Poly, launched the ‘Hybrid Heaven Or Hell? The Journey To Hybrid Working’ whitepaper that touches on the importance of reshaping the corporate culture for organizations to succeed in hybrid work.
Office settings, design, and technology have received a lot of attention. However, the hybrid working culture is a critical element to be taken under consideration so that organizations can overcome roadblocks that will put the success of hybrid working at risk.
According to a recent Gartner survey 76 per cent of HR leaders now believe that hybrid work undermines employees’ sense of belonging to the company’s culture.
Organizations often closely link presenteeism and office presence to productivity, making it a contributing factor to the hiccups witnessed in hybrid solutions, stated the Poly research.
Remodeling the 9-5 hell of the olden days into modern-day heaven
According to the research, while organizations have the right technology and office design in place, most of them have not implemented a culture that will be able to complement the amenities as it takes a lot of work and intentionality. Naturally, only one in four hybrid workers surveyed by Gartner felt connected to their company’s culture, leaving ample space for high turnover.
Creating a successful hybrid culture is essential to achieving successful hybrid working methods. According to Poly’s research, individual desks occupied an average of 65 per cent of office space before the pandemic. It is anticipated that this would decrease to around 40 per cent, if hybrid models are applied strategically.
The research also stated that in order to build a proper hybrid work culture, it is essential that the appropriate technology must be used to support the appropriate spaces. Additionally, asynchronous communication must be considered when teams are physically meeting less frequently and may be dispersed across different time zones, even though digital equity in synchronous meetings is crucial.
Mental remodeling: reshaping the organizational culture
Relearning the expectations for work and the workplace is an essential step in rebuilding the culture for hybrid working. It is crucial that organizations share a unified vision and direction that goes beyond the strictly tactical to take a firm stance on the hybrid culture so that employees know what they can rely on is necessary to bring about this kind of change.
It is necessary to reorganize face to face gatherings around goals and concrete outcomes, to be more purposeful in promoting network building, and to establish precise, evidence-based standards for when people should come in and when they might work from home. Leadership should take center stage when a clear vision needs to be established, stated the Poly research.
Applying change from top to bottom
The research identified that in order for hybrid work solutions to succeed, the CEO and C-Suite need to communicate it with the organization, emphasizing their role in the company culture and how changing culture will involve both a top-down and bottom-up strategy.
While the study highlighted that leadership plays a key role in culture setting, it also depicted that a strict set of granular rules may not succeed, especially in workplaces where employees feel like they have some degree of control over their working lives for the first time.
In order for teams to successfully handle hybrid work, leadership and support from top managers must be matched with a certain amount of team empowerment.
