How to maintain employee wellbeing when hybrid working

Many organisations have adopted a hybrid working model over the last few years. After being forced to work remotely for 18 months and a higher focus on mental health and wellbeing, the hybrid model was seen as the ideal solution for striking a great balance between offering employees flexibility but still being able to see your team face-to-face when needed to ensure company culture was maintained.

But 1 year on, some organisations are still trying to navigate this new way of working and are weighing up the pros and cons of the hybrid working model. While many introduced it as a solution for employee wellbeing, there are still some concerns around maintaining wellbeing in the long-term when you are not always seeing your team.

If you’re unsure how to maintain employee wellbeing with a hybrid working policy, keep on reading…

Communicate clearly and frequently

Communication is key. First things first, it’s crucial to clearly communicate what your hybrid working policy entails to avoid any confusion or anxiety around following the rules correctly; this is especially important if you have exceptions with particular job roles.

Communication also means checking in on your team. Whether your employees regularly come into the office, permanently work remotely or take advantage of your hybrid working model, ensure you regularly check in with them to see how they are doing. You can communicate in a variety of different ways such as scheduled 1-1s, grabbing a coffee or arranging team catch-ups. Remember, every employee is different; some may benefit from more frequent catch-ups. Find what works best for you and your team.

Extra tip: don’t always talk to them about work. Nurture relationships by taking an interest in what they’re doing outside of work too - even if it’s asking what they’re having for dinner. Conversations like these will help your team feel more relaxed, thus having a positive impact on their work.

Help colleagues collaborate

Collaboration can be a major factor of productivity and can also contribute to improving employee wellbeing. Collaborating together will help your colleagues feel connected to each other. Encourage your team to stay in contact with their colleagues in ways that work best for them. For some, it might be regular meetings in the office together to work on a project, others might find that a video call is all they need and some may even prefer meeting up somewhere completely different to inspire their creativity.

As a leader, there may be times you need to take control to ensure your team connects with each other. This might include arranging meetings at the office, regular calls or organising a team lunch.

Train your line managers

For some of your line managers, managing a hybrid team is a completely new experience and it’s quite different from managing people face-to-face. While some will adapt easily, others may benefit from attending a training session/course focused on employee wellbeing and managing hybrid/remote teams.

Encourage work/life balance

For many of your employees that work from home, their space for relaxing has now become the same space for working and this can create some challenges when trying to maintain a good work/life balance. Some of your team may find it difficult to switch off from work at the end of the day because they are in the same environment they have been working in all day.

It’s your role as a leader to ensure your team is separating their working hours from their non-working hours. Make sure they pack their laptop away at the end of the day and encourage them to take their full holiday allowance to give them the opportunity to fully switch off from work.

Extra tip: utilise technology that allows you to see when employees are signing in/out of work such as an employee sign in app. This way, if you notice certain team members are working longer hours than they usually would, you can check in on them.

To find out more about how an employee sign in app could help you to maintain employee wellbeing when hybrid working, get in touch with the team. Our friendly customer experience team is available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week via live chat, phone and email. Find all of the ways to contact us here.