Lessons we’ve learned on productivity and connectivity in a hybrid workplace

September 1, 2022 | Blogs

We all know that most of us are not going, or willing to go back to the 5-days a week, 9-5 daily grind at the office. So much so, that employees are leaving jobs that require full-time office attendance. A culture trend for 2022 is work-life balance and flexibility. But many employers are worried about two key areas: productivity and culture.

Let’s take a quick look at productivity trends over the last two years in hybrid and remote models.

According to OC Tanner’s 2022 Global Culture report, when two conditions are met: Flexibility and hybrid work models, there is an average of a 41% increase in productivity! That’s not all, there has been an increase in the following:

A 41% increase in employee engagement
77% higher likelihood of retention
41% higher likelihood of being a Promoter on the eNPS scale

In an environment that is experiencing labour shortages across the board, affecting brokerages across the country, retention is key!

So how do we stay connected, foster a strong work culture, while increasing productivity?

Here are our top tips that we’ve learned along the way over the past two years:

Decide why and when people need to go into the office

It’s important to create a checklist to optimize peoples’ time at the office. For instance, at Trufla, we found that being in the office improved collaboration and teamwork, as well as peer relationships, but did not necessarily increase productivity in creative thinking, and project deadlines. These tasks seem to be more productive at home. But it’s not a one size fits all: It boils down to the individual person, and their needs. So, it’s not a bad idea for leaders to sit down with each employee and create their own checklist of what works well for them in the office and works better at home.

2. Reduce Zoom increase other methods of connecting online

Zoom burnout is very real, as we all know. To combat Zoom fatigue, but keep up open communications with our teams, we’ve started doing things a bit differently. We created Teams channels on specific areas where people can stay engaged and aware, without feeling fatigued. Chat channels for us include: Trufla food where we post pictures of our lunches, breakfasts, coffee etc. New releases: where we share new product updates, releases, and big wins. We’ve also launched an online employee recognition program where people get rewarded for birthdays, anniversaries, or peer recognition celebrating our core values.

3. Connect with your team more

Make a big effort to connect with your team more often. While there are so many amazing things about working remotely, there have been some downsides. A big one is employee engagement. In fact, according to the same global study, a third of employees feel disconnected from their leaders! But research shows that employees who feel connected to their leader and team are 30 times more productive and 96% less likely to experience burn out.

What we are doing to keep everyone connected:

Short stand-up meetings with teams several times a week
More one on one casual catch up chats with team members
Team chats, team celebrations, team meetings
Monthly causal company-wide updates that includes a Q&A with our CEO
Half day quarterly updates with treats and virtual food gift cards!
Lots of hybrid and in person social events

4. Put the right Technology in place

Employees need the right technology to be able to do their jobs effectively from home. Whether that’s easy remote connections, cloud software, CRMs that are easy to troubleshoot from home, or technology that caters to an entire demographic that prefers to do customer service online.