From remote to hybrid working: Five ways to ensure a seamless crossover

Hybrid work model is here to stay. What began as a response to the pandemic is fast becoming table stakes for life beyond it. With survey after survey bearing out the resounding preference for hybrid work among organisations as well as employees, leaders are actively weaving it into their future of work strategies to realise sustainable, scalable, and resilient organisations. Here are five tips for ensuring a seamless transition to hybrid working.

Double down on digital infrastructure and IT Security

An increasingly distributed and digital workforce is exposing organisations to a growing volume, velocity, and variety of vulnerabilities. It is imperative for information technologies (IT) organisations to continually evaluate their ability to secure, monitor, track and insulate sensitive organisational data and assets across gateways. This calls for investments in multi-layered security solutions that allow end-to-end protection while providing a comprehensive view of network traffic and unauthorised network intrusions before it is too late.

Use data to drive decisions

If you cannot manage by walking around, then you need to manage by data. In distributed work environments, organisations must tap into the full potential of data analytics to make informed decisions. This involves moving beyond data aggregation to data translation and ultimately real-time, predictive decision-making. A good starting point could be establishing a robust data governance framework and investing in workbenches and tools that provide a unified view of data movements. This framework must rise above organisational silos and pull together data from disparate sources. Data-driven decision-making also entails instilling a culture of data literacy and subsequently data fluency.

Unify engagement and experience across the virtuo-physical environment

‘Experience’ has become the currency of the always-on new normal. This calls for investments in tools, technologies, and skills that marry efficiencies of scale with hybrid presence. Unified platforms for IT workflows to be executed seamlessly and teams to collaborate effectively will be centre stage. This, backed by a culture of creative thinking, collaboration, goal-orientation, and continuous learning, will help boost outcomes as employees teleport through physical and virtual environments. At the same time, organisations will need to find creative ways of managing the changing dynamics of real-time customer engagement and sentiment management.

Institutionalise ongoing learning and development

The ability to rapidly acquire and apply new insights and knowledge is what differentiates businesses. Reskilling as a means to professional growth will have to be made inclusive and easily accessible to employees. This will mandate a learning strategy based on reciprocal commitment between the company and its employees. Specialist skills necessitated by virtual working and digital transformations will need to be carefully factored into learning and development. A ‘learn anywhere, anytime’ approach will be crucial to delivering new skills and capabilities at scale.

Spruce up strategies for hiring, nurturing, and retaining talent

While the hybrid model paves the way to a wider, more diverse talent pool, it also presents newer challenges in employee engagement. Hiring will require organisations to explore innovative methods across the whole talent acquisition chain – right from identifying talent to onboarding it. Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality could help augment the hiring experience and generate insights across each touch point. Talent retention, often dependent on a strong sense of belonging, inclusivity, connectedness, and partnership, clarity of purpose, monetary benefits, and career adaptability, will entail extra efforts on part of the organization to show it cares for its employees and is committed to not just enabling superior performance, but also rewarding that performance with growth-oriented career paths. Organisations will need to go the extra mile in bringing even greater flexibility to their work policies, while increasing investments in collaboration platforms.

Organisations that stay nimble and adapt well not just to the new normal, but also to the changing interplay of their stakeholders within that new normal will lead the way in making the most of hybrid work models. Delivering the right experience will be more critical than ever.

Dayapatra Nevatia is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Mindtree

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