How to Maximize Engagement in a Hybrid Work Environment: An Employer’s Perspective
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” – Steve Jobs
As things have changed over the last year and a half, employers have had to adjust their mindsets about the needs of their employees. This includes adopting new strategies and outlets to keep their teams engaged and motivated. According to a study done by Mercer, 70% of companies said they were planning to adopt the hybrid work model. Keeping your employees engaged when everyone is working in the same place is hard enough. The pivot to work from home by the pandemic hasn’t made things any easier. Now, most employers have a hybrid work environment in place to accommodate their employees’ needs and desires. This has brought new challenges and opportunities to maximize engagement in a hybrid work environment.
As an ERP VAR or a company that uses complex cloud-based ERP solutions, you know that the challenge of keeping employees engaged is nothing new. It has become one of the more important challenges in retaining your current ERP talent. As you, (a company leader), continue to plan for the future, you must take into consideration how a hybrid workplace will affect your company’s culture moving forward.
It doesn’t matter if you work with Acumatica, Sage, Netsuite, Microsoft, Infor or any other ERP technology. It also doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about an Implementation Consultant, a Developer, an Accountant, or a VP of Sales. Regardless of the tech or the position, keeping your workforce engaged is essential to the success of your business. Here are some things you can do as an employer to maximize engagement in a hybrid work environment.
Have Personal Connections
An important thing to consider when trying to maximize engagement is that every employee has had different experiences working from home. Getting to know your employees on a more personal level can make a difference in that employee’s attitude and sense of belonging. Checking in often on your employees can help them feel cared for and secure in their current position.
Help Employees With Collaboration and Communication
When working in an office, it can be easy to take instant communication and feedback for granted. In a hybrid work environment, effective and instant communication is more essential than ever. Having specific processes and tools in place to maintain the flow of communication are readily available. They just need to be implemented and used consistently. Having consistent and accessible documentation for your company’s processes and workflows can be helpful to employees, and can also be a good way for employees to freshen up on things that they have forgotten about.
Recording meetings for people who aren’t available to join in real time is also something that you can do to keep employees engaged even if they aren’t able to be a part of the original meeting. Another way to keep your employees engaged is to use communication technology. These technologies include Zoom, MS Teams, Skype or GoToMeeting to easily communicate in real time with your team. Using project management tools like Monday.com, Slack and Jira not only help make sure everyone is on track with their tasks, but they also help employees feel like they are at the center of the action rather than isolated in a room by themselves. At DyNexus Recruiting, we use Zoom, Skype and Monday.com to stay connected, organized, communicative, and on task.
Reward the Good Things
An important aspect to maximizing engagement is recognizing when work is getting done. When employees are recognized and rewarded for their work, they are more likely to care and want to stay at their current job. Taking a couple of minutes to recognize your employee for good work costs nothing but goes a long way. By taking the time to congratulate your team members, you are boosting their morale and sense of belonging. Make sure when recognizing an employee that it can be seen by your whole team. Something as simple as a virtual card or congratulatory .gif (or gifT) can serve as a great engagement tool.
Have Support Outside of The Office
Supporting your employees outside of work can take a lot of stress and pressure off of them. Allowing a flexible work schedule or even giving a monthly allowance for home office expenses can go a long way in helping your employees feel supported. According to Ergonomic Trends, 72% of employees consider work-life balance to be very important when looking for a new job. To avoid your employees getting burnt out, mandating regular breaks is a good way to advocate separating office hours from leisure time.
Final Thoughts
While there is no fool proof way to keep your employees engaged in a hybrid work environment, there are things you can do to help your employees along the way. In order to maximize engagement in a hybrid work environment, company leaders should focus on connecting with their employees on a deeper level. By intentionally interacting with employees in a personal way, engagement will increase. Making this a part of your company’s culture will ensure it remains.