The challenges of hybrid working: employees and change management
The Coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and adoption of latest technologies bringing about years of change in a short span of time. This has come with the re-shuffling of priorities for businesses, so they can quickly adapt to this new reality.
As businesses look to the next normal, the traditional notion of a workplace is being redefined. Workforces adopting different hybrid working models has led to the discovery of organisational gaps and vulnerabilities that may have been either previously unknown or left unaddressed.
This has allowed a whole set of new and diverse challenges to emerge, ranging from collaboration, cybersecurity, and IT resilience and agility to employee morale and getting the best out of remote workforces. Technology is now seen as a critical aspect of businesses rather than just something to enhance productivity or to reduce operating costs.
This series of articles looks at five key challenges of hybrid working and how to build resilience in all aspects of the business operating model. New strategies and practices are considered for business leaders to harness, facilitating continuous innovation and a strong competitive advantage in this digital age.
Employee productivity and morale
New working environments require businesses to upskill their employees, share best practices and also to consider how best to drive collaboration virtually. As we pivot towards a hybrid working model ensuring that inclusion is at the top of the agenda is vital.
Many of our clients have found Office 365 have helped in this regard. When everyone was in the office pre-pandemic, it was easy to identify super users of software that could be called on to train others. The analytics in Office 365 help businesses identify people that use software well and efficiently and has helped bridge this knowledge gap. Tools can also be helpful in a hybrid system to track productivity and wellbeing- something again that’s far more instinctively intuitive in person and needs a little more thought when people are remote.
Choosing the right collaboration tools when you have some people in the office and some people at home is key to fostering good team working. Getting the acoustics right in the office is also important with the right level of background noise so people can zone into their zoom or teams calls.
Conclusion
These varied challenges present new opportunities for businesses to build competitive advantage, become more resilient and engage their workforces.
By adapting well to these five challenges, leaders can differentiate their business and position themselves as a frontrunner in the market as well as have a motivated workforce who seamlessly move into a hybrid way of working.
Contact our digital transformation team for more information or visit our outsourcing and digital transformation pages.