Hybrid Work: A Guide for Business Leaders

After more than a year of the epidemic, digital adoption curves are increasing, not decelerating. And this is just the start. We are at a turning point as significant as last year's abrupt shift to remote work: the transition to hybrid work. Leading out of a crisis differs from crisis leadership, and the transition to hybrid leadership cannot be delayed.

The epidemic has radically altered every aspect of our job, company, and customer service. This last year has also shown us that remote work is much more versatile than we previously believed. Flexible employment will continue to exist.

Microsoft's Approach to Hybrid Work: Recognizing the Opportunity

We have adopted flexibility as a guiding concept at Microsoft so that our more than 160,000 workers throughout the globe have more control over when, where, and how they work. Our flexible work policy allows workers to work from home up to 50 percent of the time (or more with management consent), as well as scheduling and location flexibility. As we adjust to the new reality, we embrace our growth-minded culture and adopt a "learn everything" mentality.

The epidemic has reaffirmed what we already knew: there is so much more to work than just completing tasks. To enable individuals to succeed in a more flexible work environment, the whole employee experience must be rethought, including safety, culture creation, talent acquisition, and retention.

Assist individuals' learning and development in the course of their employment.

Most of our physical Microsoft Stores were closed last year, and more than 2,500 Microsoft Store Associates were retrained for digital selling to assist all sorts of clients, including individuals, small companies, schools, and corporations. As a consequence of this initiative, more than 200 individuals have advanced their careers in new jobs within Microsoft.

In hybrid work, learning will become more significant and fundamentally distinct. Ultimately, organizations are about information exchange. How are workers learning from one another and customers in the new reality? Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Viva facilitate the continuous learning of all employees.

Adopt a flexible approach to attracting and retaining fresh and varied talent

Flexibility in how, when, and where employees do their best work will be crucial to attracting and retaining the greatest personnel in a hybrid work environment. At Microsoft, we've enabled managers and leaders to "recruit from anywhere" for a broader range of positions, including leadership positions that traditionally required applicants to move. New workers are able to remain in their communities while extending their career opportunities, while Microsoft receives access to stronger and more diverse talent. We are also investing in places like Atlanta, Georgia, Reston, Virginia, and Houston, Texas, among others - not just delivering employment but also establishing "hubs" to cultivate and expand talent over time.

Zero-trust security must be mandated from cloud to edge

Zero Trust architecture is more crucial than ever since the business network lacks solid bounds. Microsoft has abandoned a perimeter-based, VPN-reliant approach to security in favor of a Zero Trust architecture. This implies that we do not assume that any identity or device is safe on any network; instead, we verify it while continually monitoring network, data, and application security at the workplace, at home, and across devices.

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