The hybrid employee - what’s the desired split between office and remote working?
3 min read.
There’s never going to be a ‘one size fits all’ for employees, as they look to spend time working both from home (WFH) and the office in a new (for most) hybrid way. There’s a huge challenge for organisations to, where possible, meet the expectations of their workforce and to meet covid guidelines on ‘back to work’ protocols.
The positive news is that because employees are looking for this new hybrid way of working, it actually helps companies meet their covid workplace requirements, as not all employees will be in the office every day, allowing the restructuring of the office environment to meet both employees safety concerns and new workplace guidelines.
As an aside, I can see the rise of employee scheduling apps to book your time in the office rising substantially, as companies look to set a safe limit for those allowed back into the office on any particular day.
Attention has now turned to exploring just what sort of office/WFH balance the average employee is looking for, and studies have started to emerge on this exact topic.
According to a UN agency the International Labor Organization (ILO) 7.9% of the world’s workforce worked permanently from home pre covid. The potential to do that now has risen to 18% overall, with the US and Western Europe having the biggest potential of up to 30% of the workforce working permanently from home.
But the potential to work from home and the desire to do so are two different things and this is where the hybrid model comes to the fore. In the Netherlands ABM Amro found that less than 4% of their workers wanted to return to the office permanently with the average worker wanting to work from home 3 days a week. That would certainly chime anecdotally with what I've heard from companies.
According to the CIPD in the UK, 70% of surveyed employers are already putting in place additional supports to facilitate more flexibility around regular WFH. The question will then move onto what is the optimum number of days at home for productivity and well being targets to be met. According to Nuffield Health in the UK, that number is 2 and half days. Beyond that they say, workplace relationships and culture become less effective.
Certainly more studies are needed to deliver a more complete picture of what hybrid work means to the employee and employer alike. One thing is for sure, companies are going to have to keep very close to their employees to understand what level of WFH they require, but also take into consideration whether operational effectiveness is maintained or enhanced by this flexibility.
The whole Covid crisis has put a huge focus on HR and its ability to communicate regularly with employees, to look after their well being and to consider the future of work. Whilst incredibly busy, I would suggest there’s never been a better time for HR leaders to push for a permanent voice at the top table of organisations.