3 Ways to Elevate Employee Experiences in Hybrid-Remote Work
After starting Skye Osunde: CBS Creative & Consulting LLC, and largely working remotely for over two years due to a global pandemic, I was able to participate as a speaker during the reLead Summit hosted by RemotelyOne. The in-person experience held at the CitizenM DC Capitol hotel in the nation’s capital was amazing! As an extrovert, it was delightful to connect with a community of remote and hybrid workplace experts, innovators, and advocates. During the sessions, we were able to share ideas and dialogue regarding the dynamic workforce landscape. I participated in numerous conversations and shared ways we can inspire our clients and companies to promote positive employee experiences. Employee engagement is defined as an individual’s journey navigating through your company. Understanding their journey is pivotal for continued success. Given the recent phenomena of “Quiet Quitting,” it is increasingly important to create a culture of belonging, flexibility, and engagement for employees collectively and individually to feel purpose in the work they do.
Currently, lessons learned from the pandemic are playing out through a rush of excitement and anticipation as companies introduce their return-to-work plans. Company leaders have to authentically consider the best way for their employees to thrive at work while doing their best work. Earlier this year, Envoy published their research titled At Work: the 2022 workplace trends report, where 800 leaders were surveyed about their ideas for a return to work schedule. Based on the data 77%, stated their companies were instituting hybrid work, and 56% of that number suggested a flexible hybrid work schedule where employees' mobility between also said remote options were autonomous.
The research suggests an overwhelming majority of employees are expecting flexibility and creativity from employers in today’s workforce. Therefore, companies need to innovate beyond grab-n-go pizza parties to elicit engagement. After attending the reLead Summit at CitizenM DC Capitol hotel, my reflections and takeaways led me to wonder “how could other companies take full advantage of the hybrid model while finding ways to still establish community and connection with their employees?”
Here a 3 ways companies can elevate employee experiences in a hybrid- remote work model:
Consider the Entire Employee Experience Lifecycle
On the heels of The Great Resignation, companies are acutely aware of how important it is to understand their employees and collective workforce. Companies must be willing to provide innovative and reasonable experiences to engage employees beyond the day-to-day task they are hired to do. Employers have to consider the personal motivations and professional aspirations of each individual employee.
Integrity: This starts by reevaluating the talent acquisition strategy, ensuring you are attracting the right people, at the right time, via an honest and transparent hiring process. This means if the job description says it's a fully remote position, then it truly is a remote position, with no hidden stipulations. Companies must be willing to embrace cultural challenges and celebrate wins, creating conditions that will be attractive to prospective employees looking for psychologically safe professional communities to join. Companies have to lead with integrity in the process!
Onboarding, particularly in a cohort style, is an ideal situation in hybrid-remote workspaces. The first 90 days are critical for “new“on-the-job learning for new employees to, learn the culture, and build trust with their teams via shadowing experiences and other work-related events. This can become the company's vehicle to building high-performance and collaborative teams.
During their tenure with the company, companies have to find the best ways to engage their employees and the best way to do that is to ask what is working and what is not working - then do more of what is working. Do they want more leadership training? Do that! Do they want more social connections? Plan it! They are looking for growth? Scale or add on stretch assignments! The primary responsibility companies hold is to bring forth a loyal and enthusiastic team - they will stay longer if they feel heard and see immediate changes!
Lastly, what does the exit look like? As much as companies would want to keep employees for a long duration of time, that is likely not the case in 2022. Therefore, just as Companies welcomed new employees, companies also should respect those exiting by providing transition milestones such as exit interviews and farewell events to honor their contributions.
Spice Up Your Hybrid-Remote Work(Life)
The reLead Summit was so impactful for my professional growth. I wanted to learn from the other experts and participants on successful approaches they have seen companies utilize to spice up their hybrid-remote work experiences; and here is what I learned…
I mentioned earlier in this blog but I feel compelled to reiterate, “no more standard pizza parties” without an agenda or reason to meet. Employees see through this as a lazy way to bring people together, when in actuality it's a grab-and-go event, grab a slice of pizza and go (without meaningful connection). Instead, host a speed networking hour where the goal is to have already curated questions (What is your why? What is one thing you are grateful for today? What is the best part of your position? If you could create your dream job here, what would it be and why?) and have employees (regardless of title or organizational hierarchy) share and connect with one another. The difference is the intention of learning, connection, and engagement. Protip: still have pizza or light bites with refreshments because let’s be honest food in itself is a good engagement prop for these kinds of professional endeavors.
So how can you spice up your employee experience? By thinking outside the box, looking for remote or local activities that can bring people together for connection, learning, and fun!
Think of CitzenM as Your World Office
Walking around CitizenM DC Capitol Hotel, I was incredibly inspired and saw many ways companies could collaborate with CitzenM for employee meetings, unique professional experiences, and events, similar to the summit. According to Gallup’s study, 55% of employees are disengaged and with so many companies offering a hybrid-remote model, it is concurrently important to fuel engagement. Here are a few really cool ways to innovate and meet in the new hybrid-remote model:
Consider Wellness Weeks as many employees are meeting increasingly more virtually and are experiencing more episodes of burnout. Companies like Nike and Bumble encouraged their workforce to unapologetically take a full week off to focus on doing things they love.
Quarterly Retreats for fully hybrid, remote, or distributed teams are a great way to connect multiple times a year to align vision, build rapport and trust in person, and celebrate company milestones. At the CitizenM DC Capitol and many other hotel locations, they have dynamic meeting rooms that allow for optimized collaboration. These meeting rooms come equipped with dry-erase boards, chalkboards, community “living” rooms, a spectacular rooftop, and more. This is ideal for individuals and teams looking to explore the world but also be incredibly productive.
Check out my journey below:
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience being a speaker at the reLead Summit hosted by RemotelyOne. It was an honor to be surrounded by a community of remote and hybrid workplace experts, innovators, and advocates.
