How can you attract and retain a best-in-class workforce post-pandemic?

Companies want to create a work culture where people are excited to be there in a perfect future.

After almost a year and a half of working from home, many white-collar employees say they are unwilling to return to corporate offices full-time — and they are walking the talk. The recent example with Apple not backing down from its hybrid work model shows that fully remote positions are still extremely limited.

Although, a recent McKinsey & Company survey suggests that 90% of organizations will adopt some combination of remote and on-site work as they emerge from COVID-19 restrictions. Some executives still believe that company success is tight based on work together in person.

However, after more than a year home is COVID-19 demonstrated that employee productivity can be even higher in remote work arrangements. Flexibility and choice are the new “work vocabulary,” and many companies are happy to make that happen in their office.

Studies show that workers are trading jobs, enticed by the guarantee of flexible schedules and continued work from home. It is called the “great resignation” that pushes companies to reexamine their work-from-home policies, flexibility, and openness to remote work are shaping up as a job perk that “companies can wield to poach talented people.” Many employers extend their work-from-home policy until next year, and others have adopted a permanent hybrid work arrangement.

As for the hiring process, according to The Wall Street Journal, recruiters are discovering the remote work revolution has inexorably altered hiring. Consequently, HR leaders must recalibrate workplace health benefits to suit this post-pandemic workforce. For example, a remote workforce will benefit from virtual health offerings such as online fitness classes, online mindfulness exercises, and webinars that educate workers on healthy living.

Earlier this year, Facebook has expanded remote-work eligibility among its 60,000-strong global workforce. The social media giant now allow “most” employees at all levels to either work at home full-time or via an office-based hybrid model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg added that he plans to spend as much as half of the next year working remotely.

Even the intelligence community — notoriously inflexible when it comes to when and where its employees work — appears ready to embrace a hybrid work environment. The NGA is now using virtual whiteboard platforms, and ODNI and other agencies are loosening work arrangements and discussing ways to advertise new, flexible perks to prospective recruits.

While each company has its reasons for transitioning to more flexible work arrangements, there’s one thing on which they all agree: hybrid work prioritizes the employee experience, boosting employee happiness while reducing costs.

Hybrid workplaces offer flexibility for those who want it, and they attract a new generation of workers who demand it. Moreover, as the pandemic eases and we resume gathering in person, hybrid meetings will become a permanent part of how organizations function.

And I’m pleased to see that virtual platforms are making them happen for companies worldwide.