The coronavirus pandemic forced business owners and HR directors to adapt overnight to ensure their employees could work efficiently from home.

Consequently, hybrid working arrangements have been the norm for many organizations over the last two years.

In fact, a Microsoft report showed that 73% of respondents wanted flexible remote work options to continue in the future, while another survey showed that 40% of workers will consider quitting if made to return to the office full-time. 

With this in mind, employers now need to build a hybrid workplace strategy that allows employees to enjoy the best of both worlds. 

Today, we help you to understand the benefits, challenges, and practicalities of hybrid working.

What is Hybrid Working?

Hybrid working is a more flexible model of working where employees work both in the office and remotely. However, every company’s hybrid setup will be unique and depend on the company. 

Therefore, each business owner and HR director develops a hybrid working model or schedule based on: 

• The needs of the company
• The needs of the individual employee
• The work being performed

Hybrid Working Benefits and Advantages

Employers and employees benefit from hybrid work in the following ways:

• Improved productivity and employee satisfaction
• Talent from different locations, economic backgrounds, cultures, and skill sets
• Improved talent retention because of flexible work schedules

Advantage/Benefit #1 – Increased Productivity and Employee Satisfaction

Most business owners and human resource directors believe that employees will do less work if they’re allowed to pick their own work hours.

Far from it, though, employees who have autonomy over how and where they work are more productive and satisfied with their jobs. After all, working remotely is associated with less distractions, less in-person micromanagement, and an improved quality of life.

In fact, recent studies have shown a rise in productivity among employees working from home:

• 90% of workers stated that they were equally or more productive working from home compared to the office.
• 32.2% of hiring managers say overall productivity has gone up among remote employees. 
• 48% of workers want to work from home permanently.

Advantage/Benefit #2 – Broader Talent Pool 

Hybrid working opens the doors to new talent pools beyond what hiring managers deem a commutable distance to their office space. 

This allows you to fill skill gaps in your organization and acquire top talent from across the globe. 

Also, the Work Trend Index 2021 Annual Report showed that 46% of remote workers were willing to move to a new location to be able to work remotely.

LinkedIn data also shows that remote job postings grew by 2.4x between May 2020 and May 2021. 

These trends indicate that talent pools are no longer restricted by location or a candidate’s capacity to relocate.

Advantage/Benefit #3 – Improved Employee Retention 

A hybrid working environment leads to enhanced employee retention because:

• Younger employees prefer a greater degree of control over their working location and hours. 
• Young parents and caregivers embrace the opportunity to work from home as it allows for more time with family and flexibility with childcare.
• People who feel their work-life balance is supported are less likely to leave your organization.

According to a Gallup poll, 54% of workers were willing to leave their current job for one that allowed for more flexibility in their schedule.

Disadvantages and Challenges of Hybrid Working

The possible challenges of hybrid working include:

• Reduced social participation 
• Cybersecurity risks
• Exhaustion 

Disadvantage/Challenge #1 – Reduced Social Participation

Hybrid work policy reduces opportunities for employees to get together in social situations. 

A survey conducted to assess the psychological well-being of respondents who worked 41–60 hours from home showed that: 

• 20% of employees felt more isolated compared to 14% who worked the same hours at their employer’s premises

Another study found that 61% of respondents missed office interactions.

Disadvantage/Challenge #2 – Cybersecurity Risks in the New Hybrid Work Environment

76% of companies adopted cloud services faster than they had anticipated due to the pandemic. This didn’t only increase attack vectors, but created vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. 

Emerging data shows that the FBI reported a 400% increase in cybersecurity complaints since the onset of the pandemic. That’s about 4,000 complaints per day, as compared to 100 complaints before COVID-19. 

In addition, about 30% of companies reported an increase in the number of cyber-attack attempts since the start of the pandemic. 

Disadvantage/Challenge #3 – Exhaustion 

The lack of an established structure can result in irregular working hours, procrastination, and ultimately, exhaustion. 

Exhaustion can also arise due to increased digital collaboration, including:

• Remote meetings
• Emails and online chats
• Groups working on documents together

According to a Microsoft study — high productivity tends to mask an exhausted workforce — as shown in the stats below:

• 54% of the interviewees reported feeling overworked frequently.
• 39% tend to feel exhausted. 
• 60% of Gen Z claim they survive, rather than live.
• 62% of meetings aren’t planned in advance.

How to Make Hybrid Working a Roaring Success

Define Your Hybrid Working Policy

To ensure your hybrid working policy makes an impact and promotes best practices:

• Clearly set out which roles are eligible for hybrid working and why they are to mitigate future disputes.
• Clarify the expectations you have when employees are working in the office and remotely, such as working hours, breaks, and sickness reporting.
• Explain how to request hybrid work.
• Clarify roles and responsibilities for hybrid workers and their managers. 
• Review other related policies such as homeworking, health and safety, expenses, IT usage, and data protection. 

The policies appropriate for your organization will depend on your specific context. In addition, remember to issue your hybrid working policy with supporting guidance and information to enable effective implementation.

Communication, communication, communication

With team members working in different locations and possibly on different schedules, clear and consistent communication is more important than ever.

Here are some ways you can address this:

1. Set Clear Expectations: It’s important to establish clear expectations for communication from the outset. Determine the preferred communication methods and frequency for team meetings, individual check-ins, and other forms of communication. Make sure everyone is on the same page about when and how to use each channel, and what to expect in terms of response time.
2. Utilize Technology: Technology can be a game-changer when it comes to communication in a hybrid work environment. Consider using messaging apps like Slack, video conferencing tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and project management software like Asana or Trello to keep everyone connected and on the same page. Be sure to provide training and support to ensure that all team members are comfortable and proficient with the tools.
3. Foster Connection: Hybrid work environments can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection, so it’s important to take steps to foster connection among team members. Encourage social interaction through virtual team building activities or informal chat channels. Consider scheduling regular virtual coffee breaks or happy hours to allow team members to connect on a personal level.
4. Practice Active Listening: Active listening is a crucial skill for effective communication in any setting, but it’s especially important in a hybrid work environment. When communicating virtually, it’s easy to become distracted or miss important cues. Make a conscious effort to practice active listening by focusing on the speaker, asking clarifying questions, and paraphrasing to ensure understanding.
5. Provide Feedback: In a hybrid work environment, it can be more difficult to provide feedback and offer constructive criticism. Make a point to provide regular feedback, both positive and negative, to team members. Encourage open and honest communication, and provide specific examples and actionable suggestions for improvement.

Experiment With Different Hybrid Remote Working Models

There’s no one-size-fits-all type of hybrid workplace. Therefore, experimenting with different hybrid remote working models has the following benefits:

• Opportunity to customize according to employees and the organization’s preferences and needs
• Ability to define work according to specific time commitments, work type, and worker categories 
• Gives employees the flexibility they desire
• Maximizes employee productivity and engagement

The table below shows the most common types of hybrid remote working models: 

Combine It With Professional Development

Business owners and HR directors who don’t focus on corporate training and development will lose out on:

• Performance 
• Engagement 
• Retention 

Therefore, Quantic’s online programs are an essential training method for hybrid workforces. Our online MBA and online EMBA programs offer employers the advantage of our Tuition Reimbursement Program, which allows you to reimburse your employees.

Quantic’s online MBA program is also the only program that will give your employees the skills they need for long-term growth, and free access to top of the line training in the skills they need to compete.

Quantic’s students perform as well as or better than MBA students from HBS and UNC. The quality of education also rivals that of the top 10 business schools worldwide.

For more information on how we can help integrate the online MBA into your workplace, contact us today.

“Participating in Quantic’s EMBA influenced how I approached my current role and contributed to me receiving a promotion prior to completing the program.”

Marcus Gilmore, New York University

Create Hybrid Working Best Practices

The benefits of creating hybrid working best practices are:

• They provide the best course of action in a certain situation.
• They serve as the roadmap for how to operate a hybrid workplace. 

Examples of hybrid working best practices include:

• Lead by example: Encourage transparency in how teams use their time and be flexible in coordinating how work gets done. 
• Stipulate expectations for in-person meetings: Set the location in advance to ensure you have the technology required to effectively communicate with those on Zoom or teams.
• Recognize the signs of burnout for yourself and others: These can include measurable declines in the quality of work, withdrawal, irritability, and poor concentration.
• Build a learning culture: Implement an elearning platform to kickstart the learning process.

Build a Productive Hybrid Working Environment

One of the main reasons employees dislike hybrid working is that they change environments frequently. 

Here are ways employees can boost productivity and reduce the friction that comes with maintaining multiple workspaces:

• Go paperless as much as possible to avoid carrying files back and forth between home and office.
• Invest in a second external keyboard, mouse, and laptop charger, so you don’t have to plug and unplug everything all the time.
• Determine which tasks need to be done exclusively in the office. 

Business owners and HR directors support a productive hybrid working environment by ensuring that employees are well-cared for. A team’s performance may also be enhanced through upskilling, coaching, recognizing others’ needs, patience, and providing others time to perform a task. 

If you’re ready to supercharge your team and enhance their performance and loyalty, set up tuition reimbursement for Quantic’s degree programs today. 

“Quantic is pedagogy done right for the modern omni-learner……..I could really see the best practices so often talked about…..”

Samuel Miles, Yale University

If you don’t invest in training, employees will think you’re not interested in their growth. When you make training available, it’s considered a waste of time.

What do you do? 

It’s common for employee training programs to turn into frustrating fiascos. After all, it doesn’t matter whether the training was magnetic or not. When it’s time to transfer learning, your return on investment goes missing if the old practices live on.

Why? At Quantic, our experience with human resource training shows that attendance is only one side of the equation. The other half involves motivation to learn. Without it, employee training is a waste of resources and a missed opportunity.

For your training to deliver its expected benefits, you’ll need more effective training strategies that are employee-centered, exciting, and affordable. 

It is for this reason that we have curated the most effective employee training techniques. We’ll address:

• The role of training programs for employees
• Tips to motivate training
• How to conduct an effective training session
• How organizational culture influences training attitudes in employees 

With these strategies, your staff will feel motivated to attend training, gain new skills, and transfer learning in ways that benefit your business.

Purposes of Training

An effective training strategy benefits both the employee and the employer. It is a win-win affair.

The below table shows the benefits of training employees with corresponding employer gains.

Impact of Training on Employee Motivation

Motivation is a behavior, argues Brendon Burchard in his book, The Motivation Manifesto. Motivation starts as a feeling towards something and ends up as a conscious commitment towards that objective.

Burchard also asserts that motivation is a choice. However, people with clinical and mental health issues have little control over their motivation. As such, they need therapy and medication.

An employee’s motivation is no different. Your firm’s culture can become an obstacle to employee motivation, while effective training is therapeutic.

For example, well-trained employees have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to handle their duties. However, untrained employees struggle with role clarity because they don’t know what’s expected of them.

Without this clarity, it’s hard to feel motivated. Without motive, the employee feels disconnected from the firm’s goals, mission, and structure. 

This disconnection is expensive. For example, a Gallup report indicates employee disengagement costs the US economy $450 billion to $550 billion annually in lost productivity, motivation, collaboration, and overall profitability.

Therefore, employers need to invest more in activities that drive engagement and motivation, such as effective training programs for employees.

Using Strengths to Increase Motivation

According to a Gallup study, effective managers focus on strength-based training. A strength-based approach aims to help people identify and improve their potential, capabilities, and strengths relative to organizational goals. 

It also involves aligning an employee’s duties and responsibilities with what they bring to the table. This way, employees can see how their skills and work fit into the organizational structure and objectives. When implemented strategically, it:

• Increases employee engagement by 7% to 23%.
• Improves performance by 8% to 18%.
• Enhances team productivity by 17%.
• Reduces turnover rates by 20% to 73%.
• Increases profitability by 21%.

To develop a strength-based training culture, you’ll need to: 

1 – Conduct a Strengths Analysis

Suppose you must introduce a new marketing strategy. A strength assessment test will help you identify employees that are flexible, fast-adapting, and have leadership potential. 

Training should start with this group.

2 – Perform Resource Analysis

Many traditional strength-finding tests, such as CliftonStrengths, come with additional training. Whether they are enough depends on your organizational and training needs.

You can also create your own resource center, such as a learning management system (LMS). The question is, do you have the technological and professional know-how to createan LMS? Or, should you involve a professional trainer with a solid track record in human resource training, such as Quantic? 

3 – Conduct a Culture Analysis

The Harvard Business Review (HBR) study indicates that the primary hindrance to long-term change is anti-change organizational leadership and management.

Does your organization’s culture support and demand strength-based managerial expectations? Do you unleash trained employees in an environment that’s rigid to change or one based on a culture of learning?

How to Motivate Employees to Attend Training: 8 Ways

Use a Learning Management System (LMS)

LMS software documents, administers, delivers, tracts, and automates training, learning, and other development programs. It offers:

• Individualized, self-paced online training available 24/7 on various platforms, including mobile phones.
• Centralized data collection, which gathers analytics on each employee, such as training progress, performance, growth, and development.
• Collected data helps you identify skills gaps or aspirations and recommend supplemental resources to help an employee advance.
• Consolidated information makes it easier to create, develop, modify, maintain, and deliver training from one place.
• Integrated social learning allows you to link to social media groups, create peer-to-peer learning experiences, and market your courses online to attract more learners.

Yes, you can build your own LMS. There are also numerous LMS software creators you can hire. 

But then, you’ll also need to hire a specialist to determine the training resources needed and instructors to design the courses. You’ll also have to stay updated in various fields to keep the course content fresh and relevant. 

But what assurance do you have concerning solid LMS and instructional designs that make e-learning mobile-first and interactive? Additionally, what other benefits can you offer your employees to keep them hooked on training? 

There are many unknowns in creating your own LMS. That’s why you should consider a trendsetter in LMS and human resource training, such as Quantic. 

Quantic Executive MBA Review | President & Founder, SPRING

Quantic offers the following benefits: 

• An LMS approved by world-class institutions, such as Google, JP Morgan, and Amazon.
• Competitive training that can match and outperform industry giants like Harvard and Duke.
• A chance at a partially or fully funded MBA for those with outstanding academic records.
• Lifetime access to up-to-date content, virtual and in-person meetings, exclusive conferences remotely and in cities around the globe, and a high-caliber alumni and career network.
• Social learning through peer-to-peer training resources and transfer of training through case studies and collaborative group work.

Employ Active Learning

Active learning promotes engagement with the material in ways that encourage inquiry, synthesis, and appraisal, and, consequently, performance. 

For example, research on active learning in underrepresented STEM students (who cannot afford to take preparation classes before college) indicates a 33% and a 43% increase in achievement and passing rates, respectively. 

With active learning, students worked on relevant tasks, participated in scaffolding, received immediate feedback, and were exposed to deliberate repetition to increase engagement with content.

Quantic’s active learning is based on how the mind learns, primarily on online platforms. Hence, it’s learner-friendly.

Specifically, the platform drives engagement with content every eight seconds through quizzes and instant feedback. The storytelling techniques make learning interactive such that learners learn progressively and by applying knowledge and critical thinking.

Not yet convinced about the Quantic method? How about trying the 47 free introductory courses?

What about class size? Quantic can take as many as 200 per class and still deliver world-class learning.

Use Gamification

According to the TalentLMS 2019 survey, gamification increases motivation by 83%. When training is not gamified, over 60% of employees report boredom.

Gamification is effective because it’s human nature to find pleasure in games, competitions, and winning. Often, these activities encourage learning through a rewards system, deliberate repetition to perfect one’s moves and increase chances of winning, and short-timed activities that facilitate information uptake and engagement.

For example, Quantic’s gamified LMS uses:

• Stories to stage the concept
• Find-a-word to reinforce keywords
• Quizzes and polls every eight seconds with instant feedback to drive engagement
• Rewards, such as certificates and merits, can qualify one for a partially sponsored or free MBA

Make it Mobile

As of 2021, mobile phones accounted for over 54.8% of global website traffic. In the US, 48% of online searches occurred via smartphones.

Going mobile is a must!

But how do you capitalize on this strategy? After all, your employee training resource center isn’t a blog where you can churn out well-intended but ill-executed content. It’s a sacred site deserving the best courses, coaches, and interactions.

With Quantic, you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff. Our mobile-first gamified LMS delivers active learning and microlearning in one swoop to your smartphones. Our proven track record in training human resources makes learning feel personal, interactive, and convenient.

Use Microlearning

Microlearning refers to bit-size learning. It’s a feature of highly effective LMS, active learning, and gamified learning platforms, such as Quantic.

Progressive learning can also be applied to in-person training.

For example, let’s say you base training on quarterly analytics. Instead of scheduling an entire day to train about quality issues, how about a quick 30-minute session addressing a recent event? 

Then, follow it up with a lesson a few days later to give feedback and address other concerns. 

Also, consider converting the short meeting into an article and uploading it to your company’s resource center. That way, your employees can access it if and when needed.

Have Rewards

Incentives are motivating by nature. That’s why good food drives training attendance.

However, reward with caution. You don’t want to spend a fortune on extrinsic motivation only for employees to revert to pre-training practices because they learned little to nothing.

For more substantial ROI, focus on the “what’s-in-it-for-me” type of motivation. If you can establish a personal connection, the promised growth will motivate your employees to embrace training.

Extrinsic rewards, such as food, will get people through the door. Intrinsic rewards, such as personal value, will get people to embrace and engage in training. 

For example, our MBA program uses intrinsic motivation to encourage training. As employees train, they earn points to qualify for a partially or fully funded MBA. Who wouldn’t want a free MBA from an institution giving universities like Harvard a run for their money?

Additionally, we have a reimbursement strategy that motivates employees to pay for their training. This refund policy encourages employees to attend training and learn new skills. 

Train on Real-Time Issues

Do you have a training needs analysis (TNA) strategy in your firm to identify the skills needed most urgently by your employees with what your business needs? 

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a TNA is a four-step process involving a: 

• Needs analysis to determine the why behind the TNA – clarity enhances intention.
• Gap analysis to identify the existing status quo and the desired destination.
• Training analysis to classify the firm’s training needs by their importance relative to the gaps and needs.
• Recommendation analysis to identify the most needed training, including budgeting and scheduling.

TNA-based training will motivate attendance because it’s staff-centered. This data will also help you target specific employees and conduct more effective training sessions. 

Make Time for Training

Often, training comes with time-luggage your employees cannot afford.

When you don’t make time for training, it means more (hurried through) work, overtime, or taking work home to compensate. The result is an overworked, frustrated, and unengaged workforce.

Additionally, such oversights communicate your inability to value your employee’s time and welfare. With time, these minor disregards increase the intention of leaving.

An effective LMS, such as Quantic learning, resolves the time factor by bringing learning to employees’ fingertips and making skill acquisition a personal endeavor.

How to Motivate Employees to Learn New Skills

Your last training was terrific. Everyone seemed excited about the new marketing strategy. Then, within one month, it’s as if the training never existed.

What happened? 

According to HBR, companies in the US spend at least $160 billion on training annually. Yet, ROI remains unrealized as most employees soon revert to pre-training methods because of anti-change management and leadership. When management is anti-change, training will, of course, feel like a waste of time. 

The question is, as an employer, how can you motivate managers to play a more active role in ensuring the transfer of training?

For managers to facilitate the post-training application of knowledge, they need to: 

• Perform a resource and culture analysis before any training to ensure employees have the resources they need to apply the training.
• Conduct a post-training analysis to assess the transfer of training, including factors promoting or inhibiting organizational change. 
• Attend training on how to conduct an effective training session and submit reports concerning the transfer of this knowledge.
• Change beliefs concerning employees, employee training, and organizational change as indicated in the table below. 

What Can be Done to Motivate Companies to Evaluate Training Programs?

Have you ever heard of the ostrich management style? It goes like this:

Once upon a time, there was an ostrich. It would bury its head in the sand whenever there was an issue and hope for the best.

STOP!

Your business doesn’t rely on happenstance. It’s here to make money, not waste resources.

If you’re not evaluating training programs, you’re:

• Not learning. Why? Learning involves knowing what’s working and what’s not, and the whys behind each outcome. 
• Not taking accountability. Although you’re the employer, taking accountability means taking responsibility and being response-able. If you don’t, you’ll end up assigning blame and getting more frustrated. 
• Putting your company, your employees, and yourself at a disadvantage. By the time employees feel motivated to learn a functional skill on their own, the ocean will also be red with the competition. Everyone in the firm will have to work twice as hard for the bare minimum ROI.

Making training effective may seem intimidating. But with a trusted partner like Quantic, you can make it engaging and interactive, such that employees will feel intrinsically motivated to embrace and engage in training. 

How does Quantic keep the motivation to train and learn alive, heightened, and channeled in the most productive way possible?

• Quantic removes the managerial headaches of creating effective training, including the motivational techniques to facilitate knowledge uptake and application. We have an interactive LMS that uses active learning, gamification, and microlearning, and is mobile-first. 
• Quantic has a data center that records all activities of the integrated workforce. With this data, you can learn about your crew, including the most in-demand courses, skills acquired or desired, and academic and professional aspirations.
• You can use the collected data to make decisions. For example, do you need to fill a position on the sales team? Which analytics show an interest in sales, customer acquisition, blue ocean strategies, or account management? 
• You’ll have access to a high-caliber talent network. Do you need to hire in-house or recruit from our career network for fresh or seasoned talent? Our pool of talent will open up your firm to a world of quality, productivity, and effectiveness.
• Your employees will also have access to an MBA or EMBA that’s partially or fully funded and only takes a year. This probability heightens motivation to learn and improves loyalty to the employer. 

Ready to get started?

Book a call with our team so we can discuss how to train your workforce at scale with our unique and affordable program.