Winning the war for talent with hybrid. How can you retain employees & attract new talent in a hybrid workplace?

Remote work burnout and hybrid meeting stress are more dangerous than Zoom fatigue

Employees clearly consider hybrid work as a true differentiator. They want flexibility and agility from their employer and want to be able to decide when and where they work. Remote work burnout and stress caused by hybrid work accelerate their decision to hop jobs. According to the Microsoft Work Trend Index 40% of the global workforce considered leaving their employer in the next year. And our own research shows a clear correlation between the number of hybrid work issues – lack of policies and encountering tech problems in hybrid meetings - and the intention to leave the company.

How can businesses win the war for talent?

To many, encouraging hybrid working models is an indicator of a well thought-out and considerate HR policy. And the contrary is a reason to leave. It’s high time for a pro-active approach to avoid a brain drain.

• Start to build a framework & policies
  It seems many businesses still have some work cut out for them, as only 4 in 10 companies currently have hybrid work blueprints. And only 50% has started to map out the hybrid needs of their employees.
• Gear up workspaces and digital infrastructure
  IT-managers and Facility manages have the challenge to prepare the workplace for hybrid work and meeting. Are all in-office workplaces fully ready for hybrid work? Sometimes improvements to the home office will be necessary to reduce emotional challenges and increase productivity. 6 in 10 find it hard to get noticed as off-site participant and 31% can’t read body language or social cues. Investing in the right tech - like a decent camera and speakers or collaboration tools - to create a seamless experience for all users, will be the crucial to make the link from home to the hybrid meeting room seamless.
• Don’t lose sight of meeting equity
  In the new hybrid workplace meeting equity has become more than just a buzzword. Adding remote participants to a meeting, makes collaboration more complex and less intuitive. There’s an actual, physical distance between participants in video meetings. They no longer sit together in the same space, there are virtual and physical walls separating them. Remote meeting participants can have a hard time to get a seat at the virtual, hybrid table. Balancing meeting equity, belonging and digital inclusion is therefore a prio for organizations that want to thrive in the new reality.
• Communicate
  Get everyone on board. Workers and leaders. Current and future employees. Avoid a talent loss, re-assure your own experts, offer them a bigger sense of belonging and a built-in flexibility. In addition, use your hybrid work offering and infrastructure as conversation starters when recruiting. You’ll transit smoother into tomorrow’s digital workstyle and preferably ahead of your competition!

To conclude

Organizations urgently need to tackle hybrid work and hybrid meeting on every level of the workplace. Still, with the right focus companies can turn challenges into opportunities and use hybrid work as a true selling point in the war for talent.