Leading a Hybrid Workforce

“You’re on mute” became the mantra of suddenly virtual. In Hybrid, that will be replaced by, “is ___ coming in today?” On the surface, the question will be innocent, but in a few months, it will represent distrust and misalignment as new constituencies form and alignment declines. How many managers are ready to manage this added emotional complexity? 

From Google to Microsoft to Spotify, leaders of big tech are talking about the next revolution in the future of work. After 2020’s “suddenly virtual,” hybrid is the next frontier in the future of work.

Like work from home (WFH), the growing trend toward hybrid will create new technical obstacles, and even greater relational challenges. Will hybrid be the best of both worlds – or the worst? Emotional intelligence just may be the deciding factor — while new research says the skills leaders need to handle this increasing complexity are declining, here are practical tips to use emotional intelligence to thrive in this new, complex landscape.

by Joshua Freedman, MCC

What we know: the upheaval to the way most people work will continue. Again.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in an interview with Time magazine: “We firmly believe that in-person, being together, having a sense of community is super important…. But we do think we need to create more flexibility and more hybrid models.” The question is HOW?Do managers have the needed EQ skills?

What we don’t know: How to manage people effectively in this shifting landscape.

Microsoft’s new research on the topic, from 30k people in 31 countries: “Leaders are out of touch with employees and need a wake-up call.” The key question relationship-centered leaders will be asking: In the face of this change, what do our people need in order to continue creating value?

It’s not just senior leaders on this hybrid path. While managers and employees alike are missing aspects of work, in a recent survey from an app called Blind, over 3,000 employees from over 45 top companies (such as Apple, Twitter, Salesforce, Visa, CapitalOne) found 64% of employees would rather have flexible work than a US$30k increase in salary. Only Cisco, Chase & Qualcomm had a majority opt the other way. This finding speaks to the cost and the emotional burden of a daily commute – and the value of autonomy. But are we ready for that independence?

Tired, Stressed and Isolated: The Downward Spiral for Performance

The biggest risk to Hybrid is a downward spiral where disconnection, overwhelm, and stress fuel one another. As people become more distressed, there’s a neurobiological nudge to connect to get support, but in a context of low trust, people will isolate instead. That disconnection effect is shown in the Steelcase research mentioned above. In turn, the disconnection leads people to feel even more overwhelmed due to a lack of support.

Business leaders often consider stress as a necessary evil or peripheral factor that can be ignored — but in the upcoming changes, it will prove to be central to Hybrid failure. One of the Brain Talents tied to this issue is Risk Tolerance — it’s one of the trio with the greatest decline, dropping 11% globally since 2014. Risk Tolerance means “accepting the unknown potential,” and, according to the Brain Talent Profile, “to handle complexity, you focus on the future potential and take charge of your emotional energy.” The decline in this talent means people are entering this next stage of work in a compromised state, less able to handle complexity, which will make adaptation incredibly difficult.

Stress is a rising risk, and Joblist’s new findings also show a significant issue around trust: “Nearly 75% of nonmanagers said they experienced moderate or high stress due to work…” and nonmanagers had twice the rate of severe stress. “Over 47% of people said they’re afraid of negative consequences, such as being denied a raise or promotion, if they talk about their stress at work. This fear was more prevalent among women than men.”

Hybrid = Increasing Emotional Complexity

Sid Sijbrandij, CEO of GitLab, says hybrid is the worst of both worlds. He wrote, “remote employees won’t feel included and will have a more challenging time communicating than their peers who report to the office.” The real challenge, he points out, is the uneven playing field of the hybrid model.

Have you ever been in a meeting where some people were present in the room, and some were remote? Those in the room get more influence simply because their voices are easier to hear. There’s power in being “in the room where it happens.” As Sijbrandij points out, for most companies, senior leaders will be at headquarters — and no matter what the written policy says, an imbalance in trust and power will arise.

Unlike the sudden changes of March 2020, we have a little time to prepare for the next wave of change — but it’s coming fast. Many companies are lagging behind, still reeling from the blows of 2020, still trying to “shelter in place” against the chaos of the changes ahead, they’re waiting to see what happens. Meanwhile, future-focused leaders are already starting to address these challenges. There’s an increasing demand for coaching, particularly EQ Coaching which focuses on building capacity to handle the emotional complexity of the new world of work.