January 13, 2021
January 13, 2021
The radical flexibility inherent in hybrid workforce models delivers a host of good outcomes — but only if your leadership has the mindset to champion hybrid work.
The disruption of coronavirus has shattered the paradigm of traditional 9-to-5 work at the office, but the question isn’t just remote vs. on-site. A hybrid workforce model offers the kind of radical flexibility required to build organizational resilience, but does your organization have the leadership mindset and skills to capture the opportunity?
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Many business leaders still question the merits of this nontraditional workforce model, but often because of common myths and old ideas about what a hybrid workforce model is, and where, when and how employees perform at their best.
“More employees go above and beyond at work when organizations give them a choice over where, when and how much they work,” says Sasha Tuzel, Director, Advisory, Gartner. “But those benefits can only be captured when leadership is willing and able to reimagine how we work and communicate, without sacrificing the company culture and collaboration.” Hybrid-ready leaders don’t view a hybrid workforce model as a risk — or insist on preserving tried-and-true ways of working
Truly hybrid workforce models enable employees to flow through various work sites — from remote solo locations and microsites of small populations to traditional facilities like offices and factories. Work gets done where and when is optimal to drive the highest levels of productivity and engagement. This new paradigm takes a certain kind of leadership.
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Hybrid-ready leaders don’t view a hybrid workforce model as a risk — or insist on preserving tried-and-true ways of working. Leaders who perform well in, and drive success from, nontraditional workforce models instead view the move to a hybrid workforce model as an opportunity, and they demonstrate courage, agility, ownership and long-term thinking.
The skill sets required in a hybrid-ready leader include the ability to build trust, empower employees, enable collaboration and establish productive team climates. But in a recent Gartner webinar poll, 78% of HR leaders identified leaders’ mindsets as a greater challenge than their skill sets in driving the success of a hybrid workforce model.
To determine whether your leadership is well-positioned to leverage a hybrid workforce model, you can diagnose the openness of their mindset and the maturity of their skill set on a simple matrix. Segmenting the leadership population in this way enables you to prioritize development where it is needed most.
The four types of hybrid leaders are:
An open mindset is key, but management skill sets are also important. Hybrid-ready leaders must be able to:
Many of the skill sets needed in a hybrid-ready leader aren’t new, but they do have to be developed. The expectation of radical flexibility is likely to make a hybrid workforce model more prevalent in the post-COVID-19 world, and the right leaders are critical to operationalizing this emerging workforce model effectively.
Attend webinar: 2021 Gartner Predictions for the Future of Hybrid Work
Join your peer CHROs and HR leaders from leading organizations to discuss specific HR challenges and learn about top HR trends, insights and priorities.
Recommended resources for Gartner clients*:
Differentiating Mindset and Skill Set Challenges in Leading a Hybrid Workforce
Change Leaders’ Mindset to Manage a Hybrid Workforce
Organization Design for the Hybrid Workforce
Operationalizing Remote Work at Scale in the Hybrid Workforce Model
*Note that some documents may not be available to all Gartner clients.