As we move forward into an age where employees are prioritizing flexibility and a work-life balance, the modern workplace has continued to shift accordingly so that the once uncommon hybrid model is now the most popular. Insights from “The Future of the Office Has Arrived: It’s Hybrid” from Gallup reveal that while 60% of remote-capable employees were fully on-site in 2019, that number has seen a significant drop since the pandemic and was at 20% by May 2023. Meanwhile, 52% of remote-capable employees were hybrid in May 2023, a jump from 32% in 2019. This shift challenges HR professionals to sustain a healthy workplace culture that requires intentional strategies to encourage an environment of innovation, high-performance levels, and consistent engagement despite the physical distance between team members.
The Essence of Hybrid Culture
In a hybrid context, organizational culture relies heavily on how connected employees feel with their team despite the physical distance from one another. It’s this sense of unity that helps maintain strong links, fostering a sense of belonging that stimulates opportunities for collaboration. However, as employees have been working separately for extended periods, they may have developed individual work cultures. While a completely on-site team might function under one culture, a high-functioning hybrid workplace culture should not seek to eradicate these individualized cultures. Instead, it should create a network that allows each employee’s culture to coexist with one another. To maintain a culture that operates on such complexities, HR leaders will first have to acknowledge the challenges that may arise in the process.
Challenges and Considerations
Where in-office employees can communicate face-to-face, employees working remotely rely on written communication for updates on work projects. While written messages can be straightforward, they also lack tone and therefore can affect the way they are interpreted, leading to a risk of miscommunication. There is also the looming fear of exclusion among those working remotely, with 53% of remote workers worried about being left out of in-person team meetings, and more than a third of them are concerned about being overlooked for promotions and pay raises. Employees who feel excluded may feel disengaged at work, leading to a drop in productivity and increased absenteeism. HR leaders will have to find a way to balance inclusion between their in-office and remote employees to sustain their company’s culture.
Cultivating Inclusivity
Fostering inclusivity in a hybrid work environment requires HR leaders to implement measures that will keep all employees on the same page and avoid miscommunication. Encouraging the use of asynchronous communication methods can help keep all employees informed and aligned, regardless of their physical location. Additionally, to counteract feelings of exclusion, HR leaders can facilitate the building of strong inter-employee connections by creating shared experiences through virtual team-building exercises or hybrid-friendly company events. Leaders can also conduct regular check-ins with remote employees to assess their workload, offering necessary support where needed, and evaluate if remote employees are getting the same career development opportunities as their on-site counterparts. By putting in a focused effort to help all employees feel heard and included, HR leaders can effectively reinforce their company values and build a strong work culture across teams.
Establishing a healthy organizational culture in a hybrid environment can be complex due to the nature of managing employees in various locations. While some workers may work on-site most days, there is the risk that remote employees can end up feeling overlooked or forgotten by their on-site colleagues, which can be detrimental to employee morale and weaken company culture over time. By making a concerted effort to grant remote staff equal opportunities as their on-site counterparts to communicate effectively and further develop their careers, HR leaders can fortify a cohesive and strong company culture, ensuring the hybrid model’s success.
