COVID-19 changed the world of work forever. Companies across the world had to grapple with quickly transitioning all their workers to working from home, as well as figure out how to hire and onboard new employees – and internally promote people – into their organization without being able to meet them in person.

However, now the world is entering the next workplace disruption: the shift to hybrid working and figuring how to balance the needs of the business with employees’ preferences about where they work.

The communications tech giant Commscope’s head of talent acquisition, Julia Levy, candidly shares the challenges and the wins with Chad Sowash and Joel Cheeseman in a recent Chad & Cheese podcast episode.

“Everybody’s talking about that, but nobody is doing it well”, states Sowash; Levy admits that Commscope is still figuring out the future of work.

She notes: “We’re in the process of…really trying to understand and listen to our employees to hear what they want and to also talk and listen to the leaders to understand that what they want. And then how do you balance that and come up with what would be a win-win for everyone?”

Levy adds that because roughly half of Commscope employees work in the supply chain and manufacturing side of the business, the company’s future of work will look different to other companies in different sectors.

She admits this has led to some pushback from employees. But Levy continues that she believes hybrid is the right approach for Commscope: “I do think that it will put people at disadvantage if they live near a site and don’t…come into the office at all.

“When you think of the conversations that happen at the water cooler and the ability to network and make connections with people to get someone who’s your advocate that might help you with your career advancement. I think things like that are important to build the relationships”.

She adds: “As an HR organization, we have to make sure that we’re focused on continuing to build whatever the culture morphs into, but that connection with individuals in that more remote workforce.”

Talking about HR tech, Levy notes that “I’m a big proponent of automating where it makes sense”, which is why Commscope recently brought in two new tech tools around recruitment: SeekOut and Hired Solved.

But she admits implementing them (and getting the HR teams to use them) has been a real challenge, and Commscope still need to work to make recruiters comfortable with using the tools.

Later on in the episode Levy discusses how Commscope was a little slow in reacting to the ‘Great Resignation’. Now the company and its HR team are now doing better at communicating its flexible and hybrid future of work policy in order to retain and attract new employees.

“When you go up against some of the companies that are saying, no, you have to be in five days a week, being able to talk about our flexibility and share those stories will be very powerful and an attraction to those that want it,” concludes Levy.

Check out the rest of the podcast at the top of this story.

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