After two years of lockdown and operating in conjunction with COVID guidelines, we saw a more concerted effort among companies returning to in-person work. We saw Big Tech executing on their promises to return to offices, many incentivizing employees back in with perks such as catered lunches and espresso bars.
During that same timeframe, I joined a fintech company as its new Chief People Officer. On my first day, I was tasked with leading our shift to hybrid work, one of the biggest workplace experiments to date. Among the first things I did was check just how many employees had experienced office life at the company before the pandemic, and quickly learned that I was among the 72% of employees who had joined our company after March 2020. Three-quarters of our employees aren't returning anywhere, I realized. We're all starting a new type of work.
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Hybrid work is evolving as we learn. It started as a significant shirt for many of us, but for people at the beginning of their careers — including the many Gen Zers working in fast-growing industries who graduated college between 2020 and this past June — it's all they know. They say we're still uncovering
We're seeing companies choose preferred ways of working on a wide spectrum, from fully in-office, to hybrid and to fully remote. While I don't personally believe there's a right or wrong way to go about this (in the case of my company, we chose hybrid as our preferred way of working), I fiercely believe that whichever path a company pursues must include the core pillars that have always been part of work, including (and especially) the development of early career talent. Hybrid work should not be at the expense of employees who are discovering work for the first time.
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Here are three areas to evaluate and develop to help build a hybrid environment that meets the needs of early-career employees:
Incorporating well-being into hybrid work benefits
It's not just good for recruitment to incorporate resources related to mental health and wellness into your benefits packages; it's important for retention and for helping your people do their best work, especially as the events of the past few years — pandemic, war, natural disasters, social unrest — have impacted employees' well-being. Incorporating benefits like therapy reimbursement, meditation app memberships, and in-office resources such as support circles help to support a global, diverse, multi-generational and hybrid workplace effectively.
Holistic well-being benefits go beyond mental and physical well-being; it includes career development, financial planning resources and education, and volunteering programs to ensure employees know and feel that the company is supporting their whole selves.
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For example, volunteering — in addition to helping others in need — has
Creating structured activities to supplement organic connections
Once associated solely with in-office work, the employee experience now stretches beyond the confines of the office, especially when employees work from home several days each week. There are more ways to bring people together than Friday happy hours and team lunches; that's why team leaders and people function leaders should look to the activities that are already occurring organically as inspiration for culture-building and team-building ideas.
It's critical to offer diverse events that appeal to people across age groups, career stages, and personal preferences. For example, a company might hold a DEIB education event, an in-office panel, a few happy hours, and a volunteer event all in one quarter. Other great examples are employee resource groups, such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC resource groups. These avenues provide an opportunity to better support underrepresented people in your organization or industry, build a sense of community and belonging, and help foster new friendships among employees.
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It's also great to connect activities and perks back to your company's mission to help employees rally around that central purpose. At my company, Bluevine, we work with small businesses — so for events like Employee Appreciation Day, we sourced gifts from local small businesses and clients. Volunteer activities, themed parties, and holidays can also be opportunities to highlight your company's north star and remind all teams of their central mission.
Practicing candor with candidates and employees
Making hybrid work function well for everyone within the organization starts with hiring candidates who are enthusiastic about the approach the company is taking.
Ensure that the people your organization is focused on recruiting are open-eyed and excited about the work setup. That starts with the job posting — communicate your work setup clearly and frequently. A job application can even include a drop-down to make sure the individual understands the role is hybrid (as well as during a screening interview), to mitigate any misalignment or negotiation around remote work. Leaders should also use all the data they have at their disposal — employee engagement surveys with consistent cadence, LinkedIn and Glassdoor data, exit interviews — to evaluate the organization's progress toward its hybrid goals.
It's not easy to start a new job or career in a remote environment, and even more difficult for young employees who have no prior experience for comparison. As a result, remote jobs can make for extremely isolating experiences for young employees. By marrying the flexibility of remote work with the benefits of in-person collaboration and mentorship, companies can better attract and retain early-career talent — and play a critical role in the professional development of the next generation of knowledge workers.
