Meaningful engagements underpin the hybrid model: International SOS, Dawn Yeow

2020 has been something of a watershed year, in which businesses around the world have had to rethink their approach to the workplace model. People Matters asked Dawn Yeow, Regional HR Director of International SOS, for her take on what a hybrid workplace would look like, and what resilience in the hybrid model might involve.

International SOS, which specializes in corporate health and security risk management, has been running a broadly hybrid model since long before COVID-19—the firm operates a total of 81 offices around the world, all of which collaborate remotely—and Dawn offered some highly practical tips based on the strategies that have, in her experience, worked. Here's what she shared.

What do you view as the most defining factor of a hybrid workplace?

We believe that regardless of an office or remote working arrangement, a focus on meaningful and impactful engagements among colleagues is what helps build a holistic and resilient workforce. Prioritizing the health and well-being of employees—by ensuring that they are connected, engaged and supported—will help not just with business continuity but also to successfully navigate and thrive in new and challenging environments.

Particularly with remote working in all or some parts of an organization likely to stay beyond COVID-19, implementing a hybrid workplace model that is sustainable is also important. Depending on the nature of the work you do, some roles may allow for more remote working than others.

What is critical is for the business to empower employees to optimize remote time to do individual focused work, while leveraging workspace designs and technology to ensure face to face interactions are meaningful and impactful and drive collaboration, innovation and camaraderie.

Given the unique operations of International SOS, what kind of setup works best in the current pandemic/post-pandemic conditions? Could you share some priorities that are useful in implementing this model?

We have always had a hybrid working model with colleagues collaborating in office in the specific countries and collaborating remotely across the world. However, this crisis has taught us to be agile and resilient in the face of ever-evolving local legislative regulations.

As our medical and security professionals supported our clients with our predictive tools and on-point intelligence on COVID-19 risk, I had the luxury of tapping on these same services and advice when I was designing our business continuity plans and prioritizing our employee health and safety at the peak of the outbreak in Asia.

Likewise, when our professionals started to support clients in their return to operations programs, I was also able to leverage our own Workforce Resilience Solutions to ensure our colleagues are safe and build a sustainable workplace solution to withstand an ever-evolving crisis situation.

Through our own experiences as well as working with our clients, we have uncovered some priorities that businesses may consider when transitioning towards a hybrid working arrangement:

• • Putting employees at the center of any decision making around working arrangements. When you put employees first and consider their health, well-being and safety first and foremost, you are building a sustainable workforce which thereby ensures business continuity.

  • Consider more than just the physical health of colleagues. Constantly leverage technology to engage colleagues and create opportunities for social interactions and connectivity. Building informal support communities within the organization is also helpful in building mental and emotional resilience.

  • Ensure you have access to data / intelligence which would allow you to make informed decisions around employee health and safety and return to work, return to travel decisions.

  • Include the experts when communicating with employees, so employees can have the reassurance that their concerns and needs are heard and considered, and so they feel empowered to manage their own health with trusted advice from medical and security experts.

  • Invest in technology that transforms your entire business model and not just to support a temporary hybrid workplace.

  • Consider how to leverage workspaces to maximize business and social interactions when face to face meetings can occur.

What does workforce resilience involve, in a hybrid workplace and with the kind of work your firm does? What strategies have worked for you in building resilience?

We are in the business of protecting and saving lives around the world—which can be dynamic and stressful for our employees, especially in a long drawn pandemic situation. Regardless of where and how employees work, we believe that the new world of work will require workforce resilience, agility and trust. This involves supporting all employees in their health, security and well-being, which shapes their morale, helps their productivity and drives business resilience and sustainability. As such, we are focused on building this culture through a holistic workforce program that places emphasis on authentic and open communications, and implementing programs that help our workforce keep an open and agile mindset to grow as individuals and as a business.

Some of our tested strategies in building resilience both in our company and in working with clients include :

• • Ensuring all employees, wherever they are, have access to verified and timely information, advice and assistance on the evolving COVID-19 situation. This can help to minimize anxiety from fear or lack of information.

  • Leverage digital tools to ensure regular communications between employees, and promote activities that build closer bonds within teams and destress together. This is critical in fostering a culture where employees feel their well-being is a key priority and to create a safe space for them to seek help and support whenever they need to.

  • Encourage managers to check in regularly with employees, to show appreciation and offer assistance whenever needed.

  • Engage partners who have the network and expertise to provide emotional support and counseling services anytime, anywhere. These can include a remote counseling service that employees can turn to, anytime and anywhere, a 24/7 Telehealth service for any health and security concerns employees may have, as well as mental health training webinars, strategy and assessments.

  • Have a clear business continuity plan before resuming on-site operations and communicating updates on such plans regularly to employees.

What are your thoughts on productivity: how do you plan to maintain or improve it, and what might be a good way to measure it?

For businesses like ours where we operate 24/7, a sustainable healthy workforce that ensures non disrupted service is a productive workforce.

A positive culture plays a big role in developing and strengthening workplace productivity. Most individuals tend to thrive when they are in good mental and physical health, and feel emotionally supported. For example, a healthy employee is less likely to suffer from illness, takes fewer days of sick leave, and is able to manage stress well.

As such, at an individual level, we build productivity by focusing on the mental, physical and emotional well-being of our workforce through all the strategies and initiatives that we have shared above. These initiatives, which can be easily implemented in any working arrangement, will help employees thrive in the face of challenges and ensure business productivity.

At a business level, it’s also important to communicate the organization's goals and expectations transparently and positively.

It is important that employers communicate the business objectives and outlook, as well as any changing expectations they may have for employees. With clear communications, employees can feel assured and supported, which in turn feeds a productive and healthy mindset for work.

If, or when, a complete return to the office becomes possible, what workplace practices would you like to continue?

During the pandemic, we emphasized a lot on communication. We made a point to communicate to our employees about our business direction, the evolving COVID-19 situation, business continuity plans and so forth with transparency and positivity, so that employees felt engaged and informed. We also focused on being agile and flexible; the ability to proactively assess and predict the market, as well as the challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 would bring and consequently the agility to respond to such challenges or capitalize on such opportunities.

Beyond the pandemic, I hope to still continue to explore initiatives that facilitate authentic and open communication as we grow our organization from strength to strength. I also hope to continue to build on the mindset of flexibility and agility which would be critical in navigating the path ahead, and help our workforce to grow as individuals and as a business.

Last and but definitely not the least, the pandemic reaffirmed our belief that employee health and well-being forms the foundation of a holistic and resilient workforce. I am confident that this focus will continue beyond COVID-19 as it is a strategic driver to business resilience. In my role in International SOS, I have come to fully appreciate the value of having health and security expertise to support me in this key priority without needing to become an expert in the respective fields myself!