How to Create a Positive Employee Experience and Culture for Remote and Hybrid Workers

Hybrid working is seemingly here to stay. For companies wanting to get the best out of their employees, it requires strategic thinking to put in place the appropriate culture and employee experience. While it’s important to account for the day-to-day differences in the experiences of remote, hybrid and onsite employees - to enable them to bring their A-game every day - the underlying cultural values should be consistent across all types of workers so that they feel they’re working for the same organisation, and have the same shared goals.

Creating a positive working environment has proven benefits to your business, including increased productivity, higher engagement, and better retention. A negative experience can have the opposite result, which can impact not just employee morale but also the customer experience. Here we’ll explore how companies with a hybrid model can create a positive employee experience and culture for all.

The Importance of EX and Culture for Remote/Hybrid Workers

Meeting the needs of an increasingly hybrid workforce isn’t easy, especially if the hybrid model is a new venture for your organisation. It’s clear that the hybrid trend isn’t dying down post-pandemic, with a reported 16% of the UK workforce working from home only and 28% doing some form of hybrid working according to the latest figures from the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS).

Flexible working is being embraced by employees, but is the hybrid employee experience as good as it can be? 47% of those working from home reported improved well-being according to the ONS, while 52% said they were able to complete work much more quickly. If the productivity numbers are to be believed, the benefits of looking after remote and hybrid workers, and keeping them engaged, are clear to see.

It’s well known that employees who don’t feel listened to quickly become disengaged and isolated. And the effect is compounded with remote workers. As many as 38% of employees say they often feel left out of conversations in hybrid meetings, whilst only 34% strongly agree their company provides all the necessary technology to be able to collaborate equally and inclusively when working remotely.

Focusing on EX and culture provides companies with many advantages which may include:

Increased Productivity– happier employees are more productive, with a more positive view of their role overall. 58% of executives have said their employees’ productivity has increased due to hybrid working.

Improved Engagement – happier, more productive employees are more engaged in their roles and more likely to feel they are part of a wider team. This helps to improve teamwork and overall morale.

Improved Inclusion and Diversity – an organisation that is focused on culture is much more likely to take the appropriate steps on inclusion and diversity and measure these metrics. 54% of executives saw diversity and inclusion improve due to a hybrid approach.

Better Retention – with happier, more engaged, and more productive teams, retention becomes easier as fewer employees are looking to leave. The flexibility of hybrid working helps here as 37% of employees would consider looking for another job if they were unable to work remotely in their current role.

Better Customer Experience (CX) – by aligning the employee experience (EX) with the customer experience (CX), both will improve. Having a positive employee experience means hybrid workers will engage better with customers and create more positive feedback. Engaged employees will care more about their work and about improving customer satisfaction. According to Gartner, companies that provide the ‘Total Experience’ (positive EX and CX) will outperform competitors by 25% in satisfaction metrics by 2024.

Being able to deliver a positive employee experience is important and will help position your organisation as a hybrid employer of choice when recruiting and building trust amongst existing employees. So, how do organisations create this positive culture?

How to Create a Positive EX and Culture.

For a hybrid model to be a success, it needs to be built with an awareness of the pros and cons of working in this way and an understanding of how to reduce the negative aspects. Some of the disadvantages include the increased difficulty of managing remote and hybrid teams, as well as providing the tech support and software needed to work productively away from the office. The biggest pain points usually relate to communication, as without communicating with and listening to your employees effectively, negativity and disengagement can begin to grow. Here are some tips on creating the positive environment you seek:

• Provide clear communication and expectations from day one - guidelines must be put in place for anyone working remotely or in a hybrid role. These should set out exactly what is expected so there is no confusion. This also provides an opportunity for employees to advise of any barriers they may have when working remotely and ask questions.

• Foster a sense of belonging and community – by using virtual social events and team-building activities you can provide an experience like no other, helping engage employees with their teams. This should be inclusive and focus on team building to help remote workers feel part of the bigger vision and mission of the company.

• Provide the necessary tools and resources to be successful - make sure remote and hybrid workers have everything they need from cloud software logins to collaboration software and physical hardware including headsets, keyboards, laptops, and anything else the role requires. As the cloud is vital for hybrid working, issues around accessing tools and information remote workers need should be resolved quickly. Your IT department should be integral in ensuring this goes smoothly, especially when onboarding new recruits.

• Encourage and facilitate regular check-ins - communication with team members is vital, so having set check-ins and regular communication will avoid isolation and a lack of engagement. If these can’t happen face-to-face then they should be by video conference at a minimum, rather than by email or a phone call. A combination of individual check-ins as well as team check-ins helps everyone remain engaged and provides opportunities to regularly address what’s working and not working.

• Recognise and reward - the contributions of your remote and hybrid workers should be recognised, and you should find fun and engaging ways to support them. This ensures everyone feels included, and also rewards workers for their hard work. This can include feedback on positive customer interactions, reviews and NPS, as well as internal recognition too.

• Opportunities for growth and development – all employees whether remote, hybrid or onsite, need direction and a sense of where their career can grow. Providing plenty of opportunities for this will improve engagement and a sense of belonging, and help employees feel included in the company’s growth and just cared about in general.

• Self-automation – nothing says trust like providing your employees with the ability to use technology to help them have a flexible working life. Trusting them to choose their own schedules and work on personal progression and train autonomously can boost their career with your company and their morale.

Define Your EX and Culture, Create a Happier Environment

If it were simple to have a fully engaged workforce and keep everyone happy, including customers, employees would have nothing but positives to give by way of feedback. In reality, there are many opportunities for organisations to improve processes when it comes to EX and culture in a hybrid environment. Many companies may only be experiencing this post-pandemic, and so may still be a few years into defining and evolving their approach to hybrid. What is clear is that EX and culture should be prioritised as these will help foster a positive and productive work environment.

As customer experience specialists, here at Ventrica we know that it’s crucial for our employees to be engaged with the clients and customers we work with. However, to make this a reality, we understand that this involves delivering an employee experience and a company culture that resonates with our hybrid teams. It’s why we’re an award-winning BPO service provider and our Ventricans’ experience is at the heart of this.

To discover more about how we help global brands improve the customer experience, talk to us today.