The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked chaos on livelihoods, the economy and life as we know it. If there’s one positive to find in those two years of craziness, it’s that it brought about a healthy shift in the way people look at working from home.
Just a few years ago, employees wanting to work remotely tended to be viewed with suspicion and forced to prove how hard they were working throughout the day. The overwhelming consensus was that working from home meant longer lounging around in pyjamas, taking long breaks, or even taking the opportunity to skip work altogether and go and do something fun instead. The pandemic forced the world into a situation where pretty much everyone who wasn’t considered a key worker had to stay at home. Business leaders soon realised that not only could people work perfectly well outside of the office, they actually often performed better.
Today, hybrid working is now standard practice for many organisations, particularly in the UK. According to research conducted by the Equal Parenting Project – a joint initiative between the Universities of Birmingham and Leeds – a huge three-quarters of managers now believe that hybrid working increases productivity. In addition, 60% of respondents said they felt the option to work from home made employees more motivated.
Why Hybrid Working is Popular
Hybrid working gives people the flexibility to fit work around their lives. Without spending hours a day on long commutes, they have more time for the things they love, like hobbies, sports and leisure or simply more quality time with family. Hybrid working can be transformative, not only for individuals seeking a greater work/life balance but for organisations as a whole. It’s a cultural shift that empowers businesses to attract new talent who would previously been unlikely to apply due to geographical constraints or family responsibilities.
Millennials make up the majority of the modern workforce, and they don’t just like hybrid working, they expect it. In order for businesses to keep attracting the best talent, they need to keep providing people with the opportunity to regularly work from home, whilst also developing workspaces that people want to visit. Days in the office should be about bringing people together for face to face meetings, while home days should be an opportunity to focus on tasks without distractions.
Wherever they’re working, employees need easy access to the information, tools and people they need to do their jobs effectively. This means deploying a robust IT system that encourages collaboration, virtual meetings and the safe sharing of files.
Employee wellbeing should be high on the agenda for all modern workplaces, and hybrid working is an important step towards creating healthy organisations. Today, hybrid working should be the default, and those who embrace it are reaping the rewards.
Making hybrid working work for your organisation
When done properly, hybrid working is a win/win where everyone gets to enjoy the best of both worlds. To find out more about how to make your organisation attractive to brilliant new talent with flexible working solutions, contact our friendly team of workspace design experts at Workspace Audio Visual today.
