Published on:

29 March 2023

Updated on:

19 April 2023

Read time:

6 minutes

In order for hybrid working to be a complete success, it needs to be absorbed into a company’s culture and become an accepted part of the norm…

The events of recent years have acted as a catapult; bringing us forward by a good ten years when it comes to the hybrid working model. Pre-2020, many of the corporates were trying versions of ‘hybrid’ on for size; embracing flexible working hours and creating agile spaces to entertain different working styles.

80%

of those allowed to work from home, in some capacity, felt that they had an improved work life balance

Back then, hybrid bore more relevance to how we wanted to work than to where we were physically working from. Then came the Covid virus and offices emptied… All forms of businesses were abruptly sent home and there was a scramble to get the right tech in place to facilitate mass home working.

The following periods of lockdown proved to be a huge gamechanger.

Many workers appreciated the change to the work life balance that working from home provided: gaining back time spent on commuting; making savings on travel costs and reducing spends on lunches plus, of course, being in charge of their own workload.

Post lockdown, just over a year ago, in February 2022, the Office for National Statistics reported that almost 80 per cent of those allowed to work from home, in some capacity, felt that they had an improved work life balance, with over 50 per cent saying that it was quicker to complete work and that they had fewer distractions. However that same report also warned of unavoidable challenges.

Cited challenges included “…difficulties in staff interaction, collaboration, engagement and connection, negative impacts on working culture…” Arguably, these are all remote working problems rather than hybrid working issues however, given that the two types of working have some crossover, they have to be factored in and contended with.

So, how to close the gaps between where we are and where we want to be..?

Moving forward

Hybrid working is positioned as the most attractive working model as it offers the best of both worlds, allowing the worker to work from home or the office. It provides a solution to any dissatisfaction caused by regular long commutes and, on the flip side, any loss of social interaction. The perfect pitch is, it presents the individual with the autonomy to choose.

An article published last October by Computer Weekly positioned hybrid working as ‘a work in progress’ and questioned what it would take to prevent it from negatively impacting on company culture. The pitfalls considered centred around connectivity, with workplace relationships being seen to suffer as a result of people not being together and occupying the same space. Quoting from the Work trend index, the author of the article highlighted negative impressions on employee wellbeing, productivity and staff retention when connectivity and interaction is adversely affected.

However, other source material from the same article makes a firm distinction between remote working and hybrid working: According to a ‘global culture report’ by employee engagement company, OC Tanner, remote work has “disconnected employees from their companies, leaders and peers; and has shifted perceptions of the workplace.” The report then goes on to state: “Employees in hybrid workplaces may not always be in the office at the same time, but they generally have enough flexibility to build and maintain social interactions and meaningful connections. All that any of them may need are the right tools and some deliberate opportunities.”

Working effectively

Culture is all about sharing the same values and practices. The two concepts – hybrid working and corporate culture - must become interchangeable as each will rely on the other to survive. Done correctly, hybrid has to be incorporated into the company culture.

Pre-pandemic, businesses cultivated their work cultures in their offices. Now things are different. Post-pandemic, there are less connections to be made for new recruits as people split their time between work and home. Employees need to spend a certain time together, and not be isolated, for corporate values to permeate and to take hold and for practises to be learned.

Now things are different. Post-pandemic, there are less connections to be made for new recruits as people split their time between work and home

In order to get hybrid right, and maintain a corporate culture, it’s important that time spent in the office is meaningful. Business leaders and managers must find a way to bring together scattered workforces to invest in workplace culture – and the best way to do that is to invest in the workplace itself.

Office as hub of company culture

To increase collaboration and prevent individuals from becoming isolated and entering vacuums, we need to find a way to ensure that the hybrid balance is right, without imposing draconian limitations that will, ultimately, drive staff away.

The office should be created with a people-focus, first and foremost, so that those coming in have enough spots to choose from to suit them and the way that they work.

In a hybrid environment, departmental members are typically less likely to cross paths with each other and there will be less inter-departmental communication overall unless the office is configured to encourage meet ups.

Opportunities need to be provided for crossover and meet ups to organically occur: café spaces, breakout areas, big town hall spots, rooftop gardens and comfortable lounge areas, encouraging social interaction as well as collaborative work activities.

Designing and fitting out for a hybrid workforce is an opportunity to change things up; rip apart the rule book and to hit refresh on corporate culture by actively encouraging interdepartmental collaboration. This creates transparency and enables individuals to feel part of a bigger team.

Looking forward

And let’s not forget Gen Z, the workforce of the future and on which corporate culture, going forward, depends. This generation barely knew office culture before the pandemic and they are starting out without any preconceived ideas of what to expect – we need their buy in as their energy will fill these spaces and provide the culture going forward.

According to Deloitte’s Global 2022 Gen-Z and Milennial Survey, four out of ten Gen Zs would like to leave their jobs within two years and a third would do so without anything else lined up, reflecting considerable dissatisfaction levels. However, the survey also found that those satisfied with their employers’ ‘societal and environmental impact’ along with their efforts to ‘create a diverse and inclusive culture’ are more likely to hang around for more than five years.

Interestingly, Deloitte’s survey also found that 75 per cent of Gen Zs and 76 per cent of millennials would prefer a hybrid or remote working pattern however, of those same individuals, 20 per cent who had experienced remote working said that it made forming connections with colleagues more difficult.

This puts the onus on the employer to either maintain a hybrid model or to introduce one – but, there’s a caveat. Employers have to make sure to get it right for a younger generation as they will walk away if businesses get it wrong.

75%

of Gen Zs and 76 per cent of millennials would prefer a hybrid or remote working pattern however, of those same individuals, 20 per cent who had experienced remote working said that it made forming connections with colleagues more difficult

At the end of the survey, Deloitte recommends that companies build a hybrid work strategy that maintains an inclusive workplace culture, where everyone has the same opportunities to ‘form connections, learn, grow and advance in their careers.’

Future workers have to feel listened to and they want meaningful engagement. A contributor to global media company, Forbes’ website believes Gen Z employees crave “increased awareness, empathetic leadership and a culture of well-being”, believing that this can be achieved if companies “consciously design stigma free work environments that prioritise well-being and integrate mental health.”

The office provides the physical front of a company’s culture and is its beating heart. It has to be multi-generational while appealing to Gen Z, who will soon make up the majority of the workforce and who are prepared to vote with their feet if their opinions go ignored and don’t provide a catalyst for change.

This is the generation who will establish the future rules of hybrid working so listen and design accordingly in order to retain the best of your younger talent. They won’t hang around if you don’t.

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