ML22271A903
| ML22271A903 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/29/2022 |
| From: | Aaron Mccraw, Sean Peters NRC/EDO/AO, NRC/RGN-III |
| To: | NRC/EDO |
| Peters S | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML22271A894 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML22271A903 (7) | |
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Appendix I: Senior Leader Interviews Summary The Hybrid Environment Assessment and Review Team (HEART) conducted 26 one-on-one interviews with senior leaders across the agency to understand their perspectives and learn about their experiences in the hybrid work environment. The HEART conducted these interviews in July 2022 over a 4-week period. The HEART engaged Senior Executive Service managers from all levels of leadership, to include leaders from all four regions, program offices, corporate and mission support offices, as well commission-level offices.
The purpose of this report is to highlight key findings (i.e., actions or activities that have been going well; present a challenge; or remain inconsistent with our goals) through the summary of comments and suggestions provided during the interviews.
The HEART used a standard set of questions to facilitate the interviews. They included:
- 1. How well do you think the current hybrid work environment is working for our agency?
- 2. In your opinion, what positive or negative impacts has the hybrid work environment had on our organizational health?
- 3. What is your biggest concern, if any, about working in a hybrid status for the foreseeable future?
- 4. What is the one thing you would change about the hybrid experience going forward, if you could?
Below are key findings and recommendations that summarize some of the perspectives from our senior leaders.
KEY The Current Hybrid Environment FINDINGS We are back in the office having conversations we did not have while exclusively in a virtual environment.
Hybrid allows for the face-to-face contact and increasing the opportunity we have to reconnect with familiar faces and to meet new people.
The work/job is getting done and we are meeting our mission.
People are still learning the technology and capabilities NRC has had more run time than other agencies with hybrid work, [but] no one has Going Well all the answers; the fact we are learning together is a wonderful part of NRC culture.
The pace of work has improved in the hybrid environment. This can be difficult to quantify, but at least this office sees projects getting accomplished at a faster pace than in the past.
When everyone is working remotely, it is easier. When we are in hybrid, it is more challenging, but it can be overcome. However, our technology/training issues still need to be addressed.
People are not attempting to create a [true] hybrid work environment. There is a time and place for the use of technology, not [just for our] personal convenience.
Challenging We are going through growing pains and trying to figure out how to make this hybrid environment work. We figured out very quickly how to make a full-time remote posture work, and now we are trying to figure out how to live in both worlds effectively.
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We are still trying to figure out what hybrid means, and how to best get work done in virtual and in-person settings. Still trying to figure out how do we do this and what strategies we need to use to do that.
Feels like it is going okay but the current environment is being sidetracked by the telework policy and how telework is being perceived.
We are still having difficulties in separating hybrid from telework and Covid-19. It is hard to keep working on a hybrid end-state because of Covid-19.
Hybrid work is going "okay". We are all still learning how to adapt to it.
If managers [continue to] see working from home as a privilege and staffers see it as a right, there will be conflict.
Work from anywhere was in our IT planning before COVID - if the work you do in your position is portable, we should allow folks to do that. At the same time, we should realize that face-to-face interaction is extremely important.
We need to [entirely rethink] the workplace and reconstruct it with a different set of characteristics It's going okay. We always had a hybrid work environment. However, you must make more of an effort to see colleagues face-to-face due to different schedules.
Inconsistent The hybrid approach is a "balancing act". We still need to work at finding a happy medium between in-office and telework. But the scales appear to be tipped toward remote work.
KEY The Impact of the Hybrid Environment on Organizational Health FINDINGS IT support and capabilities: Allowed for employees to stay connected easily. The support desk has been helpful by getting equipment to employees, which helps us become more self-sufficient. [We have been] more efficient with increase in automated processes. [Further, IT support] has provided IT accessibility to leadership and residents Increased participation: hybrid provides employees [with] opportunities to participate in more agency-level activities (e.g., panel sessions, advisory committee events). [This has resulted in an] increased participation from public/international stakeholders Health: employees can work from home if they are not feeling well. Our leaders have Going Well also been modeling mask behaviors Decrease in complaints: employees are generally happier with the flexibilities provided Telework flexibilities: provided [some work-life] balance. Supervisors are also modeling what balance looks like with work scheduling, flexible schedules (i.e., split days)
Parking: eliminating the cost of parking at HQ I-2
Lack of in-person presence: employees working in the office are not present at in-person meetings; different schedules result in people not being in the office at the same time.
Continuous meetings: virtual environment provides convenience to schedule meetings without breaks - does not factor in the time needed to move to different workspaces or meeting rooms when in the office.
COVID Pandemic is not over: there is still angst; people have different levels of comfort Loss of spontaneous interactions: different schedules result in less employees being in the office at the same time, which would allow for more water cooler talk/hallway chatter/after meeting conversations - all of which have gone away.
Challenging Failure to focus: There are some cases where employees are multi-tasking rather than concentrating on the topic or presenter. There is less active listening during meetings/presentations but that is less likely to happen during in-person gatherings.
Better etiquette/protocols are needed for hybrid meetings.
Recruitment/Retention: loss of staff and recruits due to outside organization telework options. Some staff are leaving for other agencies/organization because they allow greater flexibility on working from home part-time or even full-time remote work.
Building functions: HVAC and lighting, food services/coffee Alignment on implementation of telework: [there is little to] no organization/strategy for in-person engagement Inconsistent KEY The Future of Hybrid Work at NRC FINDINGS The hybrid model is working sufficiently but there are challenges in its execution.
The NRC is still learning how to operate in a hybrid environment and are exploring ways to make it work. However, they recognize that there are still unknowns regarding its impact on desired outcomes or our future operations and have also acknowledged that it may be too early to tell.
Going Well Staff has been getting their work done and we are meeting our mission in the hybrid environment.
New Hires: the new(er) employees are unable to build connections; [we will need to consider effective ways to] inculcate them into our culture; get to know the rest of folks on their teams, develop relationships. It will be important for them to get to know people across the agency (loss of connection from hallway/cafeteria Challenging interactions) as that will create new opportunities for them. Otherwise, it will
[adversely] affect the culture. Overtime, it will shape and change the organization.
We need to hire hundreds each year just to keep pace and it will be a challenge I-3
under the current configuration to effectively introduce them to the agency and the culture.
Organizational Health: Reasonable amount of people that continue to feel the agency is forcing them to come in for no good reason. The why [behind the decision to move from] remote to hybrid was perceived as arbitrary and most do not agree or accept the rationale. If we do not do a good job of engaging these folks, they could influence others, potentially damaging our culture. The longer we let it continue, the greater risk we have of it damaging our organizational health if we do not address the issues.
Hiring/Recruitment: There are critical positions that we have to fill. If we are not successful - we are not going to get people. We are losing people faster than we can fill. We are losing candidates because we are not offering full-time telework (FTTW) or more telework flexibilities.
Retaining Employees: losing people to other agencies/organizations that offer more flexibilities and FTTW. There is a big focus on hiring but we are not as focused on retention. We have so many things to learn from challenges of hybrid work and now that we are bringing new people in, [that may create an issue as we are] still trying to figure it out.
Growth and Development: People are reluctant to apply to positions because they may not offer flexibilities. People are self-selecting out of opportunities because the position may not have full-time telework, especially if they are currently full-time telework employees. The inflexibilities will deter people from seeking opportunities.
Employee Health: there are some employees that are suffering mentally by not having connection and engagement [with others]. If we do not maintain connection with people, then we can have more mental health challenges.
Contractor Support: the trend across the federal government is that contractors do not want to come into the office and are looking for agencies that offer more flexibilities. As a result, we may not get as many small businesses or quality contract hires.
Regression in social behaviors: employees are not abiding by the Teams status icon;
[they message or call you even when your status is listed as] busy Telework Policy: specifically, full-time telework (FTTW) is difficult to get approval based on current criteria, which ultimately impacts our hiring. We need to have clear criteria for FTTW. We need to use FTTW as a [recruitment] tool in our toolbox.
There also needs to be better understanding of what our expectations are; what the telework policy is, specifically FTTW policy; and how we will implement it across the agency in a manner that is consistent. We also need to [decide on the criteria for possible] exemption from the FTTW, or 4-day week telework request - what will constitute an acceptable threshold?
Perception of broken trust: there is a perception that we, as leadership, do not trust staff even though they have been productive in getting their job done the past couple years. Other agencies/organizations are supporting more telework and FTTW. But we have seemingly lost trust with staff when we stated that we were in the middle of the federal government pack with re-entry, yet, many of us knew folks who worked in other agencies, and those agencies had not re-entered until recently.
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Loss of human interaction: We have gotten so used to using technology that we do not talk to each other anymore. Everything is done in writing; things have gotten lost in translation (there is no emotion [or feelings expressed])
Productivity: no way to do a 100-percent audit of working and productivity. How can we ensure that we are operating efficiently? For example, if resources are reduced, how do we assess how many resources we need or will need in the future?
Loss of fun and engagement with each other: we need to recreate [that positive experience that results from] how we engage employees, boost morale, build relationships - the social aspects of our culture.
Leadership Alignment on Telework: There is still consternation and disagreement among senior leaders with telework and flexibilities. We strive for perfection that does not exist. We need to learn from other agencies and organizations. [Studies are showing that the future of work involves] working from anywhere, [and we need to factor that into our decision-making or risk] becoming obsolete. Otherwise, will not be able to reverse course and we will not be able to fix this.
We are not thinking smartly, we are just doing it - if we continue to stay the course we are on, we are going to lose the relationships we have with our staff. We need to consider that as [it can ultimately result in a retention risk] with new employees Infrastructure/Office Workspace: Our current workspace is based on a hierarchical Inconsistent structure; however, we are asking folks to engage in more interaction and collaboration which [does not comport with our organizational structure and is creating a disconnect and] discomfort.
Knowledge Management and Knowledge Transfer: sometimes being in the right place at the right time [allows for knowledge transfer]. This may likely happen in the office, but we cannot [provide convincing evidence for why knowledge management is a compelling reason] to bring people back in.
KEY FINDINGS Opportunities to Improve the Hybrid Environment Presence with a
Purpose:
o Consider reasons for why we should be in the office. We need to think about when we are in the office, how can we demonstrate purpose?
Can we think about what brings value to our presence in the office?
o We need to be more intentional about scheduling activities that require in-person presence. Let each branch/sub organization define the work activities/assignments to identify opportunities that create bonds and Recommendations builds experiences. We need to define and think about what those activities are, which ones are relevant, and create intentional opportunities for that to happen o Consider establishing core days (i.e., fixed/pre-planned in-office days throughout the year)
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Promote Hybrid Best Practices/Tools:
o Require those taking part in meetings remotely to turn on their cameras to encourage a better sense of participation.
o We need to get better at our approaches to hybrid meetings as things move forward.
o Mount posters on the walls on etiquette or best practices Decrease Meetings/Standardization of Meetings:
o Create: "no meeting zones"; training blocs of time; "Private time" meetings with managers (online); virtual water cooler chats; and alternating hybrid chats/gatherings so that they do not overlap with the lunch hour.
o Increase the use of brief, one-on-one meetings, thereby encouraging elevator dialogue.
Workspace/Infrastructure:
o Decrease the footprint, consider hoteling. Space should reflect how we work.
o Provide a coffee shop, cafeteria, or food truck options at headquarters to allow for spontaneous social interactions.
o Increase collaboration spaces Support for home offices:
o If work will be split between the office and home for the foreseeable future - and office sizes are going to be reduced to reflect this, the agency should think of ways to provide greater support for home offices, I.e., monitors, access to printers, ergonomic checks, etc., using the savings from real estate costs.
Technology Enhancements:
o Ensure that rooms are outfitted with tools to facilitate collaboration o Look into other information technology capabilities: whiteboards, zoom rooms, Slack, etc.
Building (People) Connections:
o Be more creative in finding opportunities to create team and relationship building and interaction o Encourage social interactions such as picnics when people are in the office. We understand that there are still concerns with health/COVID-19; however, we should not lose focus on engagement and the social interactions that help to foster those dynamics.
o Culture of the office, organization -- build coalitions. Encourage and facilitate coffee breaks, rounds tables, etc. Encourage leaders to come up with the tools to build relationships with staff.
Focus on New Hires:
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o We need more resources geared toward our new hires (e.g., coaching, mentoring, networking). We also should offer opportunities to do these activities in person.
Communication/Messaging:
o We are not going back to pre-Covid times; some offices were ahead of the curve, so those people did not feel like they had to adjust to anything new (hence, we should be mindful about how we create messaging about the flexibilities).
Growth and Development:
o Consider pooling based on role to support cross-organizational experience and build bench strength while working in different offices.
o Encourage remote details and/or rotational opportunities across the agency Telework (Policy, Implementation, Interpretation/Alignment):
o Our telework policy and approval process need to be improved.
o NRC defines telework differently than how OPM defines it, which is likely creating a disconnect for how we implement it as compared to other agencies.
o Empower supervisors to grant more flexibilities for individuals while working within the established parameters.
o Provide a refresh training for supervisors on the authorities, to include the policy, flexibilities, programs etc.
o Ensure more consistency from supervisors when it comes to approving full-time telework.
o We need not be constrained by a rigid policy that is prescriptive.
Instead, we should focus on creating intentional reasons for whey people need to be in the office.
o We have become so rigid on in-office time based on our current model rather than being more deliberate about our hybrid and in-person experiences. This experience could and should allow for more flexibility.
It should not be about the number of days spent in the office; it is about being effective.
o Reassess how hybrid (in-person) is implemented. Some offices are picking a core day to come in.
o We cannot impose work-life balance on an individual level - we need to do it at the organizational level while striking a personal balance within our (NRC) environment.
o Reconsider if telework renewals really need to be renewed every year as it puts undue pressure on the staff and manager o Be more specific and transparent in our job announcements regarding telework options. If FTTW is not an option, be clear.
o Provide more support and resources to first-line supervisors to ensure that supervisors promote the importance of hybrid meetings and reinforce constructive behaviors.
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