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Podcast Episode 249: Making Hybrid Working Work- with Gary Cookson

3 days ago

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3 min read

This Episode: `Making Hybrid Working Work- with Gary Cookson`

Lucinda welcomes back Gary Cookson from Epic HR to discuss his upcoming book, “Making Hybrid Working Work.” They delve into the current landscape of hybrid working, exploring why some organisations are pushing for a return to the office while others successfully embrace hybrid models.

Gary also highlights the demographic factors influencing leadership decisions and the importance of trust in managing remote teams.

Key Takeaways

Organisations that are struggling with hybrid working often haven’t fully committed to making it work. Successful hybrid models require genuine effort and adaptation rather than superficial adjustments.
The push for a return to the office is often driven by senior leadership teams that may not represent the broader employee demographic. This lack of diversity in leadership can skew perceptions of what works best for the workforce.
Managers who have traditionally operated in face-to-face environments may struggle with trust in remote settings. Effective hybrid management requires unlearning old habits and developing new skills to foster trust and engagement.
Establishing a management contract between managers and employees can clarify expectations and support needs. This approach encourages open communication about how individuals prefer to be managed in a hybrid environment.

Best Moments

“The common theme… is that they haven’t really tried to make it work in the first place… they haven’t really put a lot of effort into it.”

“The people who are making these decisions… do tend to be white, middle-aged male. And that does seem to be driving the return to office mandates.”

“It’s almost lazy in that sense, like you have to work slightly harder to be lazy.”

“What you think hybrid work is, is different than anybody else listening to this. And that’s because your context matters.”

Valuable Resources

Find out more about Actus solutions:

Actus solutions

The HR Uprising Podcast | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher

www.hruprising.com
The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group
HR Uprising Mastermind – https://hruprising.com/mastermind/
New Info-book: Rethinking Performance Appraisals

Additional free HR Resources

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About The Guest, Gary Cookson

Gary Cookson is the founder of EPIC offer a range of tailored support interventions for individuals, teams and organisations. For you, your team, and your organisation this could include HR support and professional supervision for your frontline HR staff and much more.

Connect with Gary…

Link to his website: http://www.epichr.co.uk/

A summary of his services: https://epichr.co.uk/can-we-help/

His LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garycookson/

About The Host

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles. Lucinda, for over 10 years as CEO of Actus Software has worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. Certainly, it was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“If you look up, you rise up”

How To Be A Change Superhero – by Lucinda Carney