Why the Hybrid Work Model is Killing Careers.

Four years ago this week, March of 2020, the conventional work week fundamentally changed overnight. COVID and the ensuing pandemic forced and/or required most people to work from home.?This continued through most of 2020, but then in 2021, companies began slowly implementing various “hybrid” work models. The intent was to slowly bring people back into the office by creating a solution that provided the best of both worlds blending flexibility and office presence.?Some proposed schedules were met with resistance and criticized for being too rigid. Employees expected a high level of flexibility, and many questioned why they would ever need to go back to the office. Many saw commuting as an unnecessary waste of time and felt the office provided too many distractions. Employers conceded as they were desperate to avoid employee turnover as the unemployment rate hit an all-time low. ? Since mid-2022, employers have continued to experiment with variations of hybrid schedules, and this continues to be the trend today.?At Z3, we have witnessed structured schedules where employees are expected to be in the office on specific days and others where they are allowed to have flexibility to when they come into the office 2-3 times per week.?Employer’s expectations have dropped so low that in some cases, they’re just encouraging their team members to make an in-office appearance 1 day a week.?Meanwhile, Heads of HR, People and Culture are doing their best to create an in-person office experience people gravitate to including complete remodels and renovations of offices to make them more inviting.? Many companies are decorating them to resemble actual living rooms, offering meals and organizing entertainment such as trivia and game nights which don’t appeal to many who would rather get home to their families as opposed to some artificial team building with their co-workers. Nothing is really working. By now, employees have tasted the freedom of working remotely and likely expect it to continue, but the fact is the hybrid work model is killing their careers and, therefore, hurting your business.

Consistent, in-person work models will benefit everyone. They:

• Create More Career Clarity?? Having less access to the power structure equals less feedback from your bosses and peers. Consistent in-person conversations are crucial to clarity in someone's?career so they know where it is headed, the possibilities of where it can go, and what comes next.?

• Eliminate the Stress and Anxiety of the Unknown Employees are already dealing with enough stress in their lives. Less feedback from peers and bosses and being disconnected does not build loyalty to a company or cause. In fact, it causes stress and anxiety and leads employees to feel like a cog in the wheel and not committed in the same manner they would be in an in-person environment.

• Build and Enhance High Performing Teams? Relationships create connections, and this happens best in person. The consistency of seeing someone's team every day in an office is crucial to comradery and human happiness. Random, unpredictable in-person collisions in a physical office create conversations that lead to better business as well as stronger and more unified teams.

• Create Separation and Balance Between Home and Work Life Remote employees are dealing with a much higher level of burnout because of the challenge in separating work from their home life. They have a hard time knowing when to stop working for the day, therefore they are working longer hours. It’s easy for work to spill into their personal lives more frequently than if they had separation between their home and office.

• Will Advance the Upcoming Generation to Succeed? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Although the younger generation is more connected than ever with technology, they are more disconnected than ever with in-person social interactions. Therefore, it is crucial that recent college grads create long-term relationships and learn the rhythms’ of how professional organizations operate. This happens best in-person. For the newest influx of workers, it will be more important than ever for them to forge strong, in-person relationships for their careers to fly.

For perspective, it took decades and generations to build up the previous system and literally overnight to break it down.?We’re still early in shaping this current hybrid model but it could take decades to create a true replacement – a set of a series of structures, rituals, and rhythms around hybrid work that makes it better and more sustainable, and less cringy. ? Recently, a Bay area AI company’s CEO is absolutely requiring all his employees in the office 5 days week. He’s proud of having the fullest parking lot in the Bay area. He believes that due to the fast pace and difficulty of their work combined with the highly intelligent people he employs, that it is wasteful and inefficient to not be in the same office together.?He was quoted saying, “None of the world’s greatest inventions have been made on zoom”.?Perhaps we just haven’t seen it yet, or perhaps he’s right. We?would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Best,

Steve + the Z3Talent Team