Since the end of the health emergency, organizations have been looking at the future of their way of working. Very quickly, 62% planned to move towards a hybrid model. Only 7% were considering 100% digital. As for full face-to-face, it concerned 31% of respondents in a study conducted by Steelcase.
For Steelcase consultant Sandra Garcia, a new study would probably underline a progression of the hybrid, especially given the strong demand from employees and candidates.
Hybridization would henceforth be an issue of attracting and retaining talent.
Hybridization: a long-term task
Changing the organization of a company cannot be decreed, however. The expert from the workspace development company reminds us that such a transformation takes time.
The use of a “simple” calculation based on the occupancy rate, the number of employees and telework days is not the right method. “This is not the right way to approach the subject,” says Sandra Garcia. A reorganization thus requires bringing together a multi-skilled team including human resources, IT, real estate and the employees themselves.
Also pay attention to the redefinition of the office. A priori, the latter lends itself more to socialization and collaboration. All that remains is to develop dedicated spaces. For Sandra Garcia, however, it is first necessary to analyze the actual working methods, where individual tasks are in the majority.
The disappearance of workstations is therefore not a topical issue. They are still needed. In addition, a modification of spaces generates an evolution of uses, which requires support for change. The consultant also stresses the importance of agreeing on a new social contract.
New uses and new rituals, which are the responsibility of managers. Their role is central. It is up to them to adapt the organization to the scale of their teams, for example by defining face-to-face points or online meetings. Sandra Garcia insists, the parameters are multiple: “it’s a real puzzle, which necessarily involves in-depth work”.
Flex or open office: a tailor-made suit
“And it has to be carried out with the employees, otherwise they may feel that their needs have not really been taken into account and that the management imposes a solution that is not the right one. »
The hybrid organization and the layout of the offices do not have unique contours. Each company has its own model, adapted to its internal culture and practices. The same goes for the use of the flex office and the open space, which must be like a “tailor-made suit”.
“Ten years ago, we were asked to do Google-style offices. But that’s not the way to go. Companies must opt for something that suits them and makes sense to them,” insists the expert.
Of course, taking the hybrid into account is based on problems common to companies. Thus, places, such as meeting rooms, must be designed to prevent or minimize disparities in experience between remote and face-to-face employees. Equipment is a way to achieve this, as well as culture and training.
Fairness, commitment and simplicity
The animation of a hybrid meeting must for example integrate new practices allowing equity between collaborators, whatever their mode of work. Fairness is in fact one of the three main principles of an optimal hybrid organization. And this goes through sound, light, image, etc.
The other two principles are commitment, with employees or managers able to become content creators, and simplicity. To this end, technologies must in particular be increasingly plug & play.
In terms of the hybridization roadmap, several major steps are therefore to be followed. Classically, the first is that of on-site diagnosis and online surveys of employees to collect data on the reality of teleworking practices and wishes.
Then the implementation. The model is not fixed. Sandra Garcia recommends an approach through pilots of three to six months in order to evaluate it and make it evolve according to the feedback.
“Once the pilot is underway, it is also possible to co-develop the new rules of life. This is the new social contract. And these steps are accompanied by a change management process in which managers play a “key role”, without forgetting, from the outset, strong sponsorship.