Productivity Blog

---

Is Flexible Work Fair? (i4cp login required) Posted: 23 Feb 2022 02:30 AM PST "You can't make Oreos at home; people have to go to work in manufacturing facilities." This observation by Brooke Finlayson, chief learning officer of Mondelez International—the multinational food and beverage firm that makes the iconic cookies and has subsidiaries including many globally popular brands such as Nabisco, Cadbury, and others—succinctly speaks to a critical challenge many organizations encounter in defining what flexibility means for their workforces: There are countless jobs that can only be accomplished on-site in company facilities. Business leaders who responded to the Institute for Corporate Productivity's (i4cp) latest survey on hybrid work reported that 79% of their organizations' employees worked onsite in company facilities prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. When i4cp gathered data in late 2021, the figure for onsite workers was 33%, a still-significant proportion of the employee population (and one that varies across organizations and industries). Threats to the health of the workforce brought on by the pandemic sent employees whose jobs were not location-specific to work remotely in 2020. Having grown used to the increased flexibility that remote work afforded, many of those workers now clamor for continued flexibility even as some employers aim to return people to company workplaces (as COVID surges and variants permit). The individuals who must work on-site in company facilities naturally want greater flexibility too—and the enhanced employee experience it offers. But can organizations deliver equitable flexibility, and, by extension, an equitable employee experience across varying work settings? With thoughtful planning and innovative actions, flexibility and enhanced employee experiences can be possible for both remote and on-site workers. In fact, some organizations are already leading the way. Flexibility itself must be flexible i4cp's From Cube to Cloud: The Next Era of Work study looked at three elements companies use to define flexible work, singly or in combination. Data gathered found large companies primarily thinking of flexibility in terms of work location: The findings from the aforementioned study on future scenarios for work make it obvious that some companies may risk limiting themselves by focusing too heavily on only one aspect of workplace flexibility. But other organizations are increasingly thinking beyond work locations when they imagine what flexibility means for their employees. In fact, those firms are putting time and resources into thoughtfully exploring what flexibility should look like in order to best fit their enterprises. Mondelez redefines flexibility for a global workforce Like many global employers, Mondelez International has reconsidered its view of flexibility since the onset of the pandemic. Says former global people lead Mary O'Malley, "We've broadened our definition of flexibility to support work-life balance, and that may look different across our locations around the world, depending on what local markets and our colleagues need." O'Malley says that soon after COVID-19 sent many employees home, the decision was made that Mondelez would embrace flexible work on an ongoing basis. To explore and formalize what that flexibility would mean for the company and its employees, Mondelez assembled a global team representing legal, corporate affairs, headquarters services, facilities, and other functions. "The team looked at every country in which we operate and how flexibility could work, given local laws, cultures, living conditions, and other considerations," O'Malley explains. "We had representation that linked back to our different regions and business units. We have a global policy, but even if you say everyone can work from home, there may be local requirements to satisfy—legislation, works councils, unions, and the like." There were also the company's physical footprints to consider—why and when employees might need to work onsite and whether workplaces required downsizing or redesigns to accommodate safety and effective collaboration. Listening closely to employee sentiment was an important component of redefining flexibility at Mondelez. An employee survey provided visibility into workers' needs, helping to further shape policies and practices. Finlayson adds that sessions were held with line managers too, providing guidance on "how to have clear and transparent conversations with their employees about working flexibly—what that might look like, and what it means for them." Getting leadership buy-in and support was accomplished by tracking and reporting the improvements in business results and employee engagement that occurred following the expansion of flexible work at Mondelez. Further, O'Malley and her global team created a toolkit of (still-evolving) resources to help leaders think through new ways of working and to encourage them to become role models for the flexible approach. "The world has changed, and expectations of employees have changed," O'Malley says. "This ongoing flexibility will help with engagement, retaining talent, and with acquiring talent. Employees are embracing it, and working flexibly is helping them reduce stress and balance their work and life commitments." Some companies apply intentional actions to level the on-site/remote playing field The potential for inequities in work flexibility is an issue on the minds of the global team at Mondelez as in many other organizations that employ individuals whose job duties can only be performed on-site in company facilities. Care must be taken to avoid the unintentional creation of a sort of two-class system polarizing employees who can work remotely and those who can't. Yet, when i4cp's hybrid work survey asked about the types of flexibility organizations offer workers whose jobs require them to be on-site, the largest proportion of participating business leaders (one in four) said that their firms offered no flexibility for that group of employees. Absent the option of location flexibility for on-site staff, some companies provide consideration in scheduling and/or hours worked, but the percentages of organizations taking action to make greater flexibility available to the on-site employee population is lacking (evidenced by low percentages of adoption revealed by the research). Elkay Manufacturing is leading the way in thinking creatively about flexibility for on-site employees and modeling the application of accommodations in scheduling and work time. Elkay incorporates measures to maximize flexibility for on-site workers Elkay Manufacturing has produced sinks, faucets, and other residential and commercial products for more than 100 years. To ensure a steady output and the ongoing innovation that drives new-product development, the company employs a significant population of workers whose jobs require their presence on-site in Elkay facilities. Having recognized the possibility that those on-site workers might perceive inequities in flexibility and employee experiences (versus the large portion of Elkay's workforce that is able to work virtually or combine remote and on-site duties), talent leaders have spearheaded innovative strategies to ensure that on-site workers feel valued. "We talk about this all the time," says Tonie Lyubelsky, former senior director of total rewards at Elkay. "We're very mindful of trying to be equitable where we can in anything we do, but especially as it relates to our manufacturing employees who must work on-site." And the company adopted that perspective early on, Lyubelsky says. "For those people who had to remain on-site from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, we tried to offer flexibility wherever we can. And we continue to do that." One key to Elkay's efforts to be fair involves looking at flexibility through the lens of jobs, not people. Says Lyubelsky: "In discussing work arrangements, we always say that it depends on the job, so it's never about office people versus those in manufacturing, or exempt versus non-exempt. As a result, for our employees, flexibility has always been about talking to your manager, understanding what your job is, and how you interact with others." The company continues to evolve that job-based perspective and actively enlists managers to confer with their team members to determine what sorts of flexibility can be arranged to accommodate both individual and company needs. Those conversations—for which managers received training and supportive resources—explore remote and hybrid work options for employees whose jobs don't require their presence in Elkay workplaces. Managers also help to design flexible options for manufacturing workers and others who must be on-site daily. Lyubelsky says this often manifests as schedule flexibility. "Perhaps a manufacturing or other on-site employee needs to step away to pick up a child from school and then come back to work, or move start and end times to accommodate special needs. Employees can collaborate with their managers to arrange that kind of flexibility." She notes that Elkay takes other actions to ensure that on-site workers feel valued and don't view the company culture as a haves-versus-have-nots dichotomy. "We do things like weekly pizza luncheons, and hold more social gatherings for manufacturing employees so that they feel connected and know that they are special. We also did appreciation pay for those on-site workers who were essential during the pandemic." Further, Elkay is considering enhanced support to help on-site employees better manage childcare needs. "While flexible schedules help, childcare can add pressure, so we are looking at other types of support to help our manufacturing employees with those challenges." Finally, Lyubelsky shares an innovative approach Elkay applies in its efforts to ensure equity for tenured employees as the company applies new strategies to compete for sought-after manufacturing workers in a tightening talent market. "Whatever we do to attract new employees, we also do for our current workers. If we were to give new-hire bonuses, for example, we'd also look at giving bonuses to current employees because they are equally important to us. That's another way in which Elkay is helping to make flexibility equitable for people who must work on-site." Flexible work continues to evolve Organizations must apply creativity to find their own sweet spots when it comes to flexibility and equity in its application across employee groups. The i4cp research into hybrid work identified some of the strategies organizations are using to help address employee experience and mitigate the perception of a dual culture of haves and have-nots. For the largest proportion of survey respondents (60%), efforts begin early with thorough onboarding for all employees, regardless of work model. Just over half of survey participants cite equitable opportunities for career advancement as their second-ranked strategy. The study on hybrid work practices concluded that offering the greatest possible degree of flexibility is the optimal route for organizations seeking to maximize performance, workforce engagement, and equitable employee experiences across all work settings within a hybrid model. Further, the data revealed an approach that proves to be a distinguishing practice of high-performance organizations and one that any company aiming for greater success in designing flexible work can apply: The act of involving employees in decisions about flexible work options reflects strong correlations to better organizational market performance and is linked to corporate cultures that drive better employee experiences. Like Elkay Manufacturing and Mondelez, most organizations surveyed by i4cp look to employees and their managers to work together to make flexible work decisions, though some place that responsibility in the hands of employees alone. Employee input about work flexibility can be gained by other methods, too—Mondelez's employee surveys are an example of an often-used tool to solicit workers' opinions. As approaches to hybrid work continue to evolve, leading organizations will find more ways to offer options to both on-site and remote employees while also attending to the need for equitable experiences for all. In short, savvy business and talent leaders will do what they can to ensure that flexible work is as fair as it can be. For more information on flexible and hybrid work, see i4cp's From Cube to Cloud Series, the Getting Hybrid Work Right Series, and the report Flexibility or Flight: Hybrid Strategies to Attract and Retain Talent.

Training with Two Audiences: How to Handle the Hybrid Classroom (i4cp login required) Posted: 22 Feb 2022 02:30 AM PST The events of 2020-21 helped to normalize attending and conducting meetings and training online for many workers. Things are changing again, as many employees who had shifted to remote work have started to return to offices, albeit often intermittently—with starts and stops and starts again, due to safety concerns about the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19. The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) has conducted a wealth of research on the shift to remote, hybrid, and flexible approaches to work, starting with our From Cube to Cloud: The Next Era of Work study published in early 2021 and continuing with other studies and pulse surveys. As part this ongoing work, i4cp conducted a survey of over 300 learning leaders in October 2021 on virtual classroom training to determine the current state, what is working well, where there are opportunities for improvement, and what is coming next. (See the article "Optimizing Virtual Classroom Training: What the Research Says" for some of the key findings from that survey.) Traditional in-person classroom training has a long history, with well-known best practices that remain relevant to consider. In the spring of 2020, many learning and development teams mobilized to start converting programs from in-person instructor-led training to the virtual classroom. Trainers were upskilled, producers were hired or developed, and programs were redesigned for the virtual environments of Zoom, Teams, WebEx, and more. At this current point, similar to how some executives have described work more broadly, L&D professionals can generally say they know how to handle training when everyone is gathered together, and they know how to handle training when everyone is online. But how do we handle the hybrid scenario, in which a cohort of learners is split between in-person and remote? Three Approaches to Hybrid Training In the October 2021 survey, i4cp asked how participants' organizations plan to handle hybrid learning scenarios. Although nearly one-fifth admitted they didn't know yet, it's clear that not all organizations will take the same approach. All virtual. The most common response (38%) from survey participants indicated that they will most often hold a virtual classroom event for all participants, with everyone attending individually via their computers even if some people could have gathered in a classroom or other physical event space. Comments from survey participants make clear why this is often a strong approach: It equalizes the experience for all learners, as everyone is a name or webcam box on the screen. This has been a recognized benefit of the recent shift to online meetings and training, often allowing more voices to be heard than before. Trainers can stay focused on one audience type, one set of best practices for interactivity and engagement, and avoid the costs of attention shifting that a truly hybrid approach demands. All virtual allows for the unique benefits of a well-designed virtual classroom program, such as the use of the chat feature—something missing from in-person classrooms, or often distracting for in-person attendees who can become more focused on their laptops and phones than the instructor and their peers. Programs, and specifically activities, won't need to be designed twice—in one way for those gathered in-person, and another way for those online. Any other time and cost savings from online training (e.g., training space savings) will still be achieved. Two versions. Staying all-virtual was far from a universal response, as 19% of survey respondents said their organizations' primary approach will be to offer two versions of the program, one for the in-person participants and one for the online participants. Splitting the training cohort allows for the strengths of both modalities to be leveraged, especially if you already have both versions designed and trainers with experience delivering each. Having to deliver the program twice does have obvious downsides to consider, such as increased cost from delivering each session twice, some loss of peer-to-peer learning by splitting up the learner cohort, and the risk of inconsistent experiences and learning results. Organizations might take this new hybrid work moment as a reason to do some A/B testing on the effectiveness of the in-person and virtual versions of a training program. Doing this would require keeping as many factors constant between the two learning cohorts as possible (e.g., using the same trainer, the same objectives, and similar basic materials and activities for each). While this could produce some interesting data, 54% of participants in the October survey said that a primary driver of their organization's use of virtual classroom training is that they have by now proven the effectiveness of virtual classroom training at meeting their objectives, while only 14% said that a lack of evidence of effectiveness remained a primary barrier to achieving optimal effectiveness of their organization's virtual classroom training. Pursuing the hybrid classroom. While less common than the above two approaches, 16% of survey participants said their organizations will most often hold a truly hybrid learning event, with some people gathered in a classroom or conference room, while others attend the same session remotely. In the past, this has often led to one group or the other having a sub-par experience. Usually, it was the online participants who were frequently ignored/etc., but given the experiences of the past two years, we might see the in-person participants feeling they are missing some of the benefits, such as peer-learning from the chat or other digital components. While challenges are significant and there will be a lot of trial and error, as technology continues to improve so too will the ability to deliver effective hybrid learning events. Considerations and Leading Practices for Hybrid Learning Events The following considerations and leading practices assume a common scenario in which a group of learners and the trainer/facilitator are gathered together in-person, while another group of learners are attending the same session remotely. Somewhat different considerations would be needed if the trainer/facilitator is also remote. Equalize the attention. Hybrid training program design must be very intentional in treating both in-person and remote learners equally. Make sure that learning objectives can be met by members of both groups and that everyone has equal opportunity and voice in the sessions. If the in-person participants receive physical manuals, make sure the remote participants do as well (or at least have a fillable PDF to use). If possible, do the same for any other swag or learning materials that are part of the program, otherwise remote participants will feel left out. Use producers. Have someone in the role of producer (an assistant to the lead trainer/facilitator) in the physical room, and preferably another that is remote. Such producers should be experienced with the technology being used for the event, both the physical hardware in the room (e.g., cameras, audio controls, laptops, etc.) and the online platforms involved (i.e., the video conferencing and/or audio dial-in systems). Test the audio ahead of time. Audio issues remain perhaps the most common challenge for hybrid meetings and training events. Too many people leave this setup and testing until the last minute, but the challenges that can arise are so diverse and harmful to a good experience (e.g., competing audio, feedback, volume levels, recording needs, and more) that they should be considered and dealt with well in advance. Muting everyone's in-person laptops or phones is a start, but then making sure all participants' voices will be heard clearly by everyone through the room's advanced audio setup requires expert attention. Display remote participants. If possible, have a big screen in the front of the room with as many of the remote attendees showing on video as possible. Alternately, use several smaller screens to represent each online learner. If video is not enabled, or if some employees don't want to be seen on webcam, even displaying their static photos or names is a good way to constantly remind everyone gathered that the remote folks are out there. Display the trainers/facilitators. On the flip side, make sure the in-person trainers/facilitator are included in the main visuals the remote employees see. After all, that is where the attention of the in-person attendees is focused, so provide the same experience for the remote attendees. Displaying a view of the in-person audience is nice if you have a second camera, but not if it means giving up seeing the trainer. Avoid displaying an audience looking at a disembodied facilitator voice off camera. Consider pacing and check-ins. Even with the fast internet connections available today, some lag for remote learners is likely to occur for online learners, at some point in the program if not throughout. Trainers should slow down slightly and be intentional in their use of pauses—both in their speech pattern and to allow for questions, hand-raising, etc. from the less visible remote learners. Enable chat. When appropriate, ensure that the chat functionality is turned on in Zoom, WebEx, etc., for those who are remote. Having a chat backchannel is a constructive way to keep virtual attendees engaged. If in-person attendees are using laptops as a natural part of the training, then it will be easy for them to participate in the chat as well. Otherwise, a good approach is to display the online chat in the front of the room on a large screen so all can see it without diverting attention far from the trainer and any other visuals being used. If that is not possible, then participants will need to use their smartphones to lightly monitor the comments of their peer learners online, while not letting this become a distraction from the trainer and their peers in the room. Include everyone in activities. Ensure that remote learners are included in all training activities. If there is a moment when in-person participants break into small groups, use your platform's breakout functionality for the online attendees. If flip charts are used to brainstorm, leverage your platform's whiteboard/annotation tools, or a third-party application, to do the same online. Polling is a fairly easy way to bring everyone together to provide input, especially when in-person participants can use their phones to do the poll. Leverage blended learning. The best training programs are often those that leverage a blend of modalities, both synchronous and asynchronous. This is because not every learning objective is best accomplished together, whether in-person or online. Design training programs to include reading or videos of some material ahead of time and the use of digital discussion forums between sessions for additional peer-to-peer learning beyond the time spent together. This allows the live workshop segments to focus on clarification, addressing questions, deeper dives, and so on. Using a blend will also help lessen any remaining inequities in the hybrid sessions, even after implementing all of the leading practices in this list. Consider a platform upgrade. The online meeting and training space was already a competitive technology arena, but it was turbo-charged by the work-from-home needs driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Be sure to fully Investigate and explore all the options your provider has and the latest advances, such as Zoom Rooms Smart Gallery, for hybrid events. Survey everyone about their experiences. Employee experience is at the top of everyone's list these days, and one aspect of it is how people experience meetings and training events, whether in-person or remotely. Be sure to note how each participant attended so that their input can be filtered to identify differences. Were those attending in-person more engaged, or did the online cohort have a better experience? Who performed better on knowledge-check quizzes or skill / behavior change assessments? Also be sure to ask questions about each aspect of the training described above (audio, video, the producers, etc.) as this will help you continuously improve any elements that are lagging. Review recording(s) to further improve. Professional athletes watch game video to improve their performance. Trainers are performers too, so record your sessions and review them later to gain insights on what went well and what went wrong. If possible, record both the in-person participants' perspective (the in-room experience) and the remote participants' perspective (the experience in Zoom, Teams, WebEx, etc.) Making predictions today seems particularly fraught; only time will tell how popular and effective these approaches to hybrid training cohorts will prove to be. Regardless of the approach taken, organizations certainly need to leverage known leading practices such as using producers, providing time for practice and coaching, and intentionally designing all training events to take advantage of the environment and technology available, whether in-person, virtual, or a hybrid combination of the two. Tom Stone is a Senior Research Analyst at i4cp, and co-author of Interact and Engage! 50+ Activities for Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars (second edition coming in 2022 from ATD Press).

You are subscribed to email updates from Productivity Blog. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States