Maintaining employee engagement and morale in a hybrid workspace

Adjusting to the practicalities of virtual working took a relatively short period of time for most people. Within weeks teams adjusted to Zoom meetings and a new virtual office, with productivity quickly returning to pre-pandemic levels.

The real challenge lay in maintaining employee engagement, morale and company culture, a challenge that will once again evolve as we turn towards hybrid working. Over the past year we’ve asked ourselves: how do you ensure people feel supported and part of a great team when they are working alone from the kitchen worktop? This is now shifting to: how do you create a great place to work when some of the team are in the office and others are largely working from home?

For us, collaboration and inclusion are essential to building a culture that values the idea that we are better together. Fostering a collaborative spirit creates a feeling of community and being included, which in turn makes us feel happier and more engaged. Cultivating opportunities to harness our collective intelligence isn’t just great for engaging our people, collaboration helps deliver the best and most creative ideas, too.

Alongside collaboration, empathetic leadership is vital. During the pandemic it became clear that one size does not fit all, as people faced vastly different challenges based on their household circumstances. To support our teams we developed a more empathetic leadership culture, carefully listening to people and communicating regularly. This approach helped us to create well-being initiatives to meet our people’s needs, such as Headspace Days, and adapt our culture in a more agile way. We also hired an Experience and Inclusion Manager to maintain focus on how we continue to create a great hybrid place to work.

The events of 2020 provided a unique opportunity for many businesses to re-imagine and re-engineer how and where we work in years to come. We are excited by what the future holds but know there will be unexpected challenges. By listening to our team and leading with collaboration, empathy and inclusion we are certain we can continue to build an exciting workplace of the future.