The modern workplace: Business benefits of a hybrid-working future

Organisations over the past couple of years, expedited in 2020 by COVID-19, have seen huge transformations in how they operate. Flexible work schedules, remote team members and a focus on the employee wellbeing and culture are just some of the focuses for modern businesses.

By welcoming the new future of hybrid working with open arms and creating a modern workforce with new and updated technologies, businesses will be able to reap the benefits that come with it.

Employees see a future in which they can achieve a positive balance of office and home working. The shift to a hybrid work model is nothing new, but a trend that has been building with the advancement of technology. Covid-19 has simply acted as the flashpoint, accelerating the timeline. Here are some statistics that demonstrate the rising interested in hybrid work models:

• The homeworking experience has been a positive one for many; 85% of employees say their work/life balance has improved or stayed the same.
• Across sectors, employees expect to spend a significant amount of their working time based at home in future with 3 in 10 (30%) expecting to work from home at least four times per week
• 31% expect that in future people will split their time in the office and at home equally
• a further 25% think they will mostly work from home

Companies have been tasked with providing flexible solutions for their employees to enable them to continue working safely and effectively while adhering to social distancing and lockdown restrictions. Hybrid working is the new modern workplace. And it works. It is making businesses and employees thrive with the many benefits that it provides:

Work-Life balance

Effective work-life balance requires that you spend your time meaningfully in each of the respective space – work and life. With hybrid working here to stay, it’s important for you and your employees to make sure that you are successful at getting work done and at maintaining mental wellbeing. This has given businesses the opportunity to focus on making their employees happy and investing in a strong company culture. It has also made employees more productive, stay focused and enhanced the trust between employer and employee, but more on that later…

Increased Productivity

There has previously been a fear that allowing employees to work from home would make them less productive. That has proven to be false. In fact, remote workers are often revealed to be more productive than their in-person counterparts. However, there’s no doubt that employees working from home do run into some challenges around feeling siloed, lonely or out of sync with their colleagues. That’s why hybrid work is the best of both worlds. It combines the improved productivity of remote workers with the superior in-person collaboration and communication of physical office spaces.

Wider Talent Pools

One of the best benefits for businesses is having a wider talent pool. You can now employ people from anywhere. The modern workplace can help companies reach a diverse workforce and recruit people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. For employers looking to diversify their employer's talent pool, remote and open work and flexible work offer a great opportunity to attract and hire strong candidates, especially if they have more technological workers well suited to their business needs.

Employer-Employee Trust

People have been working from home for over a year now, and in most cases, have proven a success. Employers need to trust their employees in controlling their work-life balance, and making sure they have time to focus and get work done. It has come with challenges, especially when home schooling was a thing, however now you can get the best of both worlds, it’s a good way to build and solidify the trust. As much as employees trust employers to have their backs and support when suffering wellbeing, employers must trust employees to stay productive.

Improves your employees mental health and wellbeing

Employee health and wellbeing is an organisational must-have, especially during these difficult times. Despite the advantages of cutting the commute when hybrid working and being able to work around your personal life, employees’ wellbeing can still suffer. If you would like a checklist to use for your organisation to improve wellbeing in the workplace, please see here. 

Focused and saving time

People lose time every day; when they’re in the car or train commuting to work. When enabling partial working from home in a hybrid work model, you instantly make up for that lost time. Employees can work whenever and wherever suits them best. Taking to account that some are more productive in the early morning and love the office desk, while others are real night owls and thrive in their home office, you give employees the responsibility to make the best use of their own talents and particularities.

The result of hybrid working and the new modern workplace? Employees have access to all the aspects that make remote work desired, but none of the challenges that lead to reduced communication or loneliness. They can work from home, yet still come into the office each weak to collaborate and socially interact with their peers.

There’s no set, or ideal, number of days that employees must be in an office. It could be anything from just one day a week working in a physical office to three or four days, or perhaps even a monthly schedule where the entire team is onsite for certain days to collaborate. If your business has employees who have the flexibility to split their time between work-from-home and the office, then you are managing a hybrid workforce. And that makes employees happy. For more information on the impact of COVID-19 and levelling up hybrid working, read our whitepaper here.

At TalkTalk Business, we have a fantastic People Team that have been doing an incredible job at making sure our employees are happy and healthy, providing them with resources, events and more. We have amazing social distancing guidance within the office as well as encouraging testing a few times a week before coming in, and are happy with our employees working from home. Embracing the new modern workplace ensures your employees are more likely to remain motivated, productive and successful when hybrid working.