Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 6

12 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 6 GUEST SUBMI SS ION remote colleagues, according to our survey (76% of remote workers are engaging vs. 66% of non- remote workers). To truly reach onsite employees, leaders must make more of an effort to share thoughtful and strategic messages that speak to the non-remote employee’s experience. In-person workers rely less on email: Onsite workers are more likely to say they prefer real- time conversations over email. This means leaders can shift back to more real-time, face-to- face conversations and meetings when returning in-person. Tips for communicating with a hybrid workforce When planning your reentry and preparing to communicate with both in-person and remote employees, it’s important to recognize these preferences and use them to inform the messages leadership shares and the mediums on which they are shared. I recommend leaders consider the following when planning to engage with the hybrid workforce: Carefully consider message mediums: With a hybrid workforce, it’s critical to find a message avenue that works equally as well for remote and in-person employees. When planning for communications, consider how a message will reach both sets of employees. For example, lean on digital signage onsite to share messages that are also disseminated to remote employees via email, and consider live-streaming in-person meetings and announcements for remote employees. Use video to level the playing field: Video messages are an excellent medium for reaching a hybrid workforce, enabling leaders to communicate with nuance and allow employees to watch company communications on their own time – which is especially critical as our survey found that 52% of employees prefer to watch/listen to a company announcement or communication instead of reading an email or blog post. In practice, video can help leaders create an easy-to-understand tutorial for installing new material or using a new piece of technology, streamlining and simplifying the training process. Keeping culture alive Even when leaders take steps to ensure thoughtful hybrid communications, culture is a real concern for organizations as they consider the impact of a hybrid workforce on company traditions. When 100% of staff can’t regularly be together in-person, how can organizations build culture and continue the intangible elements that make their organization truly great? It requires thinking outside of the box and beyond the standard idea of company culture in the form of holiday parties and happy hours.