The pandemic has brought about several changes, and most of them seem to be permanent—or at least more long-standing than expected. Regardless of the type of change, the changes have led to a shift in the way people live and, as such, businesses have had to respond with changes of their own.
Hybrid work isn’t a new concept, but it’s one that has been pushed to the forefront due to the circumstances brought about by COVID-19. The transition to a hybrid model is also not as easy as it seems; hybrid work means allowing, even encouraging, employees to work from home while also scheduling time for them to be in the office for face-to-face meetings and more effective collaboration.
However, companies can take this as an opportunity to reset the way we work using a hybrid model, given that 65% of remote workers prefer to stay at and work from home. These work-from-home employees cited significant cost savings and the elimination of commute time from the workday as the main reasons for their preference.
The Two Dimensions of Hybrid Work
The transition from traditional work arrangements to a hybrid model is far from straightforward. The difficulty lies in how most companies think about work; they view it through the lens of an employer instead of taking individual “human” concerns into consideration. While institutional concerns are crucial, employers should remember that every individual has his or her own needs and ways to deal with change.
The key in successful hybrid work is knowing that it isn’t one-dimensional. Employers must think about the new business model along two planes: time and place. At the moment, place is getting the most attention because most employees have shifted to a work-from-home or remote working arrangement. From being constrained to work in the office, employees have been working remotely, giving them the freedom to work asynchronously at home or from anywhere.
Before the pandemic, few companies offered the flexibility to work remotely. Although some offer flexibility in the form of flexible hours for their employees, this is far from a hybrid model where employees are free to work anywhere, anytime.
Breaking the Chains of the Traditional 9-5
As companies continue to see evidence of productivity despite flexible working arrangements, they have been gradually moving toward a hybrid working model that provides both employee satisfaction and a significant boost in productivity. To ensure the success of the transition, businesses will have to consider the following aspects.
Specific Tasks
When considering tasks and responsibilities, you should think in terms of the drivers of productivity—energy, focus coordination, and cooperation—because these will be affected by changes in work arrangements.
Energy is affected by both dimensions of hybrid work because those who work from home say that being able to do so energizes them and being free from the struggle of long commutes gives them more time to spend with loved ones and take care of themselves. Focus is affected by time because working asynchronously frees an employee from scheduling constraints and the demands of co-workers, making place a secondary factor. Lastly, coordination and cooperation are both affected by time and place. Regular communication and collaboration require a shared space where employees can get to know each other and work together during a set schedule.
Workflows
After considering the specific tasks, you then need to study how these tasks get done. Businesses should be able to coordinate the work done by employees with the other members of their team and the consumers of their work. This was a minor consideration when employees worked together within the same schedule in the office, but it has become more complex in the world of remote work. Fortunately, there are available digital tools that can help make hybrid work viable to your business. Encouraging digital adoption and proficiency in these tools will help ease the transition into more flexible working arrangements.
Employee Preferences
Employees’ energy and productivity are affected largely by their personal preferences. For example, an employee may prefer to work from home because there’s less distraction and he or she is able to skip the commute to the office.
Therefore, employers should be able to understand employee preferences and help others accommodate those preferences. Diagnostic survey tools can help you get a pulse on how employees are feeling and what their feedback is on certain company initiatives. It can help managers better understand the personal preferences of their team members and provide tools and solutions that help the team be more energized, engaged, and productive.
Fairness
The notion that employees are being treated unfairly can significantly hurt the overall performance of the workforce. In the past, companies experimented with hybrid work arrangements on an ad hoc basis, resulting in varying degrees of flexibility provided to different teams and departments. This can lead to employees feeling that they are being treated unfairly because they don’t know the reasons why flexibility is being afforded to some employees and not to others.
As new practices and processes are developed, it’s important to be sensitive about issues concerning inclusion and fairness. The new hybrid work arrangement should be rooted in a company culture that embraces empathy, collaboration, and a “speak-up environment.”
Change inevitably brings about feelings of inequity, and the best way to address this is to make the employees part of the planning and design process as much as possible. They need to feel that their voices are being heard and that their opinions are being considered in the creation of new and more flexible work arrangements.
Embracing Hybrid Work Through Outsourcing
Transforming your business using a hybrid model means that you don’t need to hire in-house talent to meet your business goals. This is beneficial in two ways: you can reduce overhead and hiring costs while opening up your business to a vast talent pool that goes beyond borders. Identify key tasks and determine what can be outsourced to a third party so you can come up with an arrangement that works best. Think about scaling your business smartly and focus on eliminating unproductive components of your business and replacing them with more efficient processes.
Schedule a call with us today to see how strategic outsourcing can help optimize your business and eliminate duplication and repetitive tasks. Let us help you get the most out of a hybrid work setup so you can focus on expanding your business and transforming it into the well oiled machine you imagined it to be.