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Optimum employee performance is the top most priority of every organization. Regular office working schedule has taken a setback because of the growing pandemic. Hybrid work place is the need of the hour. This kind of working environment allows flexibility to the employees to either work from home or in office. Hybrid workplace is the new normal which apart from giving freedom to the employees, boosts employee performance.
The major challenge with hybrid working environment is the correct implementation of employee policies and rules. This way the employers can make the best of both remote and in-office worlds.
Hybrid workplace has become a smarter way of working these days. Below are a few listed reasons:
- Freedom of choice- it gives a choice to the employees to work wherever they are most comfortable and productive.
- Work life balance- hybrid work life allows the employees to easily manage their family along with their career. In-office work schedule had hampered the personal lives of employees.
- Flexibility to hire best people- the employers can hire efficient work force without worrying about their geographical location.
Maintaining employee performance in a hybrid working environment is quiet a challenge. This is because now the employees are spread all over and the teams have to be managed accordingly. One of the most important risks involved in a hybrid workplace is the employee underperformance. Also, there should be a clear strategy for risk management to tackle each issue quickly and effectively.
Below are a few policies which can be applied to ensure optimum performance of the employees in a hybrid work environment.
- Set clear goals
The employers must focus on output instead of assigned tasks. Setting clear and effective goals is an imperative way of making employees work more in less time.
Making clear set of goals is important to make the employees feel attached to the organization. the targets must be planned and assigned in an achievable form which can be evaluated on a weekly basis. The working team will be motivated for good performance if the goals are clear. - Combat proximity bias
Manager having proximity bias for the employees is a common phenomenon. But this needs to be rendered as experienced and qualified employees are left behind if they live far from the office location. The employees living in the office vicinity visit more often and hence managers interaction is more with such employees. This goes against remote work policy, hampering overall performance.To stop proximity bias, employers must be made aware of this scenario and must provide equal set of opportunities to all the employees. There should be weekly team meetings where mix set of employees visit office for direct interaction. Reward and recognize all the deserving employees. This way the employees will not feel neglected and also employers will understand the potential of every employee.
- Appraisals are important
Getting appraised for even a small thing has been the biggest motivation since early childhood. Similar is the case now. Rewarding the employees for their achievement is the biggest motivation. But due to hybrid working culture, managers tend to reward the regular office employees. In this way, employees working remotely are often left behind.Instead of inclination towards the employees coming to office, performance appraisals should be unbiased. Although employees are in the office proximity, rewards should be based on individual performance. It will be a great technique to deal with major productivity killers at once.
- Communication is the key
Communication is one of the major challenges in a hybrid work environment. Unintentionally most important information is communicated in person. Because of this most of the remote employees do not receive any information on time. This makes them feel demotivated and detached towards the company.
The best way to manage communication with remote employees is by investing in tools that involve virtual meetings and calls. Some of the tools are Google Suite and Zoom. These applications encourage regular video meets and calls which keep all the employees connected and motivated. - Hire professional tools
It is a tedious task to manage work and performance of the employees working remotely. And this is the reason why tasks assigned to the remote employees are left behind. We have a professional tool that manages the work performance of these employees at a regular basis. Kernel Employee Desktop Live Viewer is a powerful tool that supports desktop monitoring to monitor work of work-from-home employees.
Summary
Maintaining employee performance in a hybrid environment is a challenging task. the employers must ensure equality across the entire workforce. But this challenge can be accepted and achieved by investing in technology that includes every employee. Regularly motivating and giving feedback to every employee is important for company goals and targets.