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Whenever a board of directors comes to me to discuss the practicalities and legalities of a hybrid work policy (as they frequently do in these post-pandemic times) their focus tends to be on their employees. Hybrid working is largely being driven by the workforce, after all.
Now that staff have experienced the pandemic induced utopia of the non-commute, the comfort of making their lunch in their own kitchen and taking comfort breaks in their own bathroom – not to mention the flexibility of being able to do the school run and attend the occasional cake sale or school play in between Teams calls – they would rather not come into the office all the time. This is particularly true for women, with research published last year suggesting that 60% of female employees would prefer to look for employment elsewhere than work for an employer that wants them back in the office full time.
Little wonder then that boards are keen to offer flexible working, particularly when the pandemic has demonstrated that many tasks can be effectively carried out remotely – even board meetings. The difficulty with the hybrid approach is that going into the office is not just about carrying out a job. It never has been. The office is a place where working relationships are forged and where personalities gel (or otherwise). Relationship building is a subtle process, developed over time, through observation and collaboration. The office is an environment where we come to understand how our teams work together, the ways in which individuals learn and how different personalities respond to colleagues and challenges. It is where managers begin to build a picture of people’s talents and grasp where personal development and training needs to focus.
This is one reason why, whenever I am asked about hybrid working, I urge employers to start by viewing the model from the company’s perspective.
In terms of culture, for example, it takes time for a company to develop an environment where talent thrives – and even longer for this ethos to become embedded at every level of the organisation. Culture is learnt when colleagues work alongside one another and it is infused through respectful behaviour. It is certainly possible to have hybrid working and a robust, positive culture. I am merely suggesting that it is much easier to achieve when people are physically carrying out their day to day tasks in the same place, where they can share human moments. As this article in the Harvard Business Review points out, many studies have shown that frequent in-person interactions foster commitment, support and cooperation among people and teams.
Another consideration is productivity. Will employees be as engaged when they are spending part of their week at home? Do you have any data from your own workplace that demonstrates how productivity is affected, if at all? Then we come to health and safety. How are you safeguarding your laptop-working staff from future neck and back problems? Do you even know what their remote workstation looks like?
One of the big concerns from an employment law perspective is equality. Yes, there is an argument that hybrid working attracts a more diverse workforce. However, as women and those with disabilities tend to be most attracted to working from home, do you have procedures in place for ensuring that these remote workers are being noticed as much as their office working counterparts? Are they being given the same opportunities? Are they attending as many meetings and being considered for promotion?
In summary, hybrid working and greater flexibility can be appealing to many employees and brings certain benefits to a workforce by encouraging diversity and inclusion. Implementation, however, requires a structured and almost scientific approach to safeguard the employer from being faced with an unmanageable situation.