Top Tips To Make Hybrid Working and Blended Working Work For Your Business

Join us at the next hybrid and blended working Action Learning Group on 15th October 2021, 10am-1pm, online and in person – register here for free.

Since the pandemic, the terms hybrid working, blended working and agile working have become pretty commonplace, and some form of flexible working is now absolutely the new normal. For many, the working day is largely “remote” and there’s no denying the ease and convenience of connecting with others across the world, online. Even those businesses where employees are starting to return to the office, are finding that the day is still “Zoom central”, just in the office not at home!

With 85% of home working adults demanding it*, and the Government putting hybrid working firmly on the agenda, we all need to adopt agile working practices going forward or miss out on the best talent.

So how can your business make hybrid working work? Well for some businesses, like PwC, flexible working in one form or another has been going on a while and we were so delighted to have Marisa Williams, Talent Acquisition and Flexible Careers Network Lead at PwC, as our keynote speaker at our hybrid working Action Learning Group event back in July 2021. Marisa was joined by five other flexible working experts who imparted their knowledge and experience, sharing practical approaches on how to embed a now crucial, post-pandemic flexible working culture.

So, following the event in July 2021, we are pleased to do a round-up of the learning outcomes and reveal the 18 best tips for making hybrid working and blended working work for your business long term …

For senior management – thanks to Marisa Williams, PwC:

1. Communication with your people – ask them what they want – if you involve and engage with your teams in the creation of your flexible working programme, it will better meet their needs, is more likely to motive and therefore succeed.
2. Analyse & Act – create your hybrid working guide in a fact-based and inclusive manner. Initial testing and analysis with your senior leadership team who will then champion the programme and lead by example.
3. Toolkit for everyone – by creating a clear guide to flexible working, team members adopt the mindset of being able to choose hybrid working without needing to ask permission.

For new starters – thanks to Dagmar Albers, UK Lead on Diversity & Inclusion (Gender Pay Gap) at Pfizer, alongside Undergraduate Ella Warren:

1. Duty of Care – team leaders should be given guidance to ensure consistent care and support of flexible learning processes for all new starters, whether working remotely or face to face, and ensuring there are regular check-ins.
2. Trust – this is fundamental to the success of hybrid working, and boundaries and responsibilities should be set from the outset.
3. Listen – new starters, like graduates, often bring new perspectives to organisations, so actively engage, listen and empower them to grow and shape your business culture.

For middle management (often a sticking point) – thanks to David Blackburn, Chief People Officer and HR pioneer at the FSCS:

1. Listen, Engage, Act – to deliver flexible tools and guiding principles to help them manage their own progress.
2. Empower them on the practicalities – deliver a two-week template, founded on the successful practices from other teams, a 40/40 rule (40% of the time the building is occupied by 40% of employees) and working hours of between 7AM and 7PM.
3. Pilot – carefully select pilot teams which have diverse tasks or a need for different environments.

Organisational Development & the Impact on Productivity – thanks to Jessica Hornsby, Business Psychologist at Thales:

1. Flexible Working Strategy – a flexible working policy must be integral to the business, not purely a function of HR.
2. Guiding principles, not rules – allow teams to decide what’s best for productivity and give support through the transition process.
3. Remote Working Team Charter – for consistent duty of care guidance online and face to face.

Teams and Facility Development – thanks to Richard Pollins, Managing Partner of DMH Stallard.

1. Real Estate – Define what requires face-to-face working (ie coaching, collaboration, creativity, and community) and configure office space and the required technology accordingly.
2. Future Proof – ensure that the improved efficiencies, paper lite processes, increased automation and reduction in overhead costs gained by the pandemic, are sustained long term.
3. Be Adaptable – facilitate dynamic leadership with a constantly evolving culture of flexible working.

HR Teams – thanks to Liane Richardson, HR Director at Thakeham Group:

1. Sustaining connections – ringfence time for maintaining connection, especially for remote teams, such as by walking and talking on headphones.
2. Wellbeing – introduce fun activities, events and discussions outside of work topics, to maintain wellbeing in remote environments – mindfulness, virtual dance classes and chair yoga are examples.
3. Show vulnerability from the top – being authentic and sharing how we’re really feeling, ideally from the leaders down, can inspire trust throughout the organisation.

*ONS study of remote working April / May 2021

Join us at the next hybrid and blended working Action Learning Group on 15th October 2021, 10am-1pm, online and in person – register here for free.