Hybrid working: where theory meets reality

Remote working models are being designed and deployed across organizations globally. But something still appears to be missing. What is it?

When asked this question in a recent Challenger Network News episode – ‘Back to better: how to return people, purpose and performance’ – Stan Slap, CEO of the cultural consulting firm SLAP company, responded with an interesting insight: ‘Bottom line – what’s being missed in return to work strategies is that it is not a matter of physical relocation… it’s a matter of cultural commitment’.

As individuals return to work, companies are primarily focussing on the implementation practicalities of new working structures. Examples include the need for virtual collaboration tools and redefined operating models. What they seem to be neglecting is culture concerns.

Company culture represents the attitudes, behaviors and ways of working of an organization and its employees. It is a mechanism with the power to either break or enhance the implementation of the most refined working models. In fact, roughly 70% of large-scale transformation projects cite people and culture-related challenges as the chief source of failure. So, how does the hybrid working model impact corporate culture and what can organizations do about it?

A two-tier workforce

We’ve all been in meetings over the past year where the in-office vs. remote divide is obvious. Perhaps you haven’t been able to see what’s being written on the whiteboard. Maybe the conferencing audio dropped out so you missed the conversation. Although these kinds of occurrences might seem little more than frustrating in isolation, they chip away at the foundational tenets of an organization’s culture: common ways of working, shared values and mutual trust.

Gradual wearing down of these elements is a big concern. In fact, a 2021 Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (CIIA) poll found that the erosion of organizational culture is now a bigger concern than digital disruption or financial, liquidity and insolvency risks for organizations, largely due to the shift to new working models.

However, when erosion leads to division, there is an even bigger concern at play: the risk of two organizational cultures. One culture where in-office employees reap benefits of co-location (working between office and alternative settings) and the other where remote workers don’t. From more intuitive collaboration and knowledge sharing, to spontaneous connectivity, colleague bonding and opportunities for networking – the benefits of co-location are clear. Missing out on these can lead remote workers to feel disenfranchised, isolated and unhappy, posing the threat of new organizational risks such as employee productivity and retention.

In spite of this, according to Gartner, only 13% of company leaders are thinking about potential disparities between in-office and remote workers. A figure that seems worryingly low given the evident impacts. Companies need to start thinking about this growing division seriously, or much more than culture continuity is at risk.

React and adapt

Fears of division amongst the employee population have driven some organizations to favor an office-only policy in the past. Back in 2013, former Yahoo! CEO, Marissa Mayer, ended the company’s remote working experiment claiming: “We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together”. For Mayer, it was the lack of informal interactions, such as impromptu meetings and hallway discussions, that inhibited effective collaboration and social cohesion amongst employees.

While there is no doubt that adjusting to the hybrid model puts an element of strain on colleague unity, the increasing use of collaboration tools like Miro and Slack are helping to plug some of these gaps. It’s important for organizations adopting a hybrid model to prioritize not only their implementation, but also to work at effectively driving meaningful uptake amongst colleagues. Though they can’t replicate every touchpoint, like filling up a coffee cup or catching the lift with a colleague, they can create accessible means for documenting and sharing the insights from these interactions. This is an important step towards cultural continuity, enhancing the likeliness of ‘one organization’ as opposed to the in-crowd and at-home crowd.

Leading with purpose

Organizational leaders have a strong role to play in maintaining culture in a hybrid environment. Beyond simply establishing the core capabilities for office-home interaction, leaders should be proactively seeking out new ways to reinforce the existing culture or reset the culture where it’s needed. For example:

• Encouraging inclusivity and a sense of collectiveness by ramping up communication. For example creating opportunities for open interaction and honest feedback, whether that be surveys or ‘ask-me-anything’ forums
• Recreating the office ‘glue’ and colleague-to-colleague interactivity. Companies should mobilize informal networks for connecting and virtual-first social events (such as Elixirr’s week-long Stravathon!)
• Ensuring effective idea sharing and innovation by actively seeking out opportunities for cross-team collaboration. For example idea boards or more unstructured thinking sessions
• Recognizing that hybrid working teams not only need to be provided with the right tools, but that companies must also work to set robust guidelines and educate their workforce on how to communicate effectively in a hybrid world – building a sense of equity and inclusivity

As Stan Slap said, culture is an “independent organism”. It is constantly evolving. So it’s up to leaders to invest time and energy in steering it in new directions fit for a hybrid working future.

Interested in the topic? Read part one and two of our hybrid working series.