Recently, businesses around the world have taken a more firm stance in their work practices. Boards are establishing mandates, whether it is a commitment to hybrid work or the return to traditional offices – as exemplified most recently by Amazon.
Many of these mandates face resistance after a period in which employees were allowed to work anywhere they chose. Recently, it was revealed that ministers were quietly ignoring rules requiring civil servants be at work three days per week. This sentiment is echoed in other sectors as managers allow their teams to ignore company mandates.
The “hushed-hybrid” trend is a silent one, which involves hybrid policies that are applied inconsistently or ignored entirely. It comes with significant risks, from legal issues and HR complications, to wider commercial implications and cultural disruptions. There are many issues that come with “hushed-hybrid”.
How can businesses avoid the legal and commercial traps of allowing a “hybrid” practice to continue unchecked?
What you should know
Inconsistency in the treatment of employees within an organization is a major concern when it comes to hushed-hybrid. If, for example, an employee from the IT department is disciplined for not attending the office three times a week while another member of the sales team, who also ignores the policy, is left unaddressed this raises two important issues:
- Discrimination Uneven enforcement of the policy may create a perception of favoritism or unfair treatment. A difference in treatment that lacks an objective, clear basis can raise concerns. If, for example, an employee is being disciplined and notices their female colleague ignores the policy, the employee may wonder if this inconsistency stems from gender or other protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010
- Policy When certain employees are not required to comply with a policy, it undermines the commitment of a company in enforcing their policy. If the team’s best performer isn’t reprimanded when they ignore the policy, then any disciplinary actions taken against another member of the team for non-compliance may be perceived as unfair due to inconsistency. The company’s ability uphold their own policy is compromised by hushed-hybrid.
If a policy is not enforced properly, it can lead to a situation where a manager fails to apply the policy consistently. This could create an implied contract that allows the employee to continue working in the same way, depending on their specific employment contract. A manager’s failure in applying a policy appropriately can lead to a situation where some employees are affected by it, but others are not.
Commercial
Commercial and cultural implications can exacerbate the legal implications, causing deeper issues which may hinder productivity and lead to legal claims.
Return-to work policies are often the result of deliberate decisions made by an organization about its culture. Boards actively align their policies with cultural and strategic goals, whether they are promoting employee flexibility or prioritising collaborative efforts. When a policy is ignored consistently, the goals of a business are undermined.
This disregard for company policies is more concerning because it suggests that management does not care about the goals of the company. This indicates a disconnect between middle and senior management, or worse, a manager’s disregard for corporate policy and board directives. Employees tend to model their behavior after their managers. This can exacerbate tensions between board decisions and the mission and values of the company.
As employees’ confidence in the company’s sense of justice diminishes, they are more likely to seek legal recourse than internal means of addressing perceived injustices. Legal claims and poor culture are often linked.
Practical Steps
Consider the following when your organization is reviewing its hybrid approach or adopting a more strict enforcement stance to reduce hushed hybrids:
- Establish the real business reasons for your policy: Make sure that you have clear business objectives to support it. The employees will see through a “knee jerk” reaction that lacks solid foundations.
- Anticipate employee reaction: Prepare yourself for initial reactions, especially from managers who are responsible for enforcement. Engage with managers to address concerns and understand their resistance if you anticipate it. Make sure that your staff understands and accepts the rationale for the policy even if this is not their preferred choice. In your communications, highlight the benefits to both the organization and the employees.
Implement oversight for compliance: Introduce wider monitoring of policy enforcement, so that managers who evade or ignore the law, or take inconsistent approaches, can be identified quickly and corrected.
