HR Guide: How to Create a Hybrid Workplace Arrangement

Our previous article explained the Hybrid Workplace Arrangement, what it is about, its pros and cons. In this article, we will explain the guidelines on creating a hybrid workplace for your organisation. 

As you would know, the hybrid workplace arrangement allows employees to work from home, in the office, or both. It also reorients workforce management around productivity rather than attendance, less focus on time and more focus on accomplishing tasks. 

It will take time to implement the hybrid workplace arrangement policy. Let's start with the basics:

1. Understand your employees

First, we need to understand how our employees do their work. It will be easier to support and cultivate them by conducting interviews and surveys. 

Do not worry; the research does not have to be in-depth. Simply invite your employees to participate in a 10-minute online survey or qualitative interviews. Make sure to include employees from every department as this process consists of the entire workforce.  

Their responses should be anonymous, but you should know which department they are from to see how the team functions as a whole. 

You might have outliers, but they will not affect policies unless all the outliers are in a department whose function needs special attention. 

Here are some questions you can ask your employees:

1. How do you commute to the workplace?

2. How long does the commute usually take?

3. What is the ideal number of days you would prefer to work from home in a week?

4. From 1 to 10, how productive are you when working from home?

5. From 1 to 10, what is your interest level in going back to the office?

6. What makes you most happy about an office return?

7. What are your biggest issues about an office return?

When implementing Hybrid Workplace policies, we must also consider the floorplan to accommodate all employees.

2. Creating policies to support Hybrid Workplace Arrangement

When creating policies, you must base them on employee preferences and data. Understanding how your employees work and how they prefer to work will guide you in making valuable policies that are just right and not too flexible or restrictive. 

You can either apply broad policy statements at an organisational level or customise them for each department. If you are using specific policies for certain departments, the managers in charge must receive guidance on enforcing these policies. 

There are four points to focus on when creating hybrid workplace arrangement policies:

a. Office Attendance

Will office attendance be compulsory or optional? Will you need employees to attend office on specific days? Will those days vary by department?

Unless there is a good reason, such as company culture, we should avoid assigning employees a set number of days in the office. Team leaders should have the responsibility in deciding what is necessary and defining goals for in-office days. 

We should also ensure that employees who work in the office all the time do not receive more benefits than employees who are always remote. We should reward them based on their productivity, not attendance. 

b. Online Hours

Do employees need to be online during specific hours each day? If they have the flexibility to work from home, they may prefer to work different hours than the usual 9-to-5. 

c. Local Workplaces

There might be employees who cannot achieve total productivity working from home, and they live too far from the office. The best solution is to find a coworking space that's near enough to where they live.

d. Total remote

What is your policy when employees move or when new employees live far from the office? We must also distinguish between fully remote employees and employees with an option or a need to work in the office. 

It is now possible to have fully remote employees. If your organisation does not have clear and universal policies, your employees and job candidates will have so many questions for you. The best hybrid workplace arrangement includes those who are fully remote.

3. Office Design

The layout of the office is also essential. There should be areas to support all employees except those who are fully remote. 

A fully open floorplan can ensure enough space for employees. 

Consider these three issues:

a. Dedicated workspace

The standard office solution is one desk for every employee. When you consider future office attendance, you might have many empty desks if you implement the standard solution. 

The hybrid workplace arrangement gives you the chance to resolve this issue by reducing office space requirements. 

b. Collaboration zones

A collaboration zone is an area where employees come together in formal and informal ways, such as conference rooms, lounge area and the pantry. These areas will become more valuable as the office becomes a spot for team interaction and gathering rather than a compulsory employee docking station.

c. Private spaces

The office should also be a place for employees to focus on their tasks without interruption and distraction. A company with an open floorplan should also create private spaces such as small conference rooms so employees can reserve when they need to use one. 

The policies should also consider fully remote employees.

4. Tools for the team

A hybrid workplace would have fully remote employees. In this case, companies must make sure they are equipped with the necessary tools to do their jobs well. 

The list starts with laptops, internet access, internal servers access, and a dedicated home workspace. 

It can be easy for employers to forget how crucial basic equipment is for productivity. Managers and supervisors should create their list of at-home necessities and ensure that their team members received these items. 

These recommendations are practical considerations to manage logistics and creating policies for hybrid workplace transition. 

When you're creating these policies, make sure you:

1. Gather the data
2. Set policies based on the data
3. Track the implementation
4. Conduct assessments regularly

These steps are critical to ensure that your policies are practical for your organisation. 

The Hybrid Workplace Arrangement is proof that the office is not gone. It just evolved into a dynamic space for working, interacting and engaging with others. 

Source: IPMA-HR

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