a higher raise. Clear and transparent communication, as well as related policies and structured processes must ensure that in-person employees are never placed above their remote colleagues.

9. Create an ongoing communication loop (and act on it)

Times are still changing and you can expect that your hybrid workplace will continue to evolve. That’s why it’s not enough to gather data and opinions once and then leave it at that. To keep in tune with the changing needs of your employees, you’ll need to establish a communication loop that brings forward concerns, questions and ideas on an ongoing basis. And your employees will expect you to be transparent with how you plan to act on what you hear. For guidance on what areas your data gathering and communication loop should cover, experts at Gartner “identified seven key dimensions of inclusion: fair treatment, integrating differences, decision-making, psychological safety, trust, belonging and diversity,” which companies can use to help guide their ability to gather data and solicit employee feedback. 

10. Celebrate milestones and achievements

Recognizing employees is important in any workplace, but in the hybrid environment it plays an especially important part in uplifting morale and providing an opportunity to unite around a common effort. These celebrations can take many forms. Some companies publish a personal profile of an employee when they first join so that people can get to know and celebrate the person behind the job description. Or, leaders might post celebratory notes about milestones on messaging apps or dedicate a portion of quarterly meetings to recognize achievements from each team. The idea is to find opportunities to celebrate your employees in an authentic and meaningful way. It can be simple, but it must be genuine.

In this post-pandemic era, we’ve witnessed unprecedented transformation in the workplace within a short period of time. And from the looks of it, we’ll continue to face change that will affect how we collaborate, innovate and perform in the workplace. The points above are intended to help you think through how you can use inclusivity to strengthen your hybrid workplace — and support your organization to be resilient for whatever opportunities and challenges may surface ahead.