What is hybrid working?

What is hybrid working?

You'll find a few definitions out there of what hybrid work actually is. Broadly we can agree that it’s a flexible work model supporting a blend of in-office, remote, and on-the-move workers. It gives people the opportunity to choose where and how they are most productive.

Flexible working, however, used to refer to the hours a worker was contracted to spend in the workplace (i.e., temporary, 2 days a week, part-time etc).

With hybrid work, the workplace is no longer inside the four walls of an office. It’s an ecosystem of employees working from home, in co-working spaces, and in the office. People can expect to move between various locations depending on the work they need to get done.

It’s a people-first system that’s intended to increase productivity and job satisfaction, while addressing the serious challenges of remote work, such as isolation and lack of community.

There are a few different models of hybrid working practices. They have developed in the time since the Covid-19 pandemic when so many of us were forced to look at remote working solutions.

These are the four most common models:

1) Remote-first hybrid working

People often work remotely with occasional visits to co-working spaces or the office for team building, collaboration, and training. In this model, the company may not have an office space and relies on team members to get together when they see fit.

Pros:

• Reduced costs due to reducing office spaces
• Increased productivity and job satisfaction for employees wanting to work largely from home

Cons:

• Difficulties maintaining company culture and community
• Increased risk of employees feeling isolated

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2) Office-first hybrid working

People have the opportunity to choose a few days a week to work remotely. Google started the change to this type of work in 2019. Their employees work in the office three days a week with the option of working remotely for the other two.

Pros:

• Allows flexibility and individual choice
• Helps maintain company culture and community

Cons:

• Lack of visibility for employees around who will be in the office and when
• Inability to accurately forecast how many employees will be in the office on a given day

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3) Fixed hybrid working

Business managers set regular days and times when people can work remotely or go into the office (whether it’s team-by-team or whole-organisation rules). American Express uses this model.

Pros:

• Ability to forecast office capacity
• Opportunities for in-person collaboration and team building
• Gives employees the option to plan their own appointments/priorities on set days

Cons:

• This could lead to productivity drops if people can’t choose the best work setting for themselves
• No option to reduce office space/costs.

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4) Flexible hybrid working

People can decide on their location and working hours based on their priorities for the day, even choosing to work from a café, if that’s what they want. For a sense of community, to meet with their teams, or attend training sessions, they can opt to go into the office. Cisco offers its employees the option to choose where they work on any given day.

Pros:

• Improves bottom line with savings on office space and travel
• Offers people the freedom to decide where and when they work
• Widens diversity of the team, leading to more blue skies thinking
• Builds loyalty and job satisfaction

Cons:

• Clarity about how many people are in the office on a given day and if the building has enough capacity is not always excellent
• Sometimes difficult for people to arrange a suitable day or time for in-person teamwork

How to do hybrid working right

To make sure hybrid working functions effectively, there are four main areas that need attention:

• Employee preference
• Jobs and tasks
• Inclusion and fairness
• Systems

Employee preference

Start by understanding the critical drivers of productivity—energy, focus, coordination, and cooperation—for each member of staff/type of employee. Next, consider how those drivers will be affected by changes in working arrangements related to times and places. You could do this through management, PDRs or a survey tool.

For instance, working from home can boost energy, but it can also be isolating for some, hindering cooperation. Understanding workers’ preferences are essential to getting the correct balance of working environments and, ultimately, optimising productivity.

Equinor, the Norwegian energy company, recently surveyed their employees about their preferences. They created nine ‘personas,’ with guidelines for hybrid work arrangements tailored to each.

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Jobs and tasks

Once the new patterns of working are agreed upon, boost the organisation’s use of technology. Coordinate activities as employees move to more flexible work arrangements. Training and feedback will play a key part in introducing new jobs and workflow technology to employees.

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Inclusion and fairness

When introducing hybrid working practices, it’s worth paying attention to questions of inclusion and fairness. Research shows that feelings of unfairness in the workplace can damage productivity, increase burnout, reduce collaboration, and decrease retention. Ensure there is enough provision for people to communicate, share their opinions and feel included in decision-making.

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Systems

It will be increasingly important to keep innovating, making working from home and in the office an inclusive, secure, and connected experience for everyone. Giving people the right tools will be essential.

What is the biggest challenge with hybrid working?

The biggest challenge of hybrid working is going to be maintaining the feeling of people being connected. That will be true of managers and staff, leaders and teams, and individuals with each other.

Organisations that succeed at optimising hybrid working methods will be ones where it becomes part of the culture:

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• Leaders will set the tone that wherever you are working, your input is valued, and they’ll commit to hybrid working themselves.
• HR teams and managers skill up on hybrid job design and take a team-based approach to decide which parts of roles should be done where, when and by whom.
• Managers will be trained to support and communicate with people they don’t see on a daily basis. They'll have to trust their team to deliver out of sight and create and agree on opportunities for collaboration.
• There will be a company-wide understanding of the different dynamics within teams. The need to avoid gaps being increased by structural inequalities will be key.
• Employees will be given all the support they need (financial, technological, and manager access) to work remotely.

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The movement to hybrid working brings benefits to employees, businesses and the environment. It promises to deliver increased flexibility, productivity, and job satisfaction for employees. For businesses, it improves the bottom line and expands the talent pool. The reduction in travel and office spaces could even lead to a more sustainable future.

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As long as you don’t shy away from the real human issues of isolation and motivation, and you embed your hybrid working policy into your culture with effective systems and technological innovation, there is every reason it could be a positive direction to choose.

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