Last updated: January 3rd, 2024
When the pandemic hit, Pat got anxious about working from home. But after several months of the remote experience — including a month spent in Byron Bay on a “workcation”, Pat is now loathing the return to the physical and far less flexible work environment.
Months of isolation — despite what seemed like non-stop Zoom meetings — has diminished Jan’s productivity and interest in work. Jan craves in-person interactions with colleagues, casual gatherings in the hallway, lunches, and happy hours.
(Related: Complete Guide To Activity-Based Work In Australia).
Pat and Jan represent the polar opposite feelings that employees have about remote work.
Those feelings run the gamut from “loving it” to “hating it”, making it challenging for organisations to decide on how exactly their work environment will look like post-pandemic.
That has changed dramatically over the past several months, as employers of all sizes were forced to switch to a fully remote – or partially remote (hybrid) – work environment.
They discovered en masse that not only was it possible for technical, management and executive roles to be performed remotely, but that, in many respects, it was even preferable.
(Related Article: Best Work From Home Jobs In Australia).
Hybrid Workplace Is Here To Stay.
In fact, experts predict that after the pandemic is no longer a significant health concern, many employers and employees will continue to use some form of hybrid work model.
That’s true even for national security workers, according to the Government Executive.
McKinsey research based on input from C-suite executives indicates that about three-quarters believe employees will return to the physical workplace at least three days a week leaving a hybrid model firmly in place.
Layer onto this an emerging sentiment among employees indicating they, by and large, do not wish to return to their physical work settings, and would even leave an employer if that was required, and chances are the prevalence of hybrid work is likely to be even greater than currently believed.
This combination of on- and off-site work for some or all of the time is referred to as hybrid work.
(Related Article: 11 Best Ergonomic Office Chairs For WFH).
What Is Hybrid Work?
Hybrid work, simply, is work that is done in some combination of in the actual work setting and in a remote setting, generally from an employee’s home.
In practice, though, the concept is far from simple and is varied. In some companies:
- All employees work remotely.
- Some employees work remotely some of the time, others all of the time, others never.
- All employees work remotely some of the time and on-site some of the time.
How these work arrangements are determined also varies widely and will likely continue to as both employers and employees gain more experience with the hybrid model.
As many organisations are beginning to welcome employees back to the workplace, some are drawing a hard line, while others are remaining extremely flexible in their approach.
Both employers and employees have experienced benefits from the forced hybrid work experiment.
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Benefits Of Hybrid Work Arrangements.
With several months of experience behind them, employers and employees have learned a lot about working remotely during the pandemic.
There have been some bumps (more about this later) but there have also been some big benefits:
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- Many employees, including management employees, liked the freedom and flexibility of remote work.
- Several reports emerged indicating that, contrary to concerns of employees slacking off when not under the watchful eye of their supervisors, many were more productive when working remotely.
- Employers began to find that they could save money — sometimes significantly — on facility-related costs.
- Employers also found that if employees can work remotely, they can work from anywhere, meaning employers could hire them from anywhere. That significantly expands the talent pool for all types of positions.
- Home office arrangements resulted in welcome tax breaks and reduced commute hours.
But managing in a remote or hybrid environment isn’t without its challenges.
(Related: What Is The Best Recruitment Software In Australia)?
The Hybrid Work Model Is Flawed.
Managers have long been averse to having their employees be “out of sight, out of mind.” That’s largely why remote or hybrid work was rare before the pandemic.
They quickly found, though, that even jobs they felt could never be performed remotely could be.
Amazing changes have taken place in the fields of education and healthcare, for instance.
Prior to the pandemic, while higher education institutions largely offered online courses, they were largely unheard of at the K12 level.
(Related: What Is Activity-Based Work?)
In healthcare, while telemedicine existed it had restrictions in terms of how/where it could be offered and how physicians could charge. Those restrictions have lifted and telehealth is proving to be a very viable option both for health systems and patients. Other industries have been similarly impacted.
But, along the way, those forced into hybrid work situations have faced some challenges.
1. Connectivity.
With millions of employees being sent to work from home, one challenge employers immediately faced was connectivity.
Not all employees had sufficient technology to perform their work duties from home. Not all had ample bandwidth or internet access. Closely connected to the connectivity issue were security concerns.
(Related: Best Coworking Spaces In Australia).
2. Security.
With employees working from home settings, many along with their partners and with children learning from home at the same time, security issues were top of mind for most companies.
Companies are tackling security issues by issuing equipment to employees, requiring them to work in a private in-home setting, and having them access the work environment through a secure portal or a VPN.
Outside of computer and connectivity-related issues, communication looms large as a big challenge in hybrid work environments.
(Related: Complete Guide To Office Space Planning).
3. Communication.
Communication has always been a top management challenge, even in in-person settings. In hybrid settings, of course, those challenges become even greater.
Hybrid work environments require a very mindful approach to communication with specific times and types of communication required, as well as specific rules for engagement.
When using Zoom, or other video-enabled communication tools, many organisations require employees to keep their cameras on, for instance.
(Related: Top 21 Ice-Breakers For Zoom Meetings).
4. Managing Productivity.
While there are many reports of higher productivity levels from employees during the pandemic, management concerns remain; companies want to ensure they’re getting value form their investment in human resources.
Some have implemented various types of monitoring to track that investment.
That’s an approach that Harvard Business School professor Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury vigorously opposes, according to a CNBC report, calling it an “Orwellian idea” that pits companies against presumed “slackers.”
(Related: Tips For Better Home Office Lighting).
5. Inclusion And Belonging.
Inclusion and belonging are issues of concern for organisations of all kinds, and were well before the pandemic. With remote and hybrid work, though, these issues become more predominant for many.
This puts marginalised employees increasingly at risk of being overlooked for plum assignments and promotions, especially if they aren’t comfortable reaching out to their supervisors and managers proactively.
(Related: How To Create A Sustainable Workplace).
Managers should be mindful of these potential tendencies and explicitly take steps to ensure they are connecting with all of their staff members equally.
McKinsey and others have recognised this is a critical issue facing organisations in a remote world. McKinsey points out that “an inclusive environment is created in equal part by the behaviour of individuals (leaders and peers), who make conscious inclusion a daily practice.”
It is not something, they say, that can “be achieved solely through systemic efforts, such as identifying and addressing unconscious bias and unintended consequences in formal processes.”
Instead, individual organisations will need to wade through and weigh the pros and cons of remote or hybrid work and make decisions and policies in the best interest of their organisation, its employees, its customers, and other key stakeholders.
– Irene
