There is no doubt that the way we work and our preferences in terms of how we work have been changing. According to the Office of National Statistics, more than a quarter of working adults in the UK (28%) were hybrid working in the autumn of 2024. Similarly, Gallup reported that over half of US remote-enabled employees prefer and expect to work in a hybrid mode, a trend that is expected to grow. Despite these trends, the majority of organisational leaders do not know how to master hybrid working. As organisations adapt and transform into hybrid work practices, they need to ensure that communication, collaboration, and overall engagement of both remote and in-person employees is maintained and supported. In a project funded by the British Academy of Management - Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (BAM/ANZAM) collaborative initiative, we sought to explore influencing factors in a knowledge-based organisation that contribute towards developing and supporting employee engagement in hybrid work. Employee engagement is a motivational concept and is seen as important for increasing employee performance and productivity. Most work in the area looks at employees working on a permanent full-time basis in a collocated setting, and little explores hybrid work. COMPANY ANALYSIS To fill in some of those gaps, our study focused on the Australian division of a multinational high-tech organisation with more than 2,000 employees, where they used an algorithmic management tool for supporting employee experience in hybrid work. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, hybrid work became the predominant form of work within the company, preferred by both employees and the organisation. Soon after, they implemented Microsoft Viva as an integration platform of existing tools, powered by Microsoft 365 and integrated into Microsoft Teams to provide a unified work environment. Viva was adopted to enhance employee learning, team connection, communication, collaboration, productivity, wellbeing, and the overall engagement of employees regardless of their work arrangement. With its AI capabilities, Viva can support employees and leaders with insights and nudges related to various aspects of the employee experience, making it a suitable tool for our study. We spoke with employees and managers across the business and with various levels of seniority, all within the Australia/New Zealand region. What we found was that managers were actively putting effort in to foster employee engagement in hybrid work. We found three factors enabling this: Digital Workplace Transformation, Caring Workplace and Inclusive Leadership. DIGITAL WORKPLACE TRANSFORMATION Not long after the official launch of the hybrid work policy, Microsoft Viva was introduced. This is an employee experience management platform. The platform is promoted by Microsoft as helping to create an engaged and productive workforce using work analytics. It provides insights on employees’ behaviour online, encouraging employees to stay connected to improve their learning by taking online training courses. Some participants described Viva as a personal assistant that reminds them to take a break after working online for a long time or to have focus time away from meetings. Employees can see their own work analytics, for example how long they have been online, when was the last time they had a break, or when they connected with a colleague. This helps them become aware of their work habits and to take corrective action if needed. Managers can see their team’s work analytics, warning of employee 28 |
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