March 5th 2022
As we enter into the post-covid era, many businesses are choosing to stick with some form of hybrid working, allowing their employees to work both from home and in the office. As working from home exclusively is no longer considered vital, business owners are looking for ways in which to implement policies which still give their employees the freedom to work from home.
In this article, we’re going to outline 8 key considerations when it comes to hybrid working policy implementation, and what you can do as a business owner to ensure that expectations are clearly defined.
1. Hybrid Working Models
So, first of all, what exactly are hybrid working models?
Some models follow strict schedules, whilst others take on a more more ‘as you go’ approach. There are a few typical hybrid working models that are being utilised by businesses, and we will outline these below.
At-Will and Remote-First Models
Both terms meaning the same thing, this model allows each employee to work freely between either the office and at home, at their own discretion and wherever they work best.
Office-First Model
Similar to the model(s) above, this allows employees to work either at home or in the office, but the difference here is that some office time is required.
Split-Week Model
This model is a scheduling model, in which there are set days an employee works from home, and other days where they are present in the office.
Week-By-Week Model
In a week in-office, and a week working-from-home set up, this model schedules specific weeks in which each employee will be required to be working in the office, and the following one at home.
Designated Teams Hybrid Work Model
Requiring more organisation than that of other hybrid working models, this model designates specific people who are required to work in the office, and others who are required to work from home, and these are each considered teams.
Each model should be documented and understood by each employee, as you implement policies in which everyone is required to follow the approach. Now that we understand the models, let’s discuss the policies you can put in place to keep everyone safe and happy, which ever model you go with.
2. Safety and Security
The safety and security of your employees is of utmost importance when implementing a hybrid working model. Remember, we’re not out of the woods just yet with the pandemic, so putting in place strict guidelines in the office will be paramount.
That means masks, social distancing, minimising large crowds or gatherings, hand washing and one-way systems are all still in play. Be sure to communicate this clearly and concisely to your employees, whether through signs around the office or a regular company-wide newsletter.
With some employees working from home during certain periods, you’ll need to to keep a rota (one that’s visible to all employees) of who is going to be coming in and out of the office in any given week.
If you need a bigger or smaller space that is better suited to your business and your employees, take a look at our serviced offices, or our managed offices if you’ll need to customise the space to any specific needs.
3. Clear Communication Lines
When working both in-office and remotely, it’s important for everyone to be on the same page. Utilising tools such as email, Slack, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and many others will be vital in ensuring your employees stay connected and visible to other members of the team during the workday. Implement a policy that requires all employees to be available on a form of instant messaging platform.
As well as these lines of communication, you’ll need to be holding regular team meetings, so that those working from home have a chance to dial in and have some input. Make sure that these meetings are on camera, so that each employee gets to feel like part of the team still, despite some being at home. Requiring employees to be present at these meetings once a week or fortnight will suffice.
4. Technology and Equipment
Ensuring your employees that work from home have access to the correct equipment and technology to get their work done is extremely important. However, you must have a system in which they are able to take technology home. You’ll need to implement a policy in which employees book their pieces of equipment, so that the company has knowledge of it, and can track it. Setting up a database of who has what, and where, is a good way to do this.
You can designate an employee to track which pieces are being loaned out, and to who, and update this regularly as they inevitably come back into the office for a stint, and others are then required to work from home. Make sure your employees know the system to follow, who to go to to book out a piece of tech, and how long they are required to have it for.
5. Requests and Questions
General requests from employees working out of the office will need some form of system in which they can submit them, especially if they are out-of-office for a while. There will need to be clear policies in which employees can request certain things. A way you can implement this, is to have a centralised hub in which all requests are made and then checked or confirmed by someone who is in-office.
Those working from home will naturally have questions from time to time, and some of those questions may need to be addressed quickly. Setting up a forum or centralised company message board for questions and answers are great ways to keep your business ticking along without a hitch.
6. Flexibility and Availability
Within each hybrid working model comes a plethora of other intricacies that need to be addressed as company policy. One of these is flexibility and availability of each employee. Those working from home should have a required set of tasks that they need to do each working day, but you’ll need clear policies that outline how they are supposed to approach them.
Are they going to work set hours in a day, say 8am-4pm? Or are they allowed more freedom, in which they are supposed to have their tasks done by 5pm, regardless of when they start? You’ll need to set out clearly what is expected.
Keep in mind that some employees may need to be on calls, in meetings with clients and other duties, so take this into account when you set your policies. This may even need to be on an employee-by-employee basis, depending on rank in the company and working hours.
7. Productivity and Performance
Measuring the productivity of remote workers is a difficult task, but there are ways in which you can do this without being too intrusive. Implementing a policy, for those remote workers only, in which they must log their time spent within company tools, time available on instant messengers, and time taken to complete tasks is a simple way to ensure that work is being done.
You may even go as far as active monitoring of employees when they are using company equipment and paid tools, as these are important to your business, and you want to know that they are being used efficiently and correctly. Active monitoring can be difficult to put in place, however, as you still want your employees to make the most of remote working.
You must also disclose to your employees that you are putting place any form of monitoring. From a legal standpoint, you should always keep your employees in the loop on these kinds of policies. It helps to build trust with them, and also shows transparency.
8. Dress Code
When allowing employees to work from home, it’s important to remember that they are still representing your company. If they were to jump onto a client call in their pyjamas, it has the chance to reflect badly on your business.
Setting a standardised dress code policy for all employees, whether in the office or at home, is a good way of minimising any missteps that can happen but isn’t always ideal. Alternatively, you can allow a slightly more relaxed attire when working from home, unless they are required to be present in company or client meetings digitally.
You can allow flexibility in your remote workers’ dress codes depending on each season, as being in the office and working from home are very different beasts, but yet still require the same amount of input.
Hybrid working models may very well become the norm going forward, as companies are quickly realising that not everyone needs to be in the office at once to get the same amount of work done. Some businesses are even seeing an uptick in productivity from those working at home, so we hope you’ve taken away some valuable information on how to set policies for hybrid working today.
If you’re downscaling your office to allow for the implementation of a hybrid working model, or if you simply want more space so you can more easily social distance, head over and take a look at our serviced offices and managed office spaces today, and see what we have available for you.
