Veronica Knuth has a terse but telling response when asked how her company’s employees are doing in today’s Covid-driven, hybrid-work environment:

“Our employees are fine. Our humans are struggling.”

Knuth, the chief people officer for Quantum Health, was among the speakers in a panel conversation on “Managing a Healthy Workplace in a Hybrid Environment” at From Day One’s Silicon Valley conference in June. She and her co-panelists agreed that the hybrid work world created by Covid-19 has made it more challenging than ever to promote employee health and well-being. “Doubling down on human-centric programs has never been more important,” Knuth said.

“The silver lining is that this has brought more focus on health and wellness to organizations,” said Ian White, a managing director and HR business partner at Applied Materials. The panel, moderated by Cynthia Larive, the chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, offered a range of advice for companies trying to support their employees’ physical and emotional health during this unprecedented time.

Tailored Approaches

White described how Applied Materials, with workers around the globe in both manufacturing and office jobs as a supplier to the semiconductor industry, rejected a one-size-fits-all response to the question of remote vs. in-person work. “Obviously what's going on in the U.S. is different than Europe, which is different than what's going on in China,” he said. “And so we've tried to lead with a message of flexibility, balancing business needs with the personal preference of employees.”

Although the semiconductor industry is vastly different from higher education, a similar approach prevails at San Jose State University. “Being part of a campus community is really important for educating students,” said Joanne Wright, senior associate VP for university personnel. “Obviously there are some positions that cannot be remote, like landscaping. But we also look at whether positions are student-facing or back-office-facing. We’re always trying to balance [employee needs] with the community we’re trying to build.”

Skye King, senior VP for resilience and social change at the ad giant Ogilvy, said her firm shifted into hybrid work relatively smoothly, since they already had teams and clients spread across the globe. Ogilvy encourages its managers to talk with employees about their scheduling needs and to set online meetings at hours that are convenient for different time zones.

“The last couple of years have given us a window into people’s lives that we didn't have before,” King said. “We’re literally seeing what’s behind them—kids running into Zoom conversations, and cats and turtles and everything. It’s created an increase in empathy.”

Challenges of Hybrid Work

Even with empathy, though, hybrid work still requires painful adjustments for many companies. Allan Brown, VP for total rewards and workplaces at Electronic Arts, described a grieving process among his colleagues as it became apparent that hybrid work was becoming a permanent norm. “There's been some denial, some anger, but eventually we’ll get to a place of acceptance that this is the way it’s going to be, and a lot of people are benefitting,” Brown said.

Many managers need help learning how to talk with employees about their personal requirements and preferences. They also need tools for managing and evaluating remote employees. “It's important to have really strong and explicit telecommuting agreements,” Wright said. “Managers need to be able to say, ‘Here are the expectations, here's how we’re going to monitor you, here are the hours you need to be available.’”

Brown cautioned that hybrid workplaces can foster internal schisms if companies aren’t watchful. “We’re trying to create fairness, but it’s never going to be equal,” Brown said. “Some people will benefit from being able to work from home, while others will benefit from living close to the office and being able to go in. The worst-case scenario is creation of an ‘in’ crowd and an ‘out’ crowd, where the people who get promoted are the ones coming in and getting exposure to the senior folks. We can’t let that happen, so we need to make sure that opportunity exists for people who are remote or hybrid. How do you do that? I don't think we’ve solved it yet.”

New Wellness Initiatives

While working through such issues, companies have come up with a variety of initiatives to support the well-being of their hybrid employees.

Applied Materials instituted “self-care days”—blocks of several hours when remote employees can choose to take part in online health presentations and yoga sessions or just take time off to go for a walk. San Jose State launched a weekly newsletter with tips on well-being and added a dedicated counselor for faculty and staff. Quantum Health strengthened its benefits package with a feature where employees get a follow-up call offering support if they’ve been referred to a medical specialist.

Ogvilvy offers channels for employees to express themselves on hot-button issues that may be causing stress and worry. After the Ukraine invasion and recent mass shootings, the company hosted loosely-facilitated, online safe spaces where people could share their feelings.

“People are typically asked not to bring certain emotions into the workplace, but I think it's important that when people are angry, or sad, or frustrated, we talk about that,” King said.

Of course, accommodating employee emotions can create other, new challenges. “We have some employees who absolutely brought their whole selves to work and now want to make changes in the company,” said Brown. “However, not every employee agrees with them. We've tried to balance giving safe spaces with the fact we still need to run a business.”

Ultimately, it’s the HR team that is responsible for keeping a hybrid workforce healthy and engaged. And they too have health needs as they guide their companies through the changes unleashed by Covid-19.

“I've always believed in the notion of ‘health of the helpers,’” said Knuth. “We have to be at our best in order to help everybody else be at their best. So I make sure that I’m getting rest and eating right and exercising. I'd say you should double-down on what keeps you at your best.”

Ilana DeBare is a former workplace and small business reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Her novel “Shaken Loose” will be published in summer 2023.