By Sarat Panganamamula
The world of work has undergone a seismic shift over the past three years, with millions of people and organizations thrust into hybrid work. As leaders contemplate and learn what best fits, it’s increasingly clear that the boundaries between in-office and remote working will continue to blur. With this in mind, it’s critical that HR professionals now prepare themselves to adapt to new work norms and their unique challenges and find ways to leverage technology to ensure a healthy hybrid work environment optimally.
Challenges Faced by HR Professionals in the Post-Covid Hybrid Workplace
Managing a remote and hybrid workforce requires new skills and tools to manage people effectively and ensure the organization’s success. This sudden change has brought unprecedented challenges that HR professionals are grappling with.
Managing Mental Health
One of the significant yet tricky issues that HR professionals are grappling with in the post-COVID-19 hybrid workplace is mental health and well-being. For many, the shift in location during the pandemic provided an unexpected work-life balance that they had not previously experienced, making it challenging for some to return to the traditional office routine. Contrarywise, remote work also made it difficult to separate work from personal life. Research shows that 80% of employees experience work-related stress, while 50% suffer from burnout. This alarming trend is a cause for concern for HR professionals who must focus on the psychological well-being of their employees. Creating a work environment that supports employee mental health and well-being is essential. HR professionals must work with organizational leaders to build a comprehensive mental health and well-being program that includes access to counseling, employee assistance programs, and mindfulness training
Infusing Agility in HR Functions
The need for agility is another significant challenge that HR teams face. The pandemic has highlighted the need for organizations to be agile and flexible. But only some HR teams are designed for agility, impacting their ability to navigate the current crisis effectively. HR professionals must embrace agility by building a culture that values innovation, experimentation, and adaptation, especially if they must navigate the quicksand of a hybrid model.
Communication and Engagement:
With remote work, employee communication has become more critical than ever. HR professionals must juggle tools and technologies to facilitate seamless communication between employees and the teams they are engaged with and between employees and leadership. Refreshed and inventive ways to keep employees motivated, connected, and engaged have become necessary.
Security:
As Cybersecurity threats dramatically increased during the pandemic, HR professionals had to work with Infra and Cybersecurity teams to ensure the company’s data and systems were secure, even when employees worked remotely.
Optimizing Technology for a Healthy Hybrid Work Environment
Remote work has shifted how we communicate and collaborate, with a greater reliance on digital tools such as video conferencing and instant messaging. This has resulted in a more informal and elastic work culture, with employees having greater autonomy and control over their work schedules.
The new hybrid workplace model, which combines remote work with in-office work, offers employees greater flexibility and can increase productivity and cost savings for companies. However, the debate continues, with 73% of companies opting for a Hybrid approach to satisfy resisting employees.
According to a survey, 62% of internal communication emails are deemed unimportant. Therefore, HR professionals must ensure that organizational updates are communicated regularly and effectively. Posting updates on a unified platform, such as an intranet or a communication tool, which is easily accessible, can help keep employees informed.
Internal communications should be target-oriented and relevant to employees’ roles and responsibilities. A McKinsey report shows an average employee spends 13 hours a week reading and responding to emails. However, employees tend to ignore internal emails irrelevant to their job. HR professionals should segment employees based on their roles, responsibilities, and interest to ensure effective internal communications. Targeted communications help keep employees engaged and informed.
Instead of sending mundane emails, communication should be inventive. According to a survey by Ragan Communications, 75% of employees are more likely to watch a video than read text. To make internal communication more effective, HR professionals should use creative and catchy subject lines that grab employees’ attention and use various content forms to hold and sustain attention.
Another essential factor in the hybrid work model is empowering employees to connect and work from anywhere. Given that 98% of remote workers want to continue working remotely at least some of the time for the rest of their careers, HR professionals must ensure that employees have access to the necessary technology and tools to work from anywhere.
91% of employees say they stay longer with companies that invest in their development, reports a LinkedIn workplace survey. Leveraging technology like e-learning platforms and virtual onboarding tools to provide employees with customized training and onboarding experiences can help enhance employee experiences.
The rise of hybrid work presents new opportunities for flexibility and productivity. But amidst this shift, employee anxiety is a critical concern. As organizations continue to announce their intent to embrace the hybrid work model, HR professionals will be crucial in keeping employees informed and calm. With suitable approaches, tools, and technologies, HR professionals can ensure that their remote and hybrid workforce is engaged, informed, and prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.
(The author is Sarat Panganamamula, Global Head of Human Experience Management (HXM) Practices, YASH Technologies, and the views expressed in this article are his own)
