The rise of the distributed workforce: strategic HR’s role in optimising hybrid and remote models

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical role of strategic HR in helping organisations optimise hybrid and remote work to seise the opportunities of the distributed workforce that has evolved in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This paper combines industry figures, academic studies and emerging HR best practices to illustrate integrated strategies for how strategic HR can develop with the distributed workforce. Findings Organisations that implement holistically integrated HR strategies for the distributed workforce are best suited to attract, engage and retain talent, no matter where employees are located. Strategic HR helps organisations succeed in areas such as facilitating virtual collaboration, designing successful workplace experiences, expanding their talent markets and developing new leadership skills and values for geographically dispersed teams. Originality/value This paper provides a novel approach to the concept of work and the role of strategic HR in the redesign of it. This paper introduces novel concepts and actionable theory for reaching the change to these newly disparate models that will affect the design of the workplace for years to come.