Equity in the Hybrid Office

Pre-pandemic, many leaders considered remote workers to be less dedicated than their in-person counterparts. For remote employees, advancement within an organization and professional development opportunities often remained inaccessible; the lack of physical presence in the workplace essentially allowed leaders to overlook these employees’ contributions and aspirations. This attitude, built and reinforced for decades, seemed like it would stand for time immemorial — until the pandemic leveled the visibility barrier, shifting a vast number of workers worldwide into remote environments.

Now, as many organizations are adopting hybrid work arrangements or urging employees to return to the workplace, it is imperative that leaders deconstruct those same barriers to ensure equity and access for both in-person and remote employees. This is especially important when we consider that underrepresented groups, especially communities of color, have shown a particular interest in not returning to a workplace where they frequently experienced bias from colleagues. Left unaddressed, especially if more underrepresented groups continue to choose virtual work, remote and hybrid work will only serve to further reduce diverse representation in leadership roles. Confronting hybrid equity now will help prevent remote employees from being cast adrift as organizations return to full in-person capacity.

Ensuring hybrid equity and equal access for remote workers will require a true partnership between leaders and employees. To foster that partnership and define the corresponding responsibilities of each party, both sides must answer two critical questions: What should managers do to facilitate the equitable treatment of in-person and remote employees? and What should remote employees do to meet their obligations and expectations within this new work context?

Willing and Able Partners

Organizations, leaders, and subordinates alike were all woefully unprepared when the pandemic suddenly made remote work the standard. But two years later, our remote work routines have become firmly established, and the value of remote work for both employees and organizations has been proven. While managers might once have wondered whether homebound employees were actually working — rather than taking baths, eating bonbons, or watching Squid Game — the key question for leaders to ask has shifted from “Are you doing your job?” to “How can I help you do your job?”

Employees who once adopted the standards set forth for virtual work must now reimagine their role in the hybrid office. Likewise, leaders must address this shift and identify the needs and desires of employees during this pivotal moment to avoid re-enshrining the inequities that once plagued employees serving in remote or hybrid capacities pre-pandemic.

Recommendation: Focus Forward, Not Back

Leaders must acknowledge and accept that there is no back, there is only forward. Those who shrug their shoulders and say, “This wasn’t how we did it back before the pandemic,” are shrugging off their responsibility. The savvy leader recognizes that integrating all of their employees in various work formats is their responsibility. While it’s easy to dismiss the process of switching to a hybrid workplace as a high-level organizational decision, good mid- and junior-level leaders will instead take this opportunity to proactively develop systems and processes — workflows, communication practices, and reporting styles, for example — that work for their teams. Essentially, rather than resting on what was, leaders now have an opportunity to create — in partnership with their employees — what will be.

Employees need to be partners in reassessing and re-creating processes that work better for both themselves and the organization. The move to hybrid and remote work arrangements during the pandemic was sudden and reactionary; the rapidity with which the pandemic struck forced organizations to apply Band-Aids to workplace arrangements that really needed sutures.

Employees will need to help rip off these Band-Aids and redefine what success means in relation to job roles, tasks, and interactions with colleagues. Employees need to understand how they will complete their work, pursue clear goals around fully engaging and accessing both virtual and physical spaces, and speak up about the resources they need to achieve these planned accomplishments. Employees need to dictate which tasks they will be completing remotely rather than in person and when. Employees who embrace a hybrid world will create a work environment in which they can thrive, successfully accomplish their tasks, and maintain accountability.

Recommendation: Reassess the Value of Visibility

Leaders of remote workers cannot expect or rely upon chance interactions for communicating information or routinely checking in. In the hybrid workplace, the old adage “out of sight, out of mind” is no longer acceptable. Remote workers may not be immediately visible, but they are very much present. Rather than letting remote workers slip into obscurity, the best leaders will be more intentional in their interactions so as not to leave anyone behind.

Critically, leaders must provide sufficient support and resources for employees to reach their full potential. Building equity in the workplace means that all team members feel a sense of belonging and value. It’s the leader’s role to ensure that their employees feel like they can bring their authentic selves to the office. The benefits of this leadership mindset extend far beyond remote workers: If leaders are intentional in their interactions and evaluations, subordinates will no longer need to prove their respective worth, reducing the need for unnecessary competition for their manager’s time or attention.

Employees need to take a proactive stance in shaping their roles and responsibilities. This recommendation is quite different from asking employees to “stay visible.” On the contrary, we recommend that employees avoid overcommunicating with their leaders in an attempt to prove or demonstrate that, yes, they are in fact doing their jobs. Such attempts likely will be viewed by leaders as either a lack of confidence or an unnecessary irritant. Instead, simply completing the tasks at hand is a tactic that all remote and hybrid employees should adopt; getting work done is what makes remote work viable.

Recommendation: Draw a Line

Leaders must determine and communicate what gets done where — in person or virtually. Employees in a hybrid arrangement will understand that infrequent attendance at work will be required — but they will be upset if they have to go into the office, even briefly, for tasks that they could have done remotely.

To avoid this frustrating situation, we recommend that leaders meet and decide, in partnership with their employees, the dividing line between tasks that should or must be completed in the office and those that can be completed online. Create a simple two-column list to delineate which tasks should happen where. Once this dividing line has been established, everyone can understand and agree on their roles and expectations.

Employees need to be full-fledged and vocal participants in this decision-making process; it is not enough simply to show up at the meeting. Employees should come fully prepared with a list of their own tasks to discuss, lest they find themselves in an in-person meeting that could have been a virtual meeting or phone call a few weeks later. In fact, a motivated employee could complete this task on their own. Providing their manager with their own two-column list, along with a request for a conversation about what tasks are best performed where, will allow employees to deliver their best efforts for the organization and advance their careers.

Recommendation: Build Cultures of Belonging

Leaders are responsible for maintaining a strong organizational culture and team mentality despite their dispersed workforce. One way to do this is to build a culture of belonging where everyone feels like they are a part of the team. The very first ingredient to building this culture is trust; leaders can demonstrate this trust by embracing flexibility in where and when work gets done.

Ultimately, leaders need to micromanage less and trust their employees more. Over-monitoring creates pressure on employees to prove that they are on task. A better way to facilitate and build trusting work relationships is to remember that each employee was hired for a reason; give them the opportunity to shine in their respective roles and prove their productivity through their performance and outcomes. Leaders should embrace communication as the cornerstone of their reward and recognition efforts. They should host gatherings, even if virtual, to celebrate the significant achievements of members of their team. They should cheer successes with the entire team with all the applause and enthusiasm they would muster if together in the physical workplace.

Employees must share the task of being active teammates by socializing, reconnecting, and sharing their victories with their colleagues. This level of engagement will go a long way toward countering the feelings of isolation that many employees experience while working away from the collegiality of the physical office. Informal short meetings can enable and maintain personal connections across teams and prevent colleagues from feeling disconnected. Workers should make the time to connect with colleagues in a way that is genuinely engaging and meaningful, via casual check-ins or learning about one another on a more personal level. But they should accept that it may be challenging to build new networks and nurture existing ones because of the virtual shift.

There is no better time to ensure equity in the hybrid workplace than this very moment. The pandemic decimated the barriers to advancement and associated power perceptions that once barred remote workers from progressing at the same rate as their in-person colleagues. Rather than letting those walls slowly be rebuilt, both leaders and employees must partner together to make genuine progress toward establishing true equity in the hybrid office.