Policies in the Hybrid Environment: Policy Engagement

Does your organization adequately engage employees on policies in the hybrid work environment? Having the right hybrid work policies is not enough - you need to make sure that hybrid and remote employees are aware of them, understand them, and follow them

Organizations should:

1. Have a hybrid/remote work policy handbook. This most often can be a sub-section of a broader employee handbook but can itself be an online handbook/publication that brings all relevant policies for the remote/hybrid work environment into one place.
2. Build awareness and training. make this policy handbook easily accessible to remote employees through a common portal, provide training on this policy handbook via learning, and develop a FAQ section to answer frequently asked questions about policies.
3. Strengthen enforcement. Provide a periodic (e.g., annual) attestation of remote and hybrid workers that they have read and understand this collection of policies. Ask questions specific to their attestation to critical elements of these policies (e.g., do you have a comfortable and ergonomically safe work environment? Do you maintain a home office clean desk policy? Is sensitive company and client information protected from others hearing or reading it?)

We have covered a range of policies that organizations should have in place to address the new normal/hybrid and remote work environment. These of course will dovetail into other policies. Your organization needs to adjust to the changing business environment and develop a policy management framework that makes it easy for employees within your organization to access and understand corporate policies within a hybrid work environment.