Beyond co-location: Building a strong culture in a hybrid workplace

Over the past few years, organisations have been redefining work arrangements to balance business success with employee preferences and needs. While remote work has became a desirable perk for many, some organisations are mandating a full return to the office, citing challenges in fostering connection, collaboration, and innovation in hybrid environments.

An effective hybrid workplace requires an evolution of the standard operating model, which was originally designed for co-located work. Organisations must adapt their cultural practices to succeed in a hybrid setting.

Transitioning to a hybrid model involves rethinking core assumptions about organisational culture, such as the belief that culture develops only through physical presence. In reality, culture begins to form in any group with a shared purpose and goal, regardless of location. But successful hybrid models are based on something more than this: they acknowledge that connection, collaboration, and innovation don’t occur by chance, but through intentional design.

Nous' Seven Levers of Culture Transformation framework offers a structured approach to help organisations evolve their culture in ways that support their strategy, mission, and vision. This article explores how organisations can apply these levers to effectively design for hybrid work.

The commitment and proactive involvement of leaders are crucial to the success of the hybrid model. Executives and senior leaders must fully embrace hybrid work arrangements and adapt their operating model and cultural practices to align with this approach. This includes walking the talk by demonstrating the desired values and behaviours and following agreed-upon practices and processes.

Leadership in a hybrid context requires a focus on outcomes (rather than inputs) and a high level of emotional intelligence and adaptability. Leaders who foster a trusting and inclusive team environment, listen and genuinely connect with their people, while holding themselves and others accountable, create more positive and successful hybrid work experiences. It is critical that leaders ensure role clarity, which research shows can be lower in hybrid setting and effectively coordinate responsibilities across distributed workforce. 

Leaders also play a crucial role in adjusting the cultural levers outlined below and embedding the mechanisms needed to support and sustain hybrid work.

To build a cohesive culture that resonates across the organisation, particularly in a hybrid setting, organisations should prioritise meaningful connections, transparency, and inclusion, while focusing on performance and outcomes. These values drive higher engagement, cross-functional collaboration, and improved organisational results.

In hybrid settings, where employees have fewer opportunities to observe culture firsthand, organisations must be more explicit about their values and behavioural expectations. Stories, practical examples, and aligned processes serve as powerful tools for making these expectations clear and relatable. For example, Nous developed a booklet for an emergency services client that brought each of their values to life through employee and organisational stories, along with practical dos and don’ts illustrating how each value translates into everyday behaviours.

While in-office work has evolved over centuries, hybrid and remote work models are still relatively new for many. As a result, both employees and leaders must develop the skills and strategies necessary to thrive in a hybrid environment. These range from individual capabilities, such as self-management and digital tool proficiency, to mastering effective communication and collaboration in digital and asynchronous settings.

Research indicates that remote workers, especially new hires, often receive less coaching, mentorship, and development opportunities than their in-office counterparts. Encouraging informal and social learning and ensuring fair and equitable access to learning and development is crucial, particularly for new starters who may struggle to excel without the informal connections and support available in an office setting. Furthermore, learning and development initiatives play a vital role in fostering professional networks and social connections, which are especially beneficial for underrepresented groups working remotely.

Recognition is a powerful lever for reinforcing the desired organisational culture. As humans, we tend to repeat behaviours that are prioritised and rewarded while reducing those that are ignored, discouraged, or punished. Therefore, organisations and leaders must be intentional about the behaviours and decisions they recognise and reward.

The most effective organisations focus on performance and outcomes, regardless of where the work is carried out. What truly matters is the quality of work and its contribution to the organisation's success. However, the absence of clear performance metrics may lead leaders to favour those they see most often in the office. This highlights the importance of a fair and effective performance evaluation system – one grounded in clear performance goals and KPIs, and supported by regular feedback, which tends to be less frequent in hybrid settings. 

Nous recently refreshed the performance and development process for a mental health not-for-profit to strengthen organisational delivery on strategy and foster a stronger culture of feedback. The new approach introduced clear performance goals and KPIs, regular check-ins between managers and their direct reports, and biannual 360-degree feedback, supported by a technology system that streamlined data capture, progress tracking, and performance monitoring.

Hybrid work requires organisations to rethink how they facilitate connection, communication, collaboration, and innovation. In traditional office settings, leaders often rely on spontaneous, face-to-face interactions to build relationships, share insights, and spark collaboration. In a hybrid model, however, these efforts must be more intentional to address the issue of smaller and more stable networks. 

One effective approach is creating anchor days in the office. To ensure that time spent on-site is purposeful, organisations can clarify which types of meetings or tasks are best suited for in-person settings to foster collaboration and innovation, avoiding scenarios where employees come in only to spend the day on Zoom calls.

Organisations can also adapt by redesigning onboarding programs to ensure new starters feel integrated and supported from day one. For established employees, creating social and interest-based groups can help foster community and strengthen engagement. At Nous, we have seven employee networks focused on gender, orientation, religion, family status, and specialised capabilities, along with several sports teams that enable colleagues to connect both in and outside of work.

Leaders also play a critical role in connecting people and identifying collaboration opportunities. They should establish cross-functional channels for information sharing and knowledge management while promoting transparent systems that prevent information silos.

A well-functioning technology infrastructure is essential for successful hybrid work. Leaders must ensure employees have the right tools and equipment to work efficiently in a distributed environment, accessing and recording information seamlessly, communicating through streamlined channels, and working asynchronously to accommodate diverse work preferences and time zones. However, with an increasing number of tech solutions available, organisations risk creating fragmented systems that can hinder productivity if not integrated effectively. While technology is a powerful enabler of connection, collaboration, and innovation, it alone cannot cultivate a cohesive culture.

Similarly, the design of office spaces can reinforce the desired culture by creating dedicated areas for connection, collaboration, and innovation. This encourages employees to come to the office for activities that are more challenging to conduct online. 

As the saying goes, "What gets measured gets done." Organisations should focus on metrics that reflect relevant performance outcomes, such as profitability, service delivery efficiency, or community impact, rather than merely tracking office attendance. Leaders must thoughtfully consider the culture they wish to cultivate and implement measures that reinforce this vision, avoiding the inadvertent promotion of presenteeism at the expense of what truly matters: employee engagement and organisational success.

The challenge of maintaining a strong, cohesive culture in a hybrid setting can be mitigated by monitoring culture and climate. Conducting monthly or quarterly pulse checks is especially valuable in a hybrid context, where culture may be less visible day-to-day. This mechanism provides insights into employee experiences and, when combined with organisational performance metrics, enables organisations to take regular, iterative actions to maintain and evolve their culture.

Creating a strong culture in hybrid workplaces requires intentional effort. Leaders should strategically leverage key cultural levers such as leadership commitment, clear values and behaviours, workforce capability, recognition, and intentional practices, supported by the right technology and monitoring mechanisms. By focusing on these interconnected levers, organisations can foster a strong hybrid culture that is resilient in an evolving world of work.  

Get in touch to discuss how you can apply these levers to evolve your culture, enabling performance and success in a hybrid workplace.

Connect with Ingrid Molan on LinkedIn.

Prepared with input from Anita Sarris and Kathy Voukelatos.