Key insights
- Hybrid working remains a challenge: 73% say adapting to remote and hybrid work models is a top challenge.
- Fairness is the central theme: 59% say it is a challenge to ensure consistency and fairness across workflows.
- HR is increasingly focusing on hybrid working: 68% report that more emphasis is placed on supporting hybrid and flexible forms of work than two years ago.
- Effective guidelines for hybrid working are deliberately developed: Employees need clear expectations and equal access to opportunities wherever they work.
- Well-designed flexible working brings advantages for companies and employees: It can expand the talent pool, improve retention, promote well-being and increase productivity.
Hybrid working gives employees flexibility to choose where they work, but it can be difficult to make that flexibility fair and consistent.
Technology has made it easier for employees to stay connected and work across locations.
The challenge for many organizations now is to ensure that this flexibility works fairly and consistently for everyone.
According to Sage’s HR and Payroll Leaders’ Report, based on a study of 1,000 HR, HR and payroll professionals in the UK, Ireland and South Africa, 73% say adapting to remote and hybrid working models is a top challenge.
And 59% say ensuring consistency and fairness across different working practices is a challenge.
In this article, you’ll learn how to create a more equitable and effective approach to remote and hybrid work.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
What is the difference between remote and hybrid work?
Hybrid working is an arrangement in which employees split their working time between a company workstation and another location, usually at home.
Fully remote employees, on the other hand, work outside of the company workplace most or all of the time.
Both approaches can provide employees with greater flexibility, but they can also present similar challenges for HR teams around expectations, communication, fairness and consistency.
Flexible working is even broader: it can include changes to work hours or schedules, as well as location.
There is no one-size-fits-all remote or hybrid work model that works for every company. What matters is whether employees understand the regulations that apply to them and can do their jobs effectively, wherever they work.
What are the challenges of remote and hybrid working?
Remote and hybrid work give employees more flexibility, but can make it difficult for HR teams to maintain consistent expectations, employee experiences, and work practices.
The difficulty is retaining it Consistent employee experience, even when employees don’t work in the same location.
Communication can become less predictable. Managers may have less insight into workload or well-being.
Cross-border remote working can also raise additional questions about employment law, tax, health and safety or data security.
How can you make remote and hybrid work fair?
Employees need to be confident that where they work will not unfairly influence their opportunities or the way they are evaluated.
The report highlights three areas where unequal experiences can arise: visibility, access to opportunities and performance evaluation.
- An employee who spends more time with older colleagues may have more opportunities to be seen and heard.
- A remote colleague shouldn’t have to work harder to gain access to development or receive fair feedback.
- Managers also need performance criteria that work consistently across locations.
Fairness does not mean that every employee has to work equally. Different roles may actually require different levels of personal work.
It is crucial that these differences have a clear justification and that the rules are consistently applied.
What are the benefits of remote and hybrid work?
Remote and hybrid work can benefit employees and organizations if implemented consistently.
For example, the report states that well-designed remote and hybrid models can:
- Expand talent pools: Giving your employees more flexibility in where they work can help you recruit beyond your immediate location.
- Improve retention: A fair and flexible approach can help you create a work experience that promotes employee retention.
- Support the well-being of your employees: Flexible working can contribute to a better work-life balance when it is based on clear and consistent expectations.
- Increase productivity: Clear expectations and consistent work practices can help employees across locations work effectively.
A strong hybrid model gives employees flexibility while giving managers enough clarity to lead effectively.
How to make remote and hybrid work fair and effective
Remote and hybrid work work best when fairness is built into your approach and interpretation is not left up to individual managers.
Start with 3 principles:
- create clear expectations,
- provide fair access to opportunities,
- and build trust through consistent policies and results.
1. Provide clarity about expectations
Start by clearing up any confusion.
Employees should know when they need to come to the office (if at all) and what is expected of them when working remotely.
Also make communication norms clear, including availability and reasonable turnaround times.
Use the same performance criteria regardless of location.
If two people do comparable work, the location from which they work should have no impact on how their contribution is evaluated.
Keep these expectations somewhere where employees and managers can easily find them. Common guidelines can also make planning decisions more transparent.
2. Create equal access to opportunities
Next, look at whether where a person works impacts who gets access to feedback or development.
Build these capabilities into your processes instead of relying on informal office interactions.
Use structured goals and regular performance reviews so everyone knows what progress looks like.
Make development opportunities visible to the entire team so remote or hybrid employees are less likely to be overlooked.
Use your personnel data to check whether the place of work influences access to development and progress.
For example, review promotion and development data by work location and examine any persistent disparities you notice.
3. Build trust through consistent results and policies
Trust grows when employees know they will be judged on what they deliver, not how often they are seen in the office.
Set clear performance expectations that apply wherever someone works, whether they work remotely, at the workplace, or both locations.
Focus on agreed-upon outcomes rather than presence, while keeping expectations for availability, communication and compliance when working remotely clear.
Make sure employees understand policies that apply to data and privacy, scheduling, time tracking, and absence.
Clearly setting these expectations and applying them consistently will help you build confidence in how remote and hybrid work works.
Then apply the guidelines consistently.
Exceptions may sometimes be necessary, but employees should understand why they exist rather than assuming that different managers simply apply different rules.
HR software can help you centralize policies and relevant information about goals, performance, vacation, and work arrangements.
This can provide managers with a more consistent basis for applying policies and reviewing performance across different work arrangements.
This can provide managers with a more consistent basis for applying policies and reviewing performance across different work arrangements.
Start making remote and hybrid work more equitable
If your current remote or hybrid work approach feels inconsistent or unfair, you don’t have to fix everything all at once.
Start by identifying a place where the location might create a different employee experience.
This could be access to development, how performance is evaluated, or the way different managers apply the same policies.
First, select a gap you want to address, agree on what needs to change, and make sure employees and managers understand the new expectations.
Then check whether the change results in a more consistent experience before moving on to the next area.
Frequently asked questions about remote and hybrid work
What is hybrid work?
Hybrid working is an arrangement in which employees split their working time between a company workstation and another location, usually at home.
The exact balance may vary depending on the organization, team or role.
What is the difference between remote and hybrid work?
Remote employees work outside of the company workplace most or all of the time.
Hybrid employees combine remote work with time at a shared workplace.
Both agreements require clear expectations and consistent guidelines so that employees understand how they work in practice.
What should a hybrid work policy include?
A hybrid work policy should explain when in-person attendance is required, expectations for availability and communication, how performance will be evaluated, and policies that apply to different work arrangements.
Additionally, relevant requirements in areas such as data, privacy, scheduling, time and attendance should be clarified.
How can hybrid working be made fair?
Start by assessing your current hybrid work challenges.
Verify that employees have equal access to opportunities and are assessed against consistent performance criteria.
Be transparent when different roles require different working arrangements and ensure managers apply the policy consistently.
How do you know if hybrid working is effective?
Look beyond office attendance.
Combine employee feedback with measures such as retention, absence, performance, promotion and development data.
Compare the results of different work arrangements to identify persistent differences that may require investigation.
