Canadian HR Reporter

N E W S 10 www.hrreporter.com How to foster equality in hybrid workplaces A blended office may soon become the norm as employers rethink staff hours and locations, but leaders should ensure all employees feel equally valued, says John Dujay That casual water cooler chat doesn't necessarily happen when you're onboarding remotely." One of the ways HRdownloads has helped new employees stay connected is to establish a buddy program or peer- based program, says Bunce. "The goal of that program is to enable current staff to build connections with our new workers that are onboarding remotely. You don't want to always call your manager [because] 'I forgot to do something,' or [to ask] 'How do I do this again?' We really wanted to ensure that there would be an opportunity to build those connections," she says. "[It's about] knowing that a new hire has someone they could quickly go to." To help encourage the buddy system to fully work, it's a good idea to allocate a some in-person, how you create internal consistency is going to be key." Onboarding concerns A wide range of employee experiences will have to be rejigged to maintain a sense of fairness among the different groups of employees, and it all begins with onboarding. For one, new employees may have more questions. "[Try] being a bit more deliberate in setting up additional opportunities for people that are working from home to ask questions," says Erica Pimentel, assistant professor at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont. "We have to dedicate time for people that are working from home to ask questions. If we set up half an hour on Friday for you to ask your questions, you will come prepared with questions." Newcomers to the office may get more attention simply because they are meeting people face-to-face, says Pimentel, which could be perceived as an unfair advantage. "There's a lot of informal training that's going to happen for folks that are in-person that will not be available to people that are working from home; the people at home become invisible. We know they're there; we see them on Zoom but, other than that, no one really tends to them." It's incumbent upon managers to take into account the remote worker who doesn't have the face-time advantage, according to Hailey Fugman, principal at Mercer in Vancouver. "[They] can still have a great remote onboarding experience, however, inter- actions need to be more purposeful. budget for the buddy and new employee to have coffee together remotely and learn more about each other, "and also about the workplace and the culture," says Bunch. Performance considerations As for the issue of career progression, including promotions and raises, remote workers should be encouraged to show up at the workplace — at least sometimes, says Pimentel. "That will allow them to foster those networks that are so important to be even considered for promotion." But making the rules suit both remote workers and on-site people is key, she says. "It would be very difficult to have a separate set of performance objectives or evaluation schema for people working from home and in the office." Helping employees succeed by having a regular connection is one of the best ways to justify any rewards, says Bunce. "Once you establish that, that secondary question about promotions becomes relatively easy because as a manager [it's about] how your team's performing, how they're working IS HYBRID THE FUTURE OF WORK? 58% Percentage of employees who prefer hybrid model for work 73% Percentage of workers who said employers will lose talent if they don't offer flexible work 37% Percentage of employees who feel company culture has worsened during pandemic 16% Percentage of workers who want to return full time to the workplace a massive return to the office imminent — barring an u n f o r e s e e n C O V I D -1 9 o u t b r e a k requiring major lockdowns again — the hybrid model is set to transform many a workplace. This will mean employees are putting in their hours both at home and at the office. But it won't be an easy transition, and there are a few tips that HR may want to keep in mind to navigate rocky waters, say experts. "Businesses really need to take a step back and re-examine their practices — not just running them the way they've always run them — because how your people are going to connect with you and with their teams is going to be different," says Sharon Bunce, chief of staff at HRdownloads in London, Ont. "Hybrid work for a lot of organiza- tions is brand new; we all went remote because we had to, and when we start looking at the future of the world of work, and we have some hybrid and "When you see people in a hybrid event, how often do the people that are on the screen actually participate? Very rarely." Erica Pimentel, Queen's University Source: Citrix WITH

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