Remote Works: Work Rebalanced

Technology is the glue holding the hybrid workplace together. Videoconferencing, collaborative applications, cloud computing – these are all tech innovations that enabled employees to connect and work with their colleagues at a time when they weren’t able to go into the office. Even after a partial return to the office, technology once considered a “nice to have” before the pandemic quickly became an essential component of being able to work.

The shift to a hybrid work arrangement now means that an organization’s IT departments are even more crucial to its daily operations. IT experts, in turn, have to prioritize their focus on people rather than relying on just the tools and technology running the company, according to the Citrix Work Rebalanced report. The right technology can enable employees to work in the way that’s best for them. However, leaders and workers have to factor in the human element into the equation.

In this episode, we hear from a former journalist about the ways in which safety measures brought in by the IT department at his former office unintentionally hampered the business of delivering news. Then associate professor of information management and business analytics Alanah Mitchell talks about the crucial role technology plays in the workplace, while reminding us that it doesn’t solve every problem. We also need to consider the process and people using the tech. Finally, tech company Gusto’s co-founder and CTO Edward Kim talks about their people-first approach.

Trust is crucial at a hybrid workplace. But it’s often hard to find between colleagues. According to the Citrix Work Balanced report, 8 in 10 employees say it’s important to have an employer they can trust. However, less than half the workforce says they actually trust their bosses. Meanwhile, a growing number of employers are turning to monitoring software to ensure productivity – often unaware or ignorant of the negative impacts of stealthy supervision tactics. (There are, of course, industries such as banking where monitoring workers’ online activity is necessary due to compliance issues.) This can lead to resentment and loss of morale among employees, and ultimately the decision to call it quits.

In this episode, we hear some anonymized accounts of workers who were told to come into the office because their employers wouldn’t trust them to be actually working from home or were asked to use employee monitoring software to ensure they were actually fulfilling their tasks. Later on, Curtin University research fellow Caroline Knight talks about outdated concepts such as "presentee-ism" that are hard to break, and why managers and employees need to learn how to trust each other and build empathy. Finally, Bhushan Sethi, global leader of People and Organization at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, tells us how the accounting firm has launched a Trust Leadership Institute to help business leaders figure out a new road map to a more inclusive and empathetic workplace.

For many workers, a flexible work schedule has become a non-negotiable aspect of their job. Flexibility is considered a key pillar of hybrid work. But it’s also the most misunderstood. When policies around scheduling or work expectations haven’t been thought through, flexibility at the workplace can become burdensome.

In the Citrix Work Rebalanced report, flexibility is the lowest-rated pillar, from both an employee and employer perspective. Many employers expect complete office attendance. However, from an employee perspective, a flexible work schedule is the most valued aspect of an office work culture today. So how should business leaders – and personnel – manage this disconnect?

In this episode, we hear from an employee who felt frustrated when the flexible work schedule in her former office wreaked havoc with her own work commitments. Then organizational behavior and human resource management professor Sonia Kang will discuss why managers need to ensure clear policies around flexible arrangements that account for the lives of a diverse workforce. And finally, hear from Marco Osso, VP of Employee Success at Tulip, on why the software provider for retail management has gone all in on flexibility.

The hybrid model is supposed to bring the best of both worlds to the workplace. The ability to work asynchronously for solo tasks or in a group setting for team projects, as needed. Sharing space, naturally, is a key piece of hybrid work. But if team members are unable to work together even when they do come into the office, how can leaders ensure that employees are able to connect and collaborate even when people are not in the same room.

In this episode, we talk about why connection and collaboration are an essential part of the hybrid workplace – not just for work output, but also the emotional well-being of employees. We will hear from a young office worker about the challenges he faces when he goes into work, when trying to ask for feedback for a client-related task. Later in the episode, organizational behavior professor Jana Raver tells us how a hybrid work model can help potentially repair a disconnect between work mates. Finally, we’ll get a tour of an office in the metaverse where employees can hang out at the beach or have confidential conversations in a spaceship!

In March 2020, how we work underwent the most dramatic shift we’ve ever seen. Millions of us started working from home. And ever since, we've all been asking: "when will we get back to normal"? Today, the answer is clear. Hybrid work IS the new normal.

This season, we are looking at the ways that hybrid work is affecting work life. Delving into the innovative ways that companies are adapting to the hybrid workplace, and navigating the challenges that remain for employees and leaders.

Remote Works: Work Rebalanced – an original podcast from Citrix. Season 5 coming to podcast feeds everywhere September 14.

We are in a pivotal moment. Hybrid work is not only changing how we work, but also how we live. Host Melanie Green explores this fundamental work-life rebalance. We hear from Chris Herd, CEO of Firstbase, who believes that this moment in time is an opportunity to empower a billion people to access a better work-life balance. Grace Lordan of the London School of Economics sees hybrid work changing top-down management to become more democratic.

The massive shift to remote collaboration has fundamentally changed how we work together. Technology plays a starring role in this story. Host Melanie Green explores the links between collaboration and innovation and what business leaders and thinkers are doing to take it to the next level.

Think about the move to virtual learning by schools everywhere. Think about the countless medical clinics that moved online overnight to continue helping patients. Think about the great innovations in technology that had to happen in a short time to make all of this possible.

Tune in to hear more about this explosion in innovation and what business leaders can do to sustain it as hybrid work takes hold.

In August, 4.3 million Americans left their jobs. We’ll talk to one worker who quit in search of more flexibility and a better work life balance. Plus Liz Fosslien, Head of Content at Humu, unpacks what this means for companies, and what we can learn at this transformational moment.

Ten years ago, Sacha Connor pioneered virtual work in the large corporation she worked for. Now Sacha works with business leaders making the transition to remote and hybrid work. When Sacha started her work experiment a decade ago, many of the tools we have now for connecting remotely didn’t exist. Gen Z guest Liana Hakobyan, on the other hand, was born into a digital world. Liana is part of a generation that is most comfortable in hybrid and remote work. She gives her take on how organizations can attract and retain future business leaders.

Ransomware and other cyber threats have evolved in recent years , and with that so has cybersecurity. In this episode we’ll share stories of modern day cyber attacks that keep IT professionals up at night. We'll hear about a cyber attack that impacted a country's health service, an attack on a legal firm's web server that exposed sensitive client data, and we’ll hear how attackers found vulnerable systems in a small company's network and got in. Experts share advice about best security practices for organizations and individuals alike. It's #CyberSecurityMonth, and this is an episode you won't want to miss.