Today’s world is torn between remote and in-person work. Before the pandemic, working from home was a luxury. Post-pandemic, many see it as a right. Amazon made waves by declaring a full-time RTO initiative in September, only to delay it in December due to a snafu regarding a lack of office space. It also took incoming President Trump mere hours to order federal workers to return to the office.
As leaders around the world grapple with how to handle remote work, it’s important to avoid extreme stances without need. This is why I still find hybrid work the most compelling option. Hybrid work is flexible and adaptable, helping you tap into the best of both worlds.
To understand the future of successful hybrid work, I turned to Bonfyre CEO Mark Sawyier. Sawyier’s company has created an AI-powered employee engagement platform designed to build meaningful company culture across digital channels. This has given the executive a front-row seat to the unfolding hybrid work world.
One of Sawyier’s biggest recommendations for hybrid workforces? Invest in recognition and reward systems that reach and engage employees across hybrid settings. This aligns incentives for all employees with team objectives and goals. It also keeps employees engaged and promotes visibility for the behaviors the company wants to promote.
If you’re unsure how to master the art of recognizing and rewarding a hybrid team, he had some insights there, too. Here are a few key tips for creating meaningful recognition programs that resonate with employees, whether remote, virtual, or in-office.
1. Be Intentional With Incentives
Applying pre-existing reward systems to a hybrid work environment is tempting, especially when employees are still in the office a few days a week. Having a well-stocked coffee bar or preferred parking might be a great perk for in-office teams. However, incentives like these carry limited value for remote or hybrid workers.
For hybrid teams, rewards should be flexible and applicable to remote and in-office employees. Cost-effective strategies like a digital gift card or coffee subscription may be more beneficial for hybrid workers than an in-person coffee bar. But beyond the reward itself, personalization is what makes recognition truly impactful, says Sawyier.
“Personalization is the most important part of recognition,” he said. “That comes down to the person writing the recognition, not the reward itself.” A personalized piece of recognition from a boss? That could have an invaluable impact.
The personalization process should dig into the specifics, too. For instance, Sawyier said that the Bonfyre platform uses prompts like “describe the impact [an employee] had on you or the customer” to deepen a sense of appreciation through specificity. In other cases, a form might have a CTA to nominate someone for recognition using questions tailored to a specific role or cultural value.
Flexible reward programs and benefits also play a critical role in keeping hybrid employees engaged. Tom Murphy, Senior Vice President of Client Development & Strategy at EBG, a leading corporate discount provider, emphasizes the importance of offering a range of incentives that cater to diverse employee preferences. “A one-size-fits-all approach to benefits no longer works—especially for hybrid teams,” Murphy said. “Providing employees with access to a wide variety of discounts and experiences, from travel and entertainment to wellness and everyday savings, allows them to choose what’s most meaningful to them, increasing overall engagement and satisfaction.”
As you consider recognition and reward programs and benefits for hybrid teams, look for cost-effective alternatives to traditional in-person incentives and ways to use personalization to deepen feedback. The latter, in particular, is one of the few things that maintains its value both in-person and in a digital environment.
2. Make Hybrid Work a Core Part Of Your Culture
Hybrid work isn’t just a perk—it’s a fundamental part of your team’s operations. Treating remote or hybrid work as a special privilege can create the wrong expectations and undermine its role in your organization’s culture. Instead, reinforce hybrid work as a standard in your workplace and ensure employees feel valued for their contributions—no matter the setting.
Spotify is a company that is managing the benefits of remote work well. In response to the surge of RTO activity, the audio streaming giant’s CHRO defended its continuing flexible work policy by saying, “You can’t spend a lot of time hiring grownups and then treat them like children.”
The takeaway here? Make sure you aren’t using hybrid as a carrot-and-stick incentive that is, in and of itself, part of your recognition and reward program. Don’t slip into a “be thankful you have this” mindset as a leader, either. Instead, like Spotify, signal that you trust your hybrid employees to be the expert workers you hired them to be. From there, look for additional ways to call out their good work.
3. Use AI Strategically
When something is seen as an art form, there is a natural resistance to implementing technology—especially artificial intelligence—as part of the process. There is indeed a right and wrong time to use AI. Sawyier also understands that and encourages leaders to look for targeted ways to scale activity with AI rather than seeking solutions that completely replace a human task with an AI program.
Regarding reward and recognition in a hybrid setting, it’s important to avoid investing efforts in time-consuming elements of forming positive feedback. He explained, “Bonfyre achieves scalability through what it calls ‘nudges.’ These are AI-informed prompts that suggest specific people and contexts for recognizing someone. They are delivered through the channel that’s best for each employee, too—whether that’s Microsoft Teams or our Frontline solutions, including iOS, Android, and email.”
Sawyier added that AI can leverage direct one-on-one or inter-team recognition into a company-wide initiative. “It’s about taking all of this team-level recognition and surfacing it across the company,” he said. “The company helps with this through our weekly celebrations summary notification and the celebrations wall, which includes recognitions, birthdays, work anniversaries, and nominations. This makes it easy for anyone, especially executive leaders, to add a personal touch with a GIF, comment, or like.”
Personalization maintains a human touch with hybrid recognition. AI tools provide a scalable element. Every situation is different. Consider what areas of your hybrid reward process are tedious or time-consuming, and look for AI solutions to speed up the process.
Investing in a Hybrid Future
Building impactful recognition and reward programs in hybrid environments isn’t easy. Nor do traditional models effectively adapt to these scenarios. However, it’s still possible for willing leaders to provide personalized recognition at scale.
The result is an engaged hybrid workforce that is more aligned with company values and priorities and thrives within a culture of appreciation that empowers every team member to succeed.
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