Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 8

17 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 8 By: Stacy Adams, Head of Marketing at Vyond The early days of the pandemic brought many field workers, like those in manufacturing and construction, to remote work. However, the reality is that these industries had already started to find ways to perform jobs and tasks remotely long before the pandemic. Innovations like remote monitoring and operations were increasingly relied upon as lockdowns and social distancing made them even more valuable to organizations. These types of processes have made it possible for field workers to continue their pace of work, streamlining workflows and controlling costs. Now, as more of these workers make their way back to more full-time, in-person work, leaders must take steps to ensure a smooth transition into the hybrid work environment. Understanding employee preferences Before remote workers head back to full-time in-person work, leaders need to understand their communication preferences and how they perceive company communications. Understanding this employee mindset – both for onsite and remote workers – is crucial in navigating the hybrid workplace. Earlier this year, my team surveyed 1,000 full-time employees and discovered some insights that leaders may find surprising. Engaging with non-remote workers requires more effort: Onsite workers are not engaging with company communications as much as their 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 both 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 Navigating the hybrid workplace