Keeping employees emotionally connected is the greatest challenge to hybrid working and HR professionals say this is impacting on building a remote workplace culture.
A report by employee engagement platform WorkBuzz found two-thirds of the 300 HR professionals and business leaders who were surveyed found it difficult to keep employees emotionally connected.
With 81 percent of office-based organisations moving to hybrid working, it has brought challenges to workplace culture.
HR professionals say they are navigating how to maintain a positive and inclusive workplace while allowing full flexibility.
A key part of which, is helping people to feel connected to their co-workers, leaders and the organisation, especially when working remotely.
Steven Frost is Founder and CEO of WorkBuzz. He said: “We need to be careful not to create a two-tier system than ignores sections of the workforce. After all, if leaders aren’t conscious of adapting their communications and interactions to keep remote, office-based and frontline workers’ needs in mind, people will begin to feel excluded and disengaged.”
The report also found HR professionals have a number of other concerns around hybrid working.
One in two professionals said they find it challenging to identify and support wellbeing needs, nurture the right culture, and create collaboration when teams are dispersed.
This is bolstered by a poll at an HR Review webinar where most teams told us they felt they could do more to support employee wellbeing.
Frost says, “For most challenges, experienced leaders and HR professionals have a playbook – they’ve seen it before. But with hybrid working, many are charting new waters, figuring out how to make it work most effectively and adapting to employees’ changing expectations. This makes listening to their people even more important.”
