In the latest episode of The One Problem, my very special guest, Roberta Liebenberg talks about is how employers need to develop and implement innovative hybrid work policies.

Hi there. My name is Avil Beckford. And this is the latest episode of The One Problem podcast. As you know, my guests, come on. And they present a problem, then they offer solutions. And this is a way for us to learn from each other. Today my guest is Roberta Liebenberg, and she is a senior partner at Fine, Kaplan & Black. Over to you, Roberta.

Roberta Liebenberg

Thank you, Avil.

I concentrate my practice in antirust, class actions, and complex commercial litigation. I'm also a Principal in the Red Bee Group, a women-owned consulting group that uses database tools and assessments for organizations to attain their DEI objectives. As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, the one big issue that I am focused on is how employers need to develop and implement innovative hybrid work policies. And why this will be so important to attract and retain women and diverse employees. Stephanie Sharp and I are coauthors of one of the largest national surveys on the impact of the pandemic on the legal profession.

Interview With Roberta Liebenberg: How Employers Need to Develop and Implement Innovative Hybrid Work Policies

Our research and countless other research show that remote work is here to stay. And that the majority of employees want the flexibility and the discretion to decide where and how often they will work from home or in the office. We also discovered that there's quite a large gender and generational gap with women. And especially women with young children, and younger lawyers, both male and female, who want to ensure that remote work remains the new normal. So, what are the solutions in terms of what employers should be thinking about in terms of developing hybrid work policies?

First, employers need to be intentional and purposeful to ensure that there is actually a path forward and no discrimination for those employees who decide to avail themselves of remote work. Prior to the pandemic, it was mostly women who took advantage of remote work. And those policies were rarely successful in that women who took flex time or part time were rarely promoted. They lagged behind in compensation and promotion. So, employers need to be intentional and purposeful with specific guidelines to ensure that there are opportunities for employees to be trained and to be promoted.

Roberta Liebenberg

Second, develop policies to increase employment engagement. It is important for employees, especially for those who work remotely, to feel connected and engaged regardless of where they're working. So, what are some of the ways that you can do this? Certain days each month could be designated for in-person meetings or practice groups departments, where the entire office comes in. Pulse checks, and one-on-one contact by managers to see how employees are faring are really, really important. The key is to develop ongoing activities that are truly inclusive of all employees, whether working remotely or in the office.

We need to use metrics to track results over time. You have to know which employees are taking remote work. Is it mostly women, or is it mostly men? Again, we want to avoid that gender divide that we knew happened pre-pandemic, where only women were working flex-time or part-time. How are they being promoted? How are they being compensated? What are their opportunities? Metrics are key to this. And also, metrics can demonstrate and can show that remote work can be successful.

Develop transparent, empathetic, and specific guidelines around remote work. Guidelines and checklists to set forth expectations about working from home and the reasonable boundaries for when the workday begins and ends. We know anecdotally that employers are thinking that employees should be on 24/7. And this is leading to extensive stress, anxiety, and burnout. We also need empathetic communications from leaders that truly set forth that they understand the challenges and problems that employees are facing dealing with the pandemic. And finally, we need leaders to actively support hybrid work policies.

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Roberta Liebenberg

Leaders can advance the success of hybrid work policies by demonstrating their personal support. They can set an example by personally utilizing remote work, sending communications that endorse it, and highlight employees who have used remote work and publicly congratulating teams that are comprised of both employees who work in the office and remotely. So, in conclusion, the pandemic has fundamentally altered how we work.

And the lessons learned from this difficult period should lead to a more enlightened, family-friendly hybrid work policies that are long, long overdue. Hybrid work policies that enable employees to work from home, especially women with children and diverse employees will be a win-win for the company and for the employees. It will result in increased loyalty. It will ensure the attraction and retention of talent, and it will provide a competitive advantage over those companies who fail to innovate. Over to you, Avil.

Avil Beckford

Thank you so much. It is such an important topic. A friend of mine works for a really large publisher, and the pandemic taught them that a lot more people can work from home. So now they're getting rid of one entire floor. So, yeah, this is something that we need to discuss, so thank you so much.

Roberta Liebenberg

Thank you. This is fun.

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