Leadership Lessons From The WFH Era For Our (Mostly) Hybrid Future

These valuable lessons will be critical for years to come

The pandemic created waves in the world of work. Organizations have been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pause, reset, and re-evaluate their future. Now is the time for a new approach to work. 

It’s been said again and again, but I think while we’re trying to strategize for what that future will look like, we’re at risk of throwing away some critical lessons from the ‘Work from Home’ (WFH) era. While leaders want to move away from the chaos, stress, and uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the status quo from before the pandemic wasn’t exactly working. 

What we need is a reconfiguration of work - bringing what worked from WFH into play. Why throw away valuable lessons learned?  
 

Here are three ways you can keep the best of the WFH culture alive in your organization, no matter what work model you end up adopting. 

Don’t Forget the Data

Organizations now have the data on both pre-pandemic in-office work and WFH remote work. Now, it’s time to put your data to work. 

During WFH, HR was able to uncover powerful insights about work, their workforce, and the workplace. Between new and old methods of data collection: performance appraisals, data on L&D performance, exit interviews - as well as stay interviews, a successful retention strategy - and manager input, organizations now have critical data to work with. These are the insights that show leaders both the impact employees have on the business, and the impact the business has on the employee.

Employee data can also help leaders unsure of what their organization’s future of work looks like to find the sweet spot work model for their needs. Most organizations are opting for hybrid, with an Accenture survey finding that 63% of high-growth organizations have already adopted a hybrid, ‘productivity anywhere’ workforce model. 

If you haven’t found your work model sweet spot, A/B testing different variations can help you find the right balance now that people are feeling more comfortable with returning to at least some amount of in-office work.

Use employee and manager surveys - along with your own productivity data - to learn what works and what doesn’t in all areas, and continue to tweak as needed. 

You may even find that different departments have different needs: Some departments may need to work in-office three days a week while others only two days a week to collaborate effectively, and still other teams may need only one day together. 

At GrowthSpace where we live and breathe data, we’ve found that hybrid is the best solution for our team. In our case, our sweet spot, for the time being, is for all local Growers to meet in the office one day a week and work from home the rest of the time with the option to work at the office on other days always available. 

Why have we chosen a hybrid model? For lots of reasons. Gartner’s research sums up the main points well, finding that hybrid work:

• Reduces fatigue by 44% 
• Increases intent to stay by 45% 
• Boosts performance by 28%

This may change in the future, but it works for us now. The future of work is fluid and always changing, and it’s important for leadership to keep that in mind. 

Embrace the Changing Role of Managers

In the chaos of the first lockdowns and the beginning of the WFH era, HR was overwhelmed with the digital and cultural changes happening overnight, putting the weight of employee well-being on the manager. 

The change hasn’t been easy for many managers, who still may need upskilling and help with leadership skills. But it’s created a tighter feedback loop, with managers having a much better understanding of their teams’ day-to-day. Teams completely reshaped their methods of collaboration, often giving managers more visibility into employee performance than ever before. This has been a huge game-changer for many managers who had limited visibility and based performance reviews more on hours worked and projects completed. 

Because of the increased transparency between manager and employee, managers also have deeper insights into where their employees could learn certain skills and a better eye for spotting potential talents. Developing current employees for unfilled roles is smart for the business, and L&D has become a critical component of employee retention. Your managers’ increased visibility into their employees’ skill gaps enables better accuracy and efficiency.

More importantly, the empathy Covid brought out in teams created a new sense of team belonging, no matter the distance. Part of change management was ensuring team members were ok, and Zoom meetings around the world became more human and more caring. 

Pre-Covid, the manager was all about performance. Post-pandemic, being a great manager and being a great remote manager are nearly identical. Empathy makes all the difference, apparently. And that empathy-based management is going to be a critical part of retention strategy in the coming months if not years. 

Become More Human-Centric

And it’s not just managers who need to be more empathetic - organizations need to become more human-centric if they want to keep their best talent around. Employees got a taste of the greater autonomy and flexibility offered by WFH - and flexibility in and outside the office will do wonders for retention and engagement. 

This applies to where and when employees work, with performance reviews and HR reporting shifting from hours worked to projects completed and other tangible, performance-based activities. 

The point isn’t to squeeze the hours out of the employee to ensure he or she hits their necessary time requirements. Your job as a leader is to try and get the best out of your employees. Help them grow, and they’ll help you grow - by starting with the human side of things, you’re letting your employees know you trust them and want the best for them. 

There really is no ‘return to normal’ when it comes to the workplace. Work has changed for good - and if we’re smart about it, for the better. 

Continue to engage your employees in the process to understand what they really want and need. Communicate broadly so that everyone understands how hybrid arrangements will improve productivity, rather than drain it. And keep developing your employees as you plan your future so that your workforce is set up to succeed today and in the future
 
Recommended Resources: 
• GrowthSpace Blog
• Taboola Case Study 

Omer Glass is Co-Founder and CEO of GrowthSpace where he leads the execution of GrowthSpace’s commercial and product teams. Prior to co-founding GrowthSpace, he worked as a Management Consultant with Shaldor, one of Israel's leading management consultancies and held a variety of positions in the US, UK, Singapore, Germany, and Turkey.   Connect Omer Glass Follow @trygrowthspace