Making hybrid and remote work make sense for you

If you’re an organizational leader or business owner, you know better than anyone that “we’ve always done it this way” is almost never a good reason to keep doing something. Your circumstances change all the time, and how you operate needs to adapt with them.

This principle applies to how and where your team works.

That doesn’t mean that a full-time return to office is a bad choice for your organization; rather, it means that every decision you make about adopting remote, in-person, or hybrid work needs to be scrutinized beyond your own preferences or traditions.

There is no catch-all solution since work-from-home orders in Canada were lifted. Even among organizations in the same industry, we’re seeing immense variation in how, if at all, they leverage hybrid and remote work. If you want to keep employee engagement high and your culture intact, your only option is to is to create a workforce plan that makes sense for your unique organization and team.

The ripple effects of hybrid and remote work

As you build out your hybrid or remote work strategy, think big picture about how the physical location of your people impacts everything else.

Culture

One of the main drivers of your culture is the relationships between coworkers, i.e. how your employees choose to interact with each other.

It’s worthwhile to ask yourself to what degree those relationships have historically been based on in-person interactions (coffee, in-person meetings, team drinks after work, etc.), and how much of your culture you risk losing when your team is physically separate. Which of your team’s interactions can, and can’t, be replicated remotely? Which of your organization’s traditions will your team insist on keeping, and which could you part with?

Your hiring and onboarding practices are another important element of your culture that will change if you work remotely.

ESG commitments

Full- or part-time remote work will also affect your ESG commitments. Here are some obvious examples, although they are by no means an exhaustive list:

Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) – You need to be aware of how hybrid work can, consciously or not, create a gap between your EDI commitments and your actions. Although most of the research on this topic is still in its infancy, much of the early data shows that women, racialized groups, and people with disabilities are more likely to choose, and benefit from, remote work. There are also separate studies showing in-person employees are often seen as being more productive, and that they receive promotions and raises more frequently.

Are you rewarding presenteeism or productivity? Are you mindful of pay equity? While the answers will depend on your circumstances, thoughtfully asking these questions is valuable in itself.

Sustainability – If your organization has made commitments to lower its environmental footprint, ask yourself how hybrid work impacts your efforts.

Hybrid work does present an opportunity for some quick wins when it comes to environmental sustainability — fewer emissions from employees commuting, fewer materials being used and thrown away in the workplace, more efficient use of space, etc. If your organization is able to use remote work some or all of the time, but chooses full-time on-site work, you may need a rationale for why it makes sense from an environmental perspective.

Once again, this is about avoiding the gap between your words and your actions; stakeholders, including your employees, will be taking notice.

Bottom line

How does hybrid work have the potential to impact your bottom line? To whatever degree you’re able, look at data on how the following have shifted since the advent of COVID:

• Employee productivity
• Use of physical workspace or office space
• Client service models and preferences
• Discretionary expenses in your organization (including events, materials, supplies, etc.)
• Talent acquisition costs and turnover

These are some examples of areas where you can find new efficiencies, cut costs, or increase profitability, simply by adopting a work model that works better for your team and customers. If you approach it strategically, shifting to remote, on-site, or some combination of the two, could end up boosting your bottom line.