The hybrid workplace is more than just employees having the option to work from home or the traditional office. It is a well-connected and integrated work environment that allows employees to work in a highly aligned manner, irrespective of their physical location.
Most importantly, a hybrid workplace will enable employees and teams a lot more autonomy and flexibility in planning their work styles and schedules in a manner that benefits them and organizational needs without compromising one for another. This is possible due to a shift in culture, investments in technologies such as cloud services, and highly effective communication and collaboration tools, including VR-based interactions to facilitate practical remote and office work.
While the hybrid workplace was always expected to become a reality in the future, especially for industries and jobs that are highly digital or desk-based, the pandemic has accelerated this shift. According to Mc Kinsey’s 2021 study, the percentage of employees who prefer the hybrid workplace has grown to 52 percent after the pandemic compared to 30 percent earlier.
More than a stop-gap arrangement, the hybrid workplace is now being seen as an opportunity for businesses to create more effective operational models and tap into newer possibilities for talent, technology, and working styles.
Top Advantages Offered by a Hybrid Workplace
One of the most significant advantages of a hybrid workplace is better, sustainable productivity. Employees with access to hybrid workplaces are more likely to be highly energetic and thrive when it comes to their work and careers than employees who are expected to make it to the traditional office at all times, highlights a 2021 Accenture report.
This is owing to several factors:
- Employees don’t have to struggle with work-life balance or lose time in tiring commutes.
- More importantly, they can work in an environment that makes them feel safe.
- They have the space they need to put their mind to a particular task at hand, be it one that demands quiet at home or requires collaboration with colleagues in a physical or highly-integrated environment.
A hybrid workplace is equally beneficial for organizations of all sizes. It allows them to experience significant cost benefits related to savings on high-volume office infrastructure apart from immense operational agility. It also will enable organizations to access newer talent markets and more diverse talent, perhaps at attractive onboarding costs.
Concerns in Successfully Establishing Hybrid Workplaces
Of course, building such a hybrid workplace isn’t easy, even for the most sophisticated and technologically-advanced organizations. A hybrid workplace isn’t simply about setting up the right integrated infrastructure. It demands that organizations and leaders invest in a culture that offers equity to all employees, irrespective of their working environment and choices.
This is easier said than done, given that not all employees, especially team leaders, agree about the benefits of the hybrid workplace. Most executive leaders prefer to work in a traditional setup and expect everyone else to do so. In contrast, managers and mid-level executives, especially caregivers at home, choose a hybrid model and autonomy in deciding how often and why they want to go to the office instead of working from home.
Additionally, a hybrid work environment can often leave its most frequent remote employees feeling disengaged and less aligned to organizational purposes and their teams and colleagues. This, in turn, can contribute to higher churn rates apart from a dip in morale. Authentic leadership and a high-trust environment can go a long way in addressing such concerns.
Another central area for organizations committed to scaling the hybrid workplace is data security. As organizations invest heavily in modern infrastructure and technologies such as cloud, 5G edge computing, and AI, they rely heavily on their digital ecosystems’ security to protect business-sensitive data and employee data and privacy. This calls for adequate investments in data security.
However, an acute shortage of skilled technology professionals who can deploy such security solutions is challenging due to accelerated demand.
Ensuring Work-Life Balance in a Hybrid Work Environment
Even when organizations successfully establish a safe and engaged hybrid workplace, not all is perfect. employers must take proactive measures to ensure:
Bias-free work environments
Subconscious human bias can keep employees from experiencing equity in terms of experiences and opportunities irrespective of their preferred workstation in a hybrid work environment. This can lead to top talent struggling to equilibrium between working from home and the traditional office, leaving them with a lopsided work-life balance. Hence, it is essential to set up frameworks and policies that identify and keep such biases.
The ability to disconnect
Secondly, it becomes essential for HR managers, leaders, and employees to set boundaries for digital wellbeing in a hybrid workplace. As dependency on a digital ecosystem goes up, employees are likely to find themselves at the receiving end of more frequent digital interactions and a continuous overflow of information, often round-the-clock.
A culture of self-care
Such overexposure has been linked to fatigue and burnout and directly impacts the quality of life and mental wellbeing. From encouraging everyone in the organization to track and measure their digital exposure to helping them set up no-distraction zones, there is a lot that needs to be done to sustain work-life balance in the hybrid workplace.
The hybrid workplace is a high-transformation opportunity for organizations that want to thrive and grow. However, it calls for all stakeholders to recognize its fundamental divergence compared to the traditional office environment. Instead of recreating this in a digital, integrated ecosystem, organizations that are successful at building a hybrid workplace are leveraging autonomy, flexibility, and transparency.
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