Even when the pandemic ends, many Capital Region workers won’t go back to five days a week at a cubicle. In a July–August 2021 survey by nonprofit regional civic organization Valley Vision, more than three-quarters of employers from six Capital Region counties who responded said they expected to have their workforces on a hybrid schedule — employees working partially off-site — 12 to 24 months from then. In the new world, how supervisors work with their remote teams will be essential to business success, management experts and employers say.
In devising a policy, most experts suggest getting input from staff. Metro Chamber president and CEO, Amanda Blackwood, says starting in March 2020, she sent her staff Google surveys every two weeks to check in: How were they feeling mentally? Was the frequency of communication with the team and managers working for them? How were they doing at home, and could they be effective working there?
She’s also a big fan of Gallup’s Q12 employee engagement survey, which asks staff questions about factors influencing their level of engagement that Gallup’s research shows affect productivity — whether they clearly understand what’s expected of them, whether managers are talking to them about their progress and more.
(Image from Shutterstock via Comstock’s Magazine)