How to motivate employees in a hybrid work model?

There is no doubt that the hybrid work model will gain in popularity. The times when companies had a very rigid approach to the issue of a h...

There is no doubt that the hybrid work model will gain in popularity. The times when companies had a very rigid approach to the issue of a home office or flexible hours are basically a thing of the past. Employees see this not as a benefit, but as an element of organizational culture. The perspective of employees is one thing; Managers for whom this is a challenging look at the issue of distributed or hybrid teams, for example in terms of the motivation of teams of this type.

Situation in organizations

To some extent, hybrid teams are similar to the remote teams that organizations quickly created during the pandemic. The difference is that at that time remote work was undisputed, which meant that some employees and managers were not prepared for it at all. This gave rise to many smaller or larger problems that should be solved after more than a year and a half. In addition, some team members have found that working remotely is not necessarily beneficial for them and prefer to return to the office. In many cases, there has been a natural re-evaluation of working methods. But what about the motivation to do it?

How to motivate employees in the hybrid model?

There are many obstacles to being ready to do your job effectively. Appropriate selection of staff, competencies, and compliance with the organization's values ​​is one side of the coin. The second is the organizational culture, which can support the development of employees, their independence, and goal orientation or, on the contrary, will lead to silos or lack of initiative. What aspects of management and organization should be paid attention to?

1. Setting a common goal for the entire company, which must be real, measurable in time, specific, and attractive, is important for people who work towards its implementation. Without a common direction for the entire organization, employees do not know what they are really doing their jobs for.

2. Transparent communication. In hybrid teams, there is a natural situation when some employees are present in the office, and some work as part of the home office. This does not change the fact that each of these groups must be kept informed on all important issues related to the functioning of the organization. Without it, it is very easy for rumors and uncertainty about the next steps of the company to enter the ranks of the team.

3. Focusing on relationships empathic management. Understanding that we are in a people-centric environment is also one of the essential elements of good governance. This means that we give ourselves the opportunity to make mistakes and learn through work while understanding our weaknesses and working to eliminate them.

4. Unleashing the potential of employees and their independence. One of the key aspects of leading a hybrid team is minimizing micromanagement and supporting employee development. Combined with the ability to make decisions on their own and take responsibility for them, the team feels that more depends on their actions. A team that is devoid of initiative and only follows the orders of superiors burns out faster.

5. Man is a creative force. Modern organizations want to use the potential of people also as part of organizational transformation, e.g. through digitization, which streamlines and accelerates repetitive and mechanical work. Thanks to this, teams have more opportunities to develop and introduce innovative solutions.

How to support managers?

In large organizations, introducing organizational changes is neither instant nor easy. In the event of important changes (and such changes have taken place through the introduced hybrid model of work), it is worth using the support of an external partner. This is how we operate at Impact - thanks to individually designed development programs, we help organizations identify management difficulties and neutralize them.