Combining the benefits of working from home and the office, hybrid working can potentially offer the best of both worlds, providing flexibility and independence on the one hand and sociality and structure on the other.
However, what works best for one employee may not work for another. If you're considering revising the working model in your startup, don’t simply assume that hybrid working is the only way to go. Take time to consider all the options. After all, it’s important to get the model that’s right for your entire team - both in the immediate and long term. If, then, implementing a hybrid working model in your startup is the route you want to take, here are a few of the key things that you’ll need to consider.
1 Provide choice
Although the pandemic led to the rise of remote working, it’s important to remember that it was out of necessity rather than choice. Employees had no alternative but to adapt to the new home-working model, regardless of what challenges it brought. Now, as restrictions ease and employers start to review their working models, it’s vital to realise that there can’t be a one size fits all approach.
Employees should be given the choice - hybrid working will be a dream come true for some whilst the reverse for others. Rather than dictating to your startup’s employees what the working pattern is going to be, provide them with the choice - home, office or hybrid. Let your employees decide where they work best. They’ll have hopefully proven just how productive, resilient and trustworthy they can be over the last year so provide them with the choice in order to recognise that. It’s essential to strike a balance between this and your business needs whilst also keeping that all-important focus on team building and opportunities for collaboration.
2 Don’t rush
Whilst the pandemic led to work patterns and locations changing extremely quickly, the same urgency does not need to apply with a move to hybrid working. You’ll need to carefully consider all the practical elements - from making your workplace Covid secure and safe, the technology and equipment that employees may need through to how a hybrid model may affect your business requirements and your clients and customers.
Take some time to chat with your team, find out their preferences, listen to their concerns and their ideas too! By engaging with your employees like this, you can develop and plan a working pattern that is well thought out and works best for you all. Including your team in consultations and decision making and keeping them involved throughout will mean that the transition to a hybrid working model would be a much smoother one.
3 Policies and procedures
Remember that adopting a hybrid working model isn't something that can happen overnight - even if remote working did in 2020! Implementing this effectively for you and your team means realizing that it affects all aspects of the employee lifecycle. You may need to rethink how you onboard new team employees, how you'll deliver induction and ongoing training and perhaps review the terms and conditions of employment.
Consider how you’ll provide learning and development opportunities for your team. If you operate a performance-related reward and recognition scheme, you'll need to ensure it's fair and balanced for all. You should review all the relevant policies and procedures and update and refine them wherever necessary.
Ensure that your entire team understands how hybrid working actually works - the impacts and the benefits and when you’re recruiting for your startup, make sure that this is highlighted to any potential candidates too.
4 Communication is key
Communication in the workplace has always been important but that’s been even more evident over the last year or so. Technology has played its part in keeping remote teams connected and it will continue to do so in a hybrid working model. Make sure that you communicate effectively with all your employees, whether you're seeing them face to face in the office or via a screen.
Don't operate a tiered system whereby those in the office have an advantage in terms of what they hear and how they hear! Keep lines of communication open throughout the transition to hybrid working and continue to do so once it's implemented. You could perhaps adopt a remote-first approach whereby meetings all take place digitally and everyone has the opportunity to be involved and have their say.
5 Team working
Your employees may be working in different places and at different times but instilling a team culture will be vital. After all, with a hybrid model, there's a chance that individuals or business functions could end up working independently and depending on schedules etc never actually engage with each other. Take time to consider ways that your employees can connect with each other and collaborate too - the use of digital tools may become even more important.
Ensure that your managers are trained and equipped to fully support those employees who they may not see on a daily basis. Remember too that the spontaneity of the quick office catch-up or coffee with a colleague may be gone, so you'll have to make a concerted effort to keep your team engaged and engaging with each other. Dedicate time for team building and for catch-ups where the focus is not entirely work-based.
6 Employee wellbeing
We may not yet fully appreciate or understand the impact which the pandemic has had on our emotional and mental wellbeing, however as a good employer, you should have already been prioritizing the wellbeing of each and every one of your startup's employees.
Helping your startup team to achieve a work-life balance is essential - particularly when hybrid working is the norm and the lines between home and work become somewhat blurred. Set out expectations for your team so they know that just because they are working remotely, they don’t have to be “always on”. Provide wellbeing training and signpost relevant support or information. Make sure that your team knows that they can address concerns with you and that you will do what you can to make them happy at work.
7 Remember that inclusion matters
With teams working in a more dispersed way, it will become even more important than ever to ensure that you have an inclusive work culture in your startup. After all, if some of your employees are in the workplace more often than others, there is a chance that they could be involved more in decision making, team updates or even opportunities for socialising.
You’ll need to ensure that you keep on top of this so that there are no risks of exclusion and that hybrid working is a wholly positive experience for all. Continue to ask employees for feedback on how they feel, address any apparent inequalities as soon as they arise and eradicate any sense of a “them and us” mentality.
~~
There are admittedly a lot of things to consider if hybrid working is going to work effectively in your startup, however as this working model is seemingly here to stay, it’s time to embrace it as an opportunity and spend time in getting it right.
————————-
Who we are
Offering personalised, consultative service, at TableCrowd Talent we’re a specialist recruitment agency with our finger on the pulse of the startup and scaleup scene. We are committed to matching graduates, professionals and C-level executives to exciting startup and scaleup jobs across London, the UK and Europe.
~~
