Going Hybrid & The Future of Work

In 2021, Hybrid emerged as the post-pandemic work model of choice. In this article, we discuss the rise of the hybrid working model and look at its implications for the Future of Work.

What is Hybrid Working?

Hybrid working is a flexible model that allows employees to work both on-site and remotely. Hybrid work has many variations as every organisation will develop a model that caters to its own unique needs.

The Rise of Remote Working

In 2020, organisations in Ireland and around the world closed their offices in compliance with government-mandated lockdowns. As a result of social distancing requirements, many businesses were forced to embrace remote working for the first time. In October 2021, the Irish government confirmed that a full return to the office would likely take place in the Spring of 2022.

The roll-out of mass vaccinations in 2021 means that employees can finally return to their workspaces. However, organisations are now finding that a large cohort of the workforce has developed an appetite for the flexibility and freedom offered by working from home. Today’s employees want to incorporate remote working into their work-life going forward on either a full-time or part-time basis.

LinkedIn Poll conducted by Berkley Group in August 2021.

But Remote Working Isn’t For Everyone…

On the other hand, the work from home model does not suit everyone. For these people, the return to the office is a welcome and long-awaited development. Some groups who have found remote working to be challenging include:

• People living in unsuitable accommodation
• Women balancing the demands of family care and work (Source: IBEC)
• People living in areas with poor internet connection
• Young professionals seeking to learn from hands-on experience (Source: Microsoft)
• People new to a community (e.g. new hires and immigrants) looking to make friends and build out a social network at work (Source: BBC)
• Burnt out professionals struggling to maintain work-life boundaries (Source: Laya Healthcare)

What’s more, organisations also benefit from having workers on-site. Office space is still important for fostering teamwork, innovation and collaboration. It also plays a key role in maintaining a vibrant and engaging company culture.

Hybrid Working: The Perfect Compromise

Consequently, many organisations have made the decision to adapt to a hybrid model. This model offers a perfect compromise that will enable employees and employers alike to make the most of on-site and remote work models.

How Do Irish Workers Feel About Remote & Hybrid Working in 2021?

• 80% of Irish workers want a hybrid working model split between their home and their company’s office. (Source: Virgin Media)
• 57% of recruiters say that job applicants want to work from home for three days a week. Whereas, most employers favour two days per week working from home. (Source: National Recruitment Federation)
• 66% of surveyed job-seekers would decline a job offer if remote working wasn’t offered. (Source: Berkley)
• Remote working has saved Irish office workers, on average, an hour of commuting per day. (Source: Auxillion)
• People working from home are 4 times more likely to have a better work/life balance since the pandemic began. (Source: Aviva Life and Pensions)
• Almost 1 in 5 people would consider relocating based on their experience of remote working since Covid-19. (Source: NUIG)
• 63% of surveyed job-seekers said they would avail of a remote working hub (Source: Berkley)
• 75% of Irish workers between the ages of 16 and 34 believe their ability to learn on the job while working from home has been affected by the pandemic — leading them to feel “out of practice”. (Source: LinkedIn)
• 75% of 18 to 26-year-olds said the workplace is their number one source of meaning and social connection. (Source: The Irish Independent)

3 Benefits of Hybrid Working

Lower Overheads

With fewer employees coming into the office on a daily basis, many organisations will need to reconfigure their office space to meet the needs of a new hybrid workforce. In fact, a global survey from Microsoft revealed that 66% of leaders are considering redesigning the company office space for hybrid work.

Companies will benefit from significantly lower overheads due to smaller space requirements. For example, they may choose to rent out parts of their existing office to other entities, move to a smaller building altogether, or even rent a coworking space. In fact, one study estimated that companies could collectively save over $500bn per year or almost $11,000 per employee who equally splits their working hours between the office and home.

Productivity

Both the home and the office have their respective pros and cons. For many people, working from home allows them to dedicate greater focus to tasks without the frequent distractions of an office setting. Whereas, the office allows workers to collaborate more easily and have more productive meetings with colleagues. The flexibility of the hybrid approach helps to foster greater productivity by enabling employees to make the most of each setting when best suits them.

Greater Employee Engagement, Job Satisfaction & Retention

“Giving staff the freedom to complete tasks in the way that they feel will achieve the best results will not only breed a happy workforce, it is also the best way to unleash the skills that they were employed for in the first place.” — CMD

In the age of “The Great Resignation”, organisations need to prioritise anything that positively contributes to employee engagement and satisfaction. Lockdown life revealed that for many professionals — flexibility and freedom are the keys to a happier working life. Flexible work arrangements have been linked with an increase in employee happiness, a superior work-life balance, improved wellbeing, reduced staff turnover and a more driven workforce. The introduction of a hybrid working model allows employers to instil a greater culture of flexibility, freedom and trust in their organisation.

3 Disadvantages of Hybrid Working

Not Suited To Every Industry

The reality is that the Hybrid working model simply doesn’t work for every industry. Many sectors will continue to require an on-site presence from their employees in order to maintain business-as-usual operations. Some examples of these sectors include retail, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare etc.

Reduced Visibility of Remote Workers

Some have argued that a poorly managed hybrid working model will reduce the visibility of those who primarily work remotely due to an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. Not only will this detrimentally affect their relationships with those who work on-site but it may also lead to stunted professional growth. From an organisational point of view, this could result in poor company culture and low morale.

“You run the risk of creating in-group and out-group dynamics in hybrid teams. In other words, a mixed model can entrench a divide between those in the office and those at home (and potentially magnify the gender gap, as women are disproportionately expected to take on home-based caring responsibilities). And there’s consistent evidence to show that in-group and out-group dynamics reduce collaboration and increase conflict.” ~ Why the future of work might be ‘hybrid’, BBC Worklife

Cybersecurity

If employers are to embrace Hybrid Working on a more permanent basis, then they will need to seriously consider redesigning their cybersecurity systems and processes to meet the needs of the “New Normal”. Some key challenges are outlined below:

• VentureBeat succinctly summarises the key cyber risk associated with hybrid working as follows: “Employees who are working entirely remotely can have their connections firewalled away from the rest of the company system, keeping the network safe. However, hybrid workers pose a threat every time they walk into the office and reconnect their laptop to the network, along with any malware they’ve inadvertently been subjected to.”
• According to research from Citrix, hybrid working has resulted in “an explosion in the number of devices used for work, thus making the attack surface larger than it has ever been before.”
• Cloud technology has become the predominant way that remote workers access important work files. As such, it has become an even bigger target over the past year. In 2020, 61% of malware sent to companies targeted remote workers through their cloud applications.

Is Hybrid Here To Stay?

In short, yes.

Workers around the world have spoken and have revealed a clear preference for the hybrid working model. In today’s candidate-driven market, employers will have to listen.

Of course, as with any major paradigm change, the transition won’t be smooth and there will be a steep learning curve for everyone. However, through careful monitoring and thoughtful action, organisations will eventually develop a post-pandemic model of hybrid working that works for everyone.