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Key decisions in hybrid approach can lead to success
Written on Nov 16, 2023
By Jessica Salerno-Shumaker, OSCPA senior content manager
Companies still struggling with hybrid policies are missing an opportunity to better engage staff and increase retention.
“We need to think about hybrid work as an opportunity, and not a problem to be solved,” said Gleb Tsipursky, CEO, Disaster Avoidance Experts.
Tsipursky will present on this topic at the upcoming CORECon – CPE Day Conference on Dec. 7, covering how accountants can make the best decisions on hybrid work to improve retention and productivity while cutting costs.
While completely in-office or remote policies can be relatively clear-cut, hybrid can get a bit more complicated. What’s expected in the office versus remotely can be confusing if it isn’t clearly defined.
Hybrid also calls into question how performance is managed, Gleb said. If a company allows employees to come into the office up to three days a week, will the employees who show up more in person be evaluated more favorably than the ones who show up less?
“One of the big challenges that a lot of accounting leaders tell me is they want to collaborate together effectively,” Tsipursky said. “But if the staff is working remotely, how do you make sure they're doing that? How do you make sure they're mentoring their junior colleagues?”
A common mistake leaders make is setting a hybrid schedule without talking to their staff first, Tsipursky said. Management might have a different perspective of what will lead to success than their staff, and implementing policies without acquiring feedback first can often lead to failure.
“Another area where they've really fallen short is they're not offering training to the managers,” Tsipursky said. “And managers don't know how to manage teams effectively in a hybrid environment. And that eats into productivity and retention and creates engagement issues.”
Tsipursky said staff can begin to resent management for forcing them to come in without offering tangible benefits or making it worthwhile, which can lead to higher turnover. Historically in-office work has been acceptable for most workplaces, but the environment now calls for a different approach.
“There are going to be leaders whose intuitions on hybrid are fundamentally off,” he said. “Instead of what they’ve been doing for decades prior, they really need to gather internal data from their employees and go from there when making these decisions.”