By: Sonia Ismail
Explore what it means to build resilience as part of your hybrid workplace strategy. The pandemic has underlined ways to adapt and react quickly to changing conditions to fulfill employees’ demands and safety while maintaining business continuity. As a result, AI, IoT, and digital workspace solutions are at the forefront of bringing workplace innovation and digital transformation closer than ever.
In September 2021, Accenture’s survey revealed that 11% of Canadians felt frustrated working remotely due to the lack of available organizational resources including job autonomy, mental health, and supportive leadership. Additional research conducted in May 2022 by the Independent Polling System of Society report found that 32% of Canadians would find a new job when their employer compelled them to work solely from office making organizations re-think their return-to-office strategy.
There is clearly a huge gap between management and employees’ views of what constitutes as an ideal hybrid workplace, which may harm your employees and your brand. Resiliency is the key to breaking any bottlenecks and building the infrastructure of any organization; ultimately bridging the gap between digital technology and employee productivity.

Optimize organizational resilience and attract talent

Despite how well-prepared you presumed you were, we now know that leading and directing teams during a crisis is never an easy task. Business leaders need to recognize and understand the needs and potential challenges that their team will face. Resilience pertains to an organization’s ability, willingness, and timeliness to adapt – from supply-chain operations to managing risk and quick decision-making.
Recognizing which smart processes and measurements fuel your organization’s performance and value is essential. Similarly, hiring the right people is critical. Employers who enable a hybrid work model, combining in-office and remote work, can drive growth through their current personnel while recruiting for new top talent as needs and market conditions evolve.
Over five million Canadians work from home, representing nearly 2% of the country’s employment in May 2021, according to Statista. In today’s world of talent scarcity, experienced employees are uniquely positioned to demand specific work arrangements from their employers. Business leaders, including HR managers, must consider their employees’ goals and continuously adapt their workplace to retain current employees, while attracting new talent to remain competitive. It is never a one-size-fits-all approach.

Enable employee flexibility and comfortability

Hybrid work empowers employees to pick a workspace location according to their needs. An EY Canada 2021 Survey found 93% of individuals are likely to stay with their organization for the next 12 months or more only if they have control over “where” and “when” they work. Flexibility should be embedded into the organization’s culture with a welcoming hybrid work environment, fostering digitalization and a dynamic strategy for operational processes.
Moving towards a more flexible and agile culture makes good business sense in times of crisis, enhancing an organization’s resilience and business continuity plan. According to the Cisco Hybrid work research, over three-quarters of Canadians think splitting their time between home and office has improved their work-life balance. Employees also demand hybrid working arrangements, but how employers can implement them is less clear.

As business leaders, how can you guarantee that your organization’s work model prepares every individual for success?

With a new flexible, dynamic work model in place, hybrid employees enjoy healthier and happier lifestyles, increasing the level of productivity and satisfaction at the workplace. Business leaders need to ensure that not only are their on-site offices safe for in-office employees but, to empower employees for success, organizations must have the right technology and infrastructure in place to drive employee engagement and facilitate seamless collaboration, regardless of location.

Build trust and culture

Trust is truly the heart of hybrid work. Starting with relationship-building between managers and employees is a key component to the success of a hybrid work model. Managers must trust that employees will perform their roles efficiently and effectively. Transparency and openness in communication differentiates a good manager from a great one.
At the same time, employees should be flexible and content with being mobile. Keep in mind, an employee’s motivation and performance depend on available workplace resources and management support. Convenient access to user-friendly and seamless digital workspace solutions that encourage strong teamwork, collaboration and stimulate creativity is integral to fostering a positive company culture.

 Developing resilience is a win-win

Developing resilience allows for resolving challenges more efficiently for any organization. We’ve grown in intelligence, compassion, flexibility, creativity, and patience. Resilient employees bring advantages to any company – including improved collaboration, communication, productivity, better customer experience, and reduced employee turnover.
Building organizational resilience does not happen overnight. It requires leadership to foresee, plan for, respond to, and transition constructively during times of crisis. Furthermore, understanding your employees’ needs and leading with empathy can go a long way in enhancing loyalty, and creating long-term trust. The success of cultivating a resilient workforce includes attracting new talent, seamless flexibility, trust, and culture building.
Is your organization resilient? Find out how Ricoh can help you empower a more productive and engaged workforce with Digital Workplace Solutions that help you redefine work and change – for better.