As a result of implementing uniform return-to-office policies such as requiring employees to come to work three days a week, many companies are facing the loss of talented engineers and a decline in organizational engagement. In order to maximize both the high individual productivity of remote work and the co-creative power of face-to-face work, it is essential to have a hybrid strategy that comprehensively redesigns the work environment and evaluation system, rather than simply setting numerical targets for the number of work days.
Five checkpoints to measure your company’s hybrid maturity
Let’s check the following five items to see if a sustainable hybrid system is working.
- 1. Clarify the purpose of coming to work: Are you coming to work not just for monitoring purposes, but for brainstorming and cultural instillation that can only be done face-to-face?
- 2. Asynchronous principle of communication: Is the decision-making process visualized throughout the company on a document basis, without relying on meetings or verbal communication?
- 3. Hybrid support for conference rooms: Are wide-angle cameras and speakers with AI sound cancellation installed so that remote participants don’t feel left out?
- 4. Flexibility of work location and time: Are shortened core hours, full flextime, and use of satellite offices allowed at the discretion of the workplace?
- 5. Results-oriented evaluation metrics: Are you fairly evaluated based on objective results and team contribution, rather than “how long you stayed in the office?”
If there are fewer than three, there is a risk of division and unfairness between those who prefer to come to work and those who prefer to work remotely.
Reform of ABW and evaluation criteria to redefine the “significance of gathering”
The role of the physical office has also changed. An increasing number of companies are abolishing fixed seating and introducing ABW (Activity Based Working), which allows employees to freely choose their location depending on the nature of their work. By arranging soundproof booths for concentration and cafe spaces that encourage casual chats, we will create the ``value of coming to work’’ from the space. Furthermore, eliminating “proximity bias,” which tends to give higher evaluations to subordinates with whom you have more opportunities to meet, and establishing a fair personnel system based on OKRs and delivery results will be the decisive factor in establishing employees in your organization.