What is the Hybrid Work Model, and Why is it the Future of Work?

Posted by Cristina Lucas on Oct 21, 2020 10:54:33 AM

Before COVID-19, many organizations prioritized their physical office spaces. Since then, businesses around the world have managed their workforce in a number of different ways, transitioning away from the traditional full-time office model. 

Some organizations have made their workforce completely remote until 2021 or far beyond, other companies are staggering their workforce between time in the office and working from home, while others have given their employees the freedom to choose where they work from on any given day.

Many organizations are finding, to the benefit of both their company and their employees, that managing a workforce that mixes its time between both remote work and working in the office is the sweet spot.

In fact, a study from Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy research (SIEPR) found that 55 percent of US workers want a mixture of both office and home work. 

“The best advice is to plan to work from home about one to three days a week,” states the study. “It’ll ease the stress of commuting, allow for employees to use their at-home dates for quiet, thoughtful work, and let them use their in-office days for meetings and collaborations.”

This is in fact the method of work that many organizations are transitioning to, which is becoming increasingly known as the ‘hybrid work model’. 

What is a hybrid work model?

Managing your workforce isn’t all about either working from the office or working from home, the future of work is now a balance of both. That’s exactly what the hybrid work model is, and why it’s growing in popularity.

The hybrid work model combines the benefits of remote work with the advantages of in-person office work. This model not only puts the health and safety of workers at the forefront of a business by allowing for social distancing during COVID-19, but it also puts their psychological needs first.

Employees now have access to all of the aspects that make remote work desired, but can still come into the office to collaborate and socially interact with their peers. That’s why this work model isn’t just here for the pandemic, it’s the future of work. 

Hybrid work models can improve your organization's productivity, make you an employer of choice giving you access to your industry’s top talent and significantly improve the employee experience helping you to retain your highly-skilled workers.

Technology is the key consideration for leaders when transitioning to a hybrid model

The hybrid work model is new to many organizations, but that doesn’t mean it’s not here to stay. The benefits of such a model, to both employees and businesses, are too great to ignore. 

However, a hybrid work model isn’t just as simple as telling half your employees to work from home one week and the other half to come into the office. A successful hybrid work model needs to be strategically thought out, ensuring that your employees are able to work efficiently and collaborate effectively

With half of your employees working in the office, and the other half your employees working from home, communicating on projects isn’t as simple as walking over to a team members’ desk or booking a meeting room. 

You need to ensure your employees have the communication tools necessary to collaboratively work together. This involves integrating communication tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams into your operational processes, updating your current hardware, boosting your IT strategy to keep your data secure and much more.

Over the next couple of months the Genesis Integration blog will be focusing on the hybrid work model and how your organization can improve its audio visual solutions and IT strategy to improve collaboration between your office and remote employees. Have any questions on the topic? Please reach out to our team of communication experts today.

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Tags: Tips For Remote Working

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