Employee Experience – Sustaining Culture in a Hybrid World

Employee Experience – Sustaining Culture in a Hybrid World

 On the 8th of September, Hanson Search co-hosted a panel event with sister company The Work Crowd to discuss how businesses can build and maintain culture in an increasingly hybrid world.

Businesses are facing an unprecedented set of challenges with the creation of new working practices. In the webinar we covered the trends arising (or accelerating) as a consequence of the changing nature of work, how organisations can cultivate a culture that adapts to hybrid working, and what to expect in the longer-term landscape.

How do we define a company culture?

• A company culture is the organisation’s shared values, behaviours, and beliefs – it is mindsets, and the way people behave.
• Culture is set by everyone within the organisation and should be integrated into the whole business.
• It isn’t a one-off exercise – it’s hugely important to maintain and evolve company culture as businesses change and evolve.
• Ultimately, a healthy culture leads to better business success.

Who sets the agenda for culture and tone within a company?

• Leaders and senior managers are critical in this – their words and behaviours and the signals they send to the organisation.
• It’s important that leaders ensure that subcultures which evolve don’t dominate – they must remain consistent with the overall culture of the whole organisation.
• It’s key that all employees feel like they belong and can relate to the company culture.

How can we build, develop, and nurture culture in an increasingly virtual and hybrid world?

• Developing and nurturing a healthy organisational culture has always been a challenge and it’s even harder now that many of us are working in a virtual and hybrid space.
• The internal communications function comes in when looking at different audiences and enabling them to embrace change and feel connected by it.
• Unlearn the things you have been doing in the past and take a fresh, brave approach – now is the time to try new methods and new ways.
• This is a real opportunity for communicators to be much more strategic and advisory and to make a meaningful change.

Four core components to focus on when nurturing culture in an increasingly virtual world:

• Your most important communication channel is your leaders and people managers. As communicators think about how you support and make those people visible.
• Adopt a change communications approach and focus on the more human and emotional aspects of communicating. Get constant feedback from employees and co-create with them. Prepare for dissenting voices and resistance – tone is incredibly important, as is honesty and openness.
• Fully embrace inclusion and diversity – focus on inclusion and a positive, healthy culture will follow
• Partnership with HR and the people function is vital

How do we evolve employee communications to be effective and impactful in a hybrid world?

• The world of work is changing – how, when, and where people want to work is changing. As well as location, there is greater flexibility around hours – and this all plays into how and when we communicate.
• It’s critical to understand your workforce – there’s no one size fits all and it’s now about humanising and personalisation.
• Understand what generational differences mean for your workplace. We currently have four – or five – generations in one workplace at the same time and it is vital to understand that there are different expectations of work from different generations. Take time to learn how they engage and like to be communicated with.
• Enhance your reputation ‘inside out’. The boundary between internal and external communications has now almost completely disappeared. Be cognizant that what you do within your workplace – how you communicate to people, the culture you build, how you treat your workforce – will have a huge impact on your external reputation.
• This could be an opportunity to operate in a much more authentic human-orientated world which is more inclusive and understanding – and comms can be at the forefront of that.
• The internal communications function comes in when looking at different audiences and enabling them to embrace change and feel connected by it. Building trust is incredibly important for communicators

What can businesses do to successfully incorporate a hybrid working model?

• When an organisation decides that it would like to work to a hybrid model, it’s important to realise that one size doesn’t fit all. Examine what works best for your organisation and the work that you do and be more deliberate in your plans when you know the answer to that.
• If you want people in the office, think about how you incentivise that and bring your employees into that conversation. Give people a reason to want to be in the office – maybe that’s a guest speaker or a volunteer day. Free donuts are not necessarily enough!
• There’s a big challenge for organisations with different role profiles within them – people working in different areas and time zones – introduce a framework and communicate the vision for your culture looks.

How can people leaders best navigate the hybrid working model?

• People leaders must consider what hybrid working means for them and how their decisions will impact the team. This is now part of the management toolkit – ask how you can embrace hybrid and flexible working to nurture a high-performing team.
• Listen to the wider team. Ask them what works best for them and acknowledge that there will be individual circumstances that need to be navigated.
• Don’t underestimate how much support some people leaders and managers may need – everybody has different levels of comfort in having open conversations. Consider training, coaching, stringent criteria to qualify to be a People Manager.

How can we get senior managers who line manage teams back in the office?

• Firstly, understand the reasons why these people can’t be in the office.
• There need to be very clear guidelines in place for those managing people – especially for senior managers.
• Clarify why some presence in the office is critical for developing relationships and culture and set parameters.

How important is it to incorporate freelancers and contractors into corporate culture?

• From the client perspective, the huge advantage of freelancers and consultants is that you can find people with some very specific skills or experience and plug them in. There’s real benefit to having an external view and someone that can bring an array of experience from other places.

How do you build a positive and empathetic leadership culture?

• Recognising that a culture of empathy within the leadership team can be incredibly powerful and working with leaders to coach them and skill them is really important.
• There are some brilliant executive coaches out there who can help people to evolve their leadership styles.

How do you influence a leader who values presenteeism in the office to consider a move to a hybrid working culture?

• Find data and evidence to demonstrate the value of hybrid working and the fact that it doesn’t negatively impact output or quality of work.
• In showing that the office can be a different place by introducing activities on the days when people do come together and collaborate you can show the value of a hybrid model.
• Find ways of working with that leader to make them more comfortable – perhaps that might initially be with daily check-ins when working remotely, which in time can be phased out as greater trust is established.

How do you involve middle management in communications strategy across an organisation?

• Middle management is critical in communicating both up and down in organisations and it’s essential that this group is given the support and training it needs.
• Include middle managers in the decision-making process and involve them in the journey so that they feel part of it and empowered to communicate agreed messages to the people reporting into them.

How can fully remote companies make employees feel part of the culture – including new joiners?

• There needs to be some regular face to face time – humans physically interacting with other human beings is so important.
• When virtual, there must be quality one to one time between employee and manager to enable connection and to give every person a voice – don’t let group or team sessions dominate the virtual world.
• Explore some of the creative platforms that you can use to make virtual communication work.

Do groups of employees want distinct things from a culture?

• Most employees want similar things – good treatment, meaningful work, fair pay – however, employee networks are incredibly important to allow people to feel a sense of inclusion and belonging and also to celebrate differences and feel that they have a voice.
• Look at how your business can nurture employee advocates. Employee activism is growing and social, societal and sustainability issues are at the forefront
• People want meaning and purpose in their work, and they want to know what the organisation they work for stands for. They also need to know what their role in that is.