Playbook

Building on phase 1 and 2 of the Making hybrid work human programme, this playbook presents actionable insights and recommendations for organisations to establish and implement human-centric hybrid models.

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Executive summary

Hybrid work is here to stay. Location- and time-flexible work arrangements have increased dramatically since the pandemic’s onset. However, hybrid work is still in its infancy and numerous challenges remain. Uneven, divergent sentiments exist among knowledge workers with regard to its benefits and challenges.

To reap the benefits of hybrid work, it is important for organisations to adopt a human-centric approach, putting employees at the forefront of corporate policymaking and implementation. There are three reasons why this kind of approach is necessary.

First, despite the reported presence of benefits to individual wellbeing and work performance, hybrid work models disrupt communication and collaboration, posing a threat to workplace relations. Therefore, retaining and reinforcing human connection is essential to implementing hybrid work in a sustainable way.
Second, the emerging fault lines between different segments of employees as they adapt to hybrid work further exacerbate the threat posed to workplace relations. Organisations must strike a balance between the desire for firm-wide standards and the importance of tailoring policies to meet the needs of specific groups.
Third, there is an evident gap between senior managers and lower-level employees in perceptions and experiences of hybrid work. This suggests that senior executives must bear specific responsibilities in the hybrid work transition, including: recognising that more junior employees may have vastly different experiences of hybrid work than they do and striving to be inclusive in their decision-making.

The shift to hybrid can be sustained only if made human-centric. Fostering this centricity requires sustained, diligent efforts by organisations. To help in this journey, Economist Impact, sponsored by Google Workspace, has designed a “Toolkit for building human-centric hybrid work models”. The Toolkit is not meant as an easy plug-and-play fix, but rather as a guide with values and practices that need to be regularly revisited by teams engaging in hybrid work.

The numerous practices and initiatives here are derived from the three main pillars of success: building a culture of trust, transparency, empathy and inclusiveness; recalibrating management mindset and practices; and investing in workplace “hardware”.

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Building a culture of trust, transparency, empathy and inclusiveness

To successfully establish and implement hybrid work models requires a human-centric organisational culture, in which trust, transparency, empathy and inclusiveness are the cornerstones.

Organisational culture

Trust

Do managers trust workers, and workers trust their peers, to accomplish work targets regardless of location and hours?
Do remote/frontline workers trust managers with their wellbeing and career growth?

Transparency

Do all employees have easy and equal access to company information, policies and plans?
Is there sufficient transparency in policy- and decisionmaking processes in hybrid settings?

Empathy

Are managers sensitive to the perspectives and experiences of different employee groups and are they equipped with the right skills/toolkits?
Are workers empathetic of challenges faced by their peers due to hybrid work settings?

Inclusiveness

Are hybrid policies adaptable to the needs of different employee groups, enabling them to fairly benefit from hybrid work and equally participate in workplace activities?
Do all employees, regardless of location, have access to tools that allow them to fully participate in hybrid meetings and collaborate?

Meeting/socialization

Create diverse opportunities for in-person and virtual interactions

Regular team collocation
Virtual water coolers
Cross-functional teams
Video meetings buffer time

Collaboration

Rethink collaborations in hybrid settings

Set fixed hours for collaboration
Allow for asynchronous collaboration

Management

Adjust managerial practices

Shift towards impact-oriented performance evaluation
Provide training to managers on managing hybrid teams

Communication

Communicate clearly, actively and inclusively

Clearly and frequently communicate new work norms, hybrid protocols and processes (eg, regular re-onboarding)
Encourage employees to speak up and share feedback

Home office set-up

Improve physical work environment

Include home office costs as a part of pay packages
Support employees in building an ergonomically safe home office

Technology stacks

Using technology to its fullest

Use tools/platforms that best suit hybrid work structures
Incorporate different groups’ needs into tech investments
Provide training and on-demand technological support tools

Persona analysis

An analysis of the global survey results identified 4 primary groups of knowledge workers holding overlapping but divergent ideas about the value and shape of hybrid work models.

The pragmatists

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