Future of hybrid

With the rules in England changing from the work at home rules, many companies and employees are asking what will be the future of hybrid work or work from home. Every one has something to say on the state of hybrid working and how exactly to tackle it. Some roles can not be done at home for various reasons and home working is not for everyone, so we’ve built this article to serve as an overview of the future of hybrid working!

Benefits of home working

It was widely reported that home working had become a new format many businesses had to adapt to in order to stay operational during the pandemic. This lead to many benefits being uncovered surrounding home working, both for the employee and the business.

The introduction of working from home had meant many no longer had travel expenses to pay, better productivity and quality in work, whereas businesses saw a decrease in utility bills and greatly enjoyed the additional productivity being generated.

This promoted many to ask about how exactly working from home could work on a wider scale, because many had been in need of working from home before the pandemic, many more businesses were open to home working, allowing for almost entirely new demographics to enter the workforce, such as those who are housebound or lack the mobility required for a job could finally enjoy a career unlimited.

Benefits of office working

As time went on, people began to grow used to working from home and the benefits of office working started to be missed, which makes sense considering that a lot of our best work is done through collaboration.

Many people missed the team work opportunities and immediate communication that office working provided. Other benefits that employees have reported missing are things like the work culture, being around people they get along with and the social moments that arise from office working were becoming sorely missed. This placed a greater focus on just how significant office work also was. It was more so that people enjoyed the additional benefits of office work over the work itself in some cases, that people made the job worth doing. This also promoted the fact that office working was a good chance to work together and learn from each other, providing invaluable windows of opportunity for training and knowledge sharing.

Disadvantage of home working

There were many people reporting that home working came with disadvantages, especially as the pandemic went on, many felt the downsides set in. These were largely factorial and affected specific people and in other cases were broader in who they effected.

It had become apparent that the lack of in person communication and presence had left many feeling unnoticed and uninvolved, this caused many to be concerned about their chances of career success during this period, causing many to feel additional pressure or struggling to do well. There’s also the factor of slowed communications, you can’t achieve immediate answers when you’re relying on a colleague seeing your e-mail or message, which caused a lot of slowness and dragging for businesses as they navigated this new format, leaving many struggling to regain their footing. There’s also the issue that many found working from home was isolating, as they would wake up, go to work, then be home after the day. This was a very significant drawback for many, as the balance of work and life was a driving factor for many in their positions.

Disadvantage of Office working

Although many had been calling for working from home to be a more accessible mode of working, office working was still the most dominant format. For many this caused issues such as being able to make it to work reliably when you’re using transport, as there’s many external factors that can’t controlled, it’s an unreliable system for many. There were also the issues of office politics and noise pollution, both of which are major distractions for many in the workplace who simply have duties to fulfil.

However one of the biggest disadvantages of office working was how largely inaccessible it was to many physically disabled people, most buildings don’t accommodate disabilities as well as they could be and many businesses know this, which was why it has become a focus of sorts for many groups to eliminate this disadvantage.

What is Hybrid?

Hybrid working has become a solution of sorts to the problems we listed, alongside being a way to attain the benefits we spoke about. Hybrid working is the mode of work where the employees time in the office and time working at home is split into a ratio that works for the employer and the employee. Usually consisting of 1 day in and 4 days out, but it can differ depending on the industry, role and business. The reason hybrid working is so widely discussed is because it’s presented many benefits that aren’t ignorable, but it’s also presented the future of what work could look like.

Many workplaces are becoming more accessible due to the existence of hybrid working, businesses that before were struggling are seeing productivity increases and happier staff, some businesses are reporting hybrid working hasn’t worked out and thus, scrapped the concept, usually over discrepancies over implementation or a lack of accessibility for the business.

Why is the balance important

A concern for all companies and people entering the trade will always be, who will a trainee learn from. If everyone is home working, then a trainee will not be able to learn and grow like it was 10 years ago. With the right staff being more important then ever, it’s not the kind of thing businesses are willing to overlook, so many have gotten to work at finding ways to train staff better if they can’t be in the same spaces.

It is also hard if someone has ongoing issues or responsibilities in their home life like being a parent or a disability.There’s a need for businesses to notice these signs as they may be inhibiting the employees performance potential. Which would make hybrid working more of an issue then a solution and that is exactly why there’s so much focus on businesses to make the right moves and build hybrid working formats that work for their employees and the business itself.

Some companies are offering a mixture and some offer it for set positions only. Some of the more common industries we’ve seen this in are the tech industries, in sales you’ll find hybrid key account roles going. There’s a lot of industries that are taking hybrid work and turning it into something inspirational.

Getting hybrid work down is going to take some time, but it’s also going to be an exciting time, as we look to diversify the way we’ve worked for over a hundred years, there will no doubt be more interesting developments in the business world with this new format around. 

HtE Recruitment News & Insights

This news and insights page has been written by Josh our Recruitment & Marketing Coordinator. HtE Recruitment take no responsibility for this post.