The pandemic forever altered the way we work. Remote work has created new job opportunities for some, but there are challenges. Teams are more siloed, and burnout is a real and unsustainable threat. What we know is that hybrid work is here to stay. Leaders who fail to embrace this will not attract the best talent and will struggle to compete in the post-pandemic economy.
According to IDC, at least 70 percent of digitally enabled SMBs will be hybrid. With this shift, leaders are not only concerned with enabling productivity but increasingly with employee engagement and well-being.
There’s a connection between how we engage, the tools we use and the culture that surrounds it. Especially for SMBs, where employees often wear many hats, we need to be mindful of the ways in which we may be overworking our teams and how people are connecting and collaborating.
Successful organizations that are investing in employee well-being are embracing extreme flexibility and an experimental, agile approach. At Microsoft, we want all employees to be grounded in what drives productivity and creativity, and that is wellness. We want everyone to come to work as their best selves. We want our employees to feel happy and healthy.
It’s incumbent upon leaders to assess workload across teams and ensure that we’re not only freeing up time for employees to have balance but also to build their social capital and develop relationships with peers.
Employee experience platforms like VIVA can help managers in a way that’s data-driven and measures outcomes instead of simply relying on personal impressions or hoping employees will self-report. Too often, resignation is when managers learn that their staff is burnt out.
There’s no single solution for how organizations prioritize their people, but our workforce is our greatest asset. As leaders, we have an opportunity to build on what we’ve learned since 2020 and create a workplace where everyone can thrive by implementing strategies and processes that both foster a productive workforce as well as a flourishing inclusive hybrid culture.
Robert M. Shewchuk
SMB Segment Lead, Microsoft Canada
Rob Shewchuk is the SMB Segment Lead at Microsoft Canada. He leads the fastest-growing segment that serves the 1.2M+ small and medium-sized companies in Canada as they innovate and grow. After joining Microsoft in September 2017, he has held key leadership roles as the Sales Excellence Director and Solution Assessment Area Lead. With over 20 years of experience in technology including senior management positions at IBM Canada, Amdocs, and UXP Systems Inc., Rob is known to be an authentic leader with a deep passion for people, partnerships, and customer growth. He resides in the Greater Toronto Area with his wife and their two boys.
