Why Hybrid Work is the Opportunity of a Lifetime

Many of us can still remember the day. We were packing up things from our office desks, thinking we might be working from home for a few weeks as Covid-19 cases were popping up around the world.

It’s now almost three years later, and most have yet to return to those desks – at least not five days a week like we used to. And in case you’re wondering, most of us never will. Hybrid work is here to stay, and it’s the greatest shift in the way people work in our lifetimes.?

The rise of hybrid work has brought lots of benefits. Fewer aggravating commutes. Greater flexibility to balance work and life. The ability to hire diverse talent from more locations than ever before. It’s not surprising that the majority of employees prefer a hybrid model.?

But if we’re being honest, the sudden shift to hybrid has also created new challenges. Many elements of corporate culture have been upended. The traditional playbook for onboarding, training and mentoring people has gone out the window. And the topic of bringing people back to offices has been the source of spirited debate.

The truth is, no company has this all figured out. We are all learning as we go, and we will need to continually adapt our approach. Last week, I had the opportunity to discuss this with Axios Publisher, Nicholas Johnston , at the World Economic Forum ’s Annual Meeting in Davos. Read more about this conversation here .

I shared that personally, I’m excited about the opportunities ahead to reshape the way work gets done – and I believe there are three key priorities companies must embrace to thrive in the hybrid era.

1.?Evolving Corporate Culture. Any discussion of how people work must first be grounded in an understanding of why people work. It’s not simply to earn a paycheck – it’s to be a part of something bigger, to learn from others, and to make an impact on the world.

During these early days of hybrid, personal connections have suffered. Informal discussions that used to be a cornerstone of office culture have been replaced by pre-scheduled Zoom calls or Teams chats. At the same time, it has been more difficult to achieve the depth of discussion needed for teams to reach their full potential. And all of this has made many jobs more transactional than ever before. It’s no wonder that a recent survey from Gartner found that only one in four hybrid workers feel connected to their company’s culture.?

This needs to change. We need to preserve the benefits of remote work our employees have come to enjoy, while also beginning to spend more time together. I’ve visited many HP sites over the past several months, and every trip is a reminder of the power of our people creating and collaborating in person. And while the majority of our workforce will remain hybrid, 2023 will be a year we return to offices more regularly.

2. Inspiring Collaboration. The best way to get people to spend more time in offices is not by setting arbitrary mandates or issuing ultimatums. It’s to inspire people to return by creating experiences they can’t get working from home – which requires business leaders to recognize that the role of the office has fundamentally changed.?

The offices I spent most of my career in were designed for individual productivity. Prior to the pandemic, individual desks took up about 65 percent of office space. In a hybrid world, that’s expected to drop to 40 percent as space is reconfigured for collaboration. The office is no longer a place you go to work, it’s a place you go to work with people. And almost every customer I meet with is focused on reimagining their office space with this in mind.

For example, there are more than 90 million office meeting rooms out there today, but less than 10 percent have video conference capabilities. That simply won’t cut it in a hybrid world, and it’s why the office meeting room solutions segment is expected to triple by 2024 as companies invest to bridge the gap.??

3. Remaining Flexible. We often talk about hybrid work as if it’s a singular term with one set meaning. In reality, hybrid means many different things depending on where you work and what your role is. Some jobs can be done remotely with relative ease. Others can’t be done remotely at all. And this is going by vary widely by country, industry and company.?

As business leaders, the question we all need to be asking is how can hybrid work best be applied to our organizations so that we empower our employees and achieve our business objectives? We are all going to have different answers to that question – and that’s ok. Part of the beauty of hybrid work is that it creates flexibility to foster new ways of working that can spark innovation, improve productivity, and strengthen our teams.?

If the past three years have taught us anything, it’s that people can be incredibly productive working remotely. The task before us now is to continue down the hybrid path while reestablishing the personal relationships that bring so much meaning to our work.?