COVER STORY
Hybrid
Strategies How are firms and their advisors navigating the “messy middle” phase of hybrid work? Kira Vermond investigates
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10 FORUM DECEMBER 2023
in person over a year later, we had already become the closest of friends,” she says, mentioning the only surprise was realizing many were taller or shorter than she’d expected.
HYBRID WORK HERE TO STAY While Izmirliyan was already a pro at hybrid work pre-pandemic, today almost everyone needs to cultivate the skills necessary to combine online and in-person work in a cohesive and effective way. Nearly two-thirds of Canadian employers (62%) said they were using a hybrid model in a January 2023 report by Colliers Real Estate Management Services. Employees appear to be driving the
PHOTO: ISTOCK.COM / PEKIC
efore the COVID 19 pandemic hit and shut down the world in March 2020, Annie Izmirliyan was ahead of her time. Part of her job focused on onboarding new advisors to her team — and she did it all virtually. Forget sitting around a company boardroom with other nervous new hires staring at PowerPoint presentations about corporate culture and professional expectations. Instead, people logged on from their home offices and let Izmirliyan lead the way. The arrangement worked. Then came the lockdown and it was required by law. A certified financial planner and business development consultant for Sun Life and mentorship chair on the Advocis Toronto board of directors, Izmirliyan is a dynamo. Energetic and passionate about helping others succeed, it’s easy to see how her personality reached across a screen and kept her team engaged through months of lockdown. It was an environment in which all prospect and client meetings were virtual, too, with Izmirliyan and the advisors engaging in preparation and debrief meetings before and afterward. So, what was it like when the team of recruits finally met face to face? “By showing up consistently, building trust over time, and finding ways to collaborate, I established such a bond and relationship with this team of advisors that by the time we did meet
