The New World Of Hybrid Workspaces

A DEI expert perspective

A tug of war is happening within company cultures between productivity and sustainability. For a long time, my clients assumed that sustainability came from productivity, and productivity alone. The 2020 digital evolution to implement remote work has been phenomenal - an unexpected boost in productivity and with that an evolution in the need for transparency and authenticity from leaders. The past year has shown us that we can still be productive outside the office, but to be sustainable, we will need to focus on social and environmental responsibility, including the well-being of staff. Specifically, we need to go beyond seeing well-being simply as a tool to further business results. As the pandemic took over our personal and professional operations, it has also challenged us to question whether we may have been actually compromising “productivity” for bottom-line metrics.

As a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant, I have seen first-hand how the events of 2020, namely the Covid-19 pandemic and the racial justice awakenings, have caused companies to question the origins of some of the standards that we called “best practices.” Revisiting these practices has meant also having to articulate their existence, which is often rooted in racist policies and power imbalances. Unfortunately, not all leaders were ready for this explanation. For organizations that bypassed these reflections on equity, the ramifications are already underway around their place in the market and their reputation and culture.

With all this comes culture shock. The concern about maintaining organizational culture is top of mind for many leaders in this hybrid work environment. However, the first step would be to identify what the organizational culture is, and regrettably, many organizations and businesses have not invested time to articulate their culture and core values. This shortcoming has impacted morale within these organizations and contributed to the chaos that many have already been living in. For underrepresented groups, it has meant additional marginalization. Research from The Conference Board shows that the wage gap between white workers and black workers has widened despite accounting for demographic, geographic, and educational differences. The underrepresentation of Black employees in high-paying industries and jobs is one factor. In sectors where work did not falter during the pandemic, such as technology, organizational culture became more palpable.

Without a regular grounding in its core values, an organization will lose adherence to those values, and especially when systems are being challenged. Inequities in pay and racist or sexist policies are examples. Leaders need to ask themselves if core values are being considered in daily meetings and when discussing business objectives. Do employees and management know they influence culture, both directly and indirectly? Do they recognize their value beyond their contribution to the bottom line? The remote work environment has been empowering as it has validated non-managerial staff in their ability to work more efficiently, even without traditional supervision. Employees will be looking for that autonomy, and to weigh in on the terms of their employment. A durable racial and social equity lens needs to be part of this equation, or else power imbalances will persist.

There are a few practices for companies and small businesses to consider.  Employers need to review and audit each job to determine whether on-site execution is necessary, or if it can thrive remotely. Anticipating the desires of employees for geographic flexibility is key. Historically, this flexibility has benefited employers and possibly pressured employees, and now remote working will be considered by current or potential employees when evaluating the jobs they choose.  We have seen these moves happen already --- people who are no longer required to stay where a job is located, bring the job to a preferred or more affordable location. Employers will need to ensure that decisions revolve around the job and its duties, as opposed to biased treatment of whoever is holding the position at a given moment. To act otherwise is to risk further marginalization and inequity because those with the means will continue to be able to live where they want and with the desired accommodations, while others will be held hostage to their jobs, even in their own homes.

Listening to employee feedback must be authentic, rather than a trend or strategic utilitarian move in reaction to a crisis or when there is indecisiveness. Employee assistance programs have been utilized significantly in the past year, so ensuring that an organization has a robust program with an equity lens is critical. Lastly, one’s fear of consequences due to power imbalances is a necessary consideration. Heightened expectations, whether communicated or implicit, can lead to overworking and cause burnout.

The hybrid work environment is compelling us to recognize that accessibility to information is a top priority. With so many platforms to solicit feedback and administer polling in large numbers, this “hybrid” work environment might fool us into thinking that conducting surveys and polls is sufficient. However, without a plan to review and implement learnings from that data, these efforts will likely yield the type of disgruntlement many organizations saw around the once-a-year climate/engagement survey. For any survey, leaders need to plan for explaining the reasons for what they will and will not implement from recommendations and other results.

Some employers are finding that people want to take 3-day weekends and can be just as productive --- something that seemed revolutionary when it was implemented by Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand in 2018 and at Microsoft Japan in 2019. We are also hearing requests to work remotely on Fridays or Mondays, leaving those days for planning and concentration as opposed to meetings and calls. Some companies are allowing various workgroups to self-determine how to maximize the use of space, which can also cut overall operational costs.

Companies must be transparent in the decision-making process and organizational approach, while also being diligent in attempts to foresee accommodations that will be needed to recruit and retain diverse talent. Resources and time need to be invested in communication to minimize the risk of some talent groups or staff having more opportunities than others. We need to recognize the limitations in nonverbal communication we are experiencing, and have ways to compensate for those. This also means looking at how diversity, equity and inclusion are showing up, or not showing up.

We must recognize the wealth gap and social inequities in cost-cutting decisions. If office space is being reduced, leaders need to consider how to repurpose funds to create the space that is needed to sustain every employee’s well-being. For some, the home might be the best space to be productive and the workplace the space to sustain relationships. Some examples include providing ergonomically supportive office equipment at home; subsidizing memberships in co-working spaces well outside the city, opening satellite offices; providing financial wellness and literacy education as part of the benefits package; subsidizing care responsibilities, subsidizing in-home care, children’s camps, extracurricular activities as well as tutoring with many elder care and child care facilities having gone out of business; providing stipends for utility costs, etc. Some are restructuring their offices to be coworking or hoteling spaces, essentially dismantling the idea of “owning” one’s office, even for C-suite leaders, and thereby creating an open space for communication and access.

The culture shock is palpable. It is a shake-up of the mythical culture around productivity. We are seeing the power pendulum flip in pursuit of sustainability, over productivity. Brand loyalty, staff retention, and sustainability depend on how an organization is going to communicate its approaches. Employees will no longer accept the feeling of working in an abyss of bureaucracy, technology, and productivity. They are expecting flexibility, authenticity, and accountability.