Hybrid working patterns are the future of work. As of January 2023, the proportion of days worked from home among US companies has stabilised at approximately 30% [https://wfhresearch.com/]. For most companies that adapting to the new post-pandemic business environment, the real question is how, rather than if, they are implementing hybrid working.
Tellingly, while 71% of executives reported pressure on their businesses to offer more flexibility in a YouGov survey of more than 500 large companies in 2021 [https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-engagement/future-of-work-is-flexible], 72% of US companies surveyed by AT&T in 2022 still didn’t have a clear strategy for implementing hybrid work [https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2022/03/16/hybrid-will-be-the-new-work-style-but-72-of-businesses-lack-a-strategy-atts-future-of-work-study-shows/]. Businesses that struggle to find a balance may choose to give up on hybrid work entirely, either becoming fully remote like Yelp [https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220722-the-companies-doubling-down-on-remote-work] or maximising in-office hours like Goldman Sachs [https://fortune.com/2022/10/19/goldman-sachs-ceo-david-solomon-brought-office-working-back-to-pre-pandemic-levels/].
The key, says Nicholas Bloom, Professor in Economics at Stanford University [https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/nicholas-bloom-home-where-work], is what he calls ‘organised hybrid’. Organised hybrid is a company-wide strategy with a coherent approach to managing locations of work, communication and digital productivity tools. The most common organised hybrid working pattern includes a requirement for staff to be present in the office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and to work from home on Monday and Friday.
What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.
At Live More Offline we call this intentional hybrid.
Studies have shown consistently positive increases in productivity and wellbeing at companies that have introduced well planned policies for hybrid work. For example, a global survey of working from home patterns found that on days working from home, employees save an average of 72 minutes of time that they would otherwise be spending commuting [https://www.nber.org/papers/w30866]. Interestingly, employees devoted an average of 40% of this extra time to their primary or secondary jobs, meaning that employers actually gain more work during the commuting time saved by their staff. This is while staff report greater satisfaction with the flexibility offered by their employers, who themselves see improvements in productivity per hours worked and higher rates of staff retention and lower absenteeism.
Clearly, there are challenges and huge rewards to organised hybrid work. So how can your business harness hybrid work to increase productivity, boost KPIs and improve staff retention while enhancing the wellbeing, diversity, creativity and happiness of your people?
- Define the needs of your organisation
A strong digital culture will have a positive impact on business performance, so don’t hold back from promoting the needs of your organisation.
Be clear about your KPIs. This will be invaluable for defining your starting point and what you hope to achieve from improving your working culture.
- Understand where you’re coming from
First, know where you’re at by establishing a baseline for how your people are experiencing their digital workplaces.
We no longer need to rely on managerial instinct or guesswork to know how to create the best possible digital culture. Take an evidence-based approach and let data do the heavy lifting for youUse data-driven solutions and quantify their perceptions of work through surveys. Crucially, data will give you a measurable and comparable way to chart the success of your workplace culture, which we’ll come back to in later steps.
What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.
- Use insights to highlight opportunities and look forward to positive change
Your surveys will yield a rich anonymised data-set on how your people experience their working culture. Just going through their answers will be a fascinating journey into their thoughts and feelings. Analysis tools will reveal higher-level trends that emerge from the aggregated responses. See which teams are benefiting from strong leadership, how digital experience varies by job role, how new starters are feeling about their on-boarding experience – and so much more!
Use this opportunity to investigate correlations of staff experiences with departmental policies, managerial approaches and possible relationships with your KPIs. Analysis will also give you anonymised demographic trends, so this is a great time to review how your people’s experiences of their digital working culture relate to your Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity targets. There is an almost endless potential to learn from the insights that this process will give you.
- Be proactive about your hybrid working strategy
Take the initiative in setting a hybrid strategy by being intentional in defining the working culture that you wish to see. This is a great time to link your hybrid working strategy with your company values. Here you are seeking to avoid a fragmented strategy that is incoherently applied across siloed departments, which can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection. In doing so, you can make big strides in creating an inclusive culture for everyone and bringing them with you on this journey.
Remember, as far as research has shown, you have everything to gain from a well-designed hybrid working strategy.
- Make positive interventions
Equipped with insights and an operational strategy for hybrid working, it’s time to make effective interventions that will transform your business.
- Empower your people with smarter and more productive ways of working
- Challenge beliefs around presenteeism and ‘always-on’ expectations
- Create healthier relationships with technology that leads to wellbeing and happiness
- Streamline your operations with processes that work for you
- Emphasise Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity so that your digital culture works for everyone
- Monitor your progress
Caring for your digital culture creates a virtuous circle of productivity and wellbeing. Consistently check in with your staff with periodic surveys to learn how their perceptions of their working culture are changing. This will enable your continuous development and the ability to pivot to take advantage of changing business conditions.
- Share your success
Following these steps, you will build a track record of hard data that enhances your reputation as an employer that proactively cares for the wellbeing of your people, while capturing the success of your improved business performance.
Celebrate improvements to your KPIs and the wellbeing of your people. You’ve earned it!
