Introduction
The pandemic has reshaped our worldview in multiple ways and has had an irreversible impact on several things. Work culture is one paradigm that the pandemic has completely altered. The forced relocation to home office setups and widespread cloud adoption has made hybrid work the new normal. Therefore, experts say that hybrid work is here to stay, and we are curious to know how and why.
Why Hybrid Work is the Future
The shift to home workspaces has created a ripple effect in the form of the ‘Great Reshuffle’. As a result, the future of work is hybrid, and here are some stats to prove it:
- 55% of the US workforce wants a mix of home and on-prem work
- The employers in the UK are expecting the percentage of home-workers to double, from 18% before the pandemic to 37% after it.
- LinkedIn’s survey on 500 plus C-level employees in the US and the UK show flexibility is a priority among working professionals. 87% of the people admitted they would prefer working remotely for most of the time:
- 31% would prefer working fully remotely
- 56% would prefer a mix of half remote and half in-person work
- 13% want to fully work in-person
- In China, employment expert Alicia Tung has predicted a 60-40 split of on-premise and remote work to set in in the next ten years.
Remote job postings on LinkedIn growing 2.4 times from May 2020 to May 2021 is a clear indication that the future of work is remote/ hybrid.
Benefits of Hybrid Work
There are several perks of hybrid work:
- Increased Productivity: It allows people to work in their most productive hours, from the comfort of their private workspaces for some days of the week. This is mutually beneficial for employees and employers.
- Increased Efficiency: When working off-premise, one is driven to get the work done within or before the stipulated time. Once you are done with your day’s agenda, you need not stay tethered to your workstation. In the case of office work, one has to stay back even if they finish their day’s work an hour early. Eventually, this adversely affects your work efficiency.
- Cost-effective: Hybrid work demands a total shift to the managed cloud services. Adopting hybrid and multi-cloud scenarios to accommodate on and off-premise operations can be cost-effective. It saves IT maintenance expenses. Plus, miscellaneous expenditures on electricity, office supplies, and maintenance can be cut back if employees work remotely for the major part of the week.
- Improved work-life balance: Flexi-working improves work-life balance. You can align your day as per your office engagements and household chores.
- Not missing out on the office experience: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky discussed the Hybrid work paradox in an online talk. According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index report, 73% of the Microsoft employees wanted the remote work option to continue. However, 67% also revealed that they expected more in-person engagement. Hybrid work may solve this paradox. Going to the office for a couple of days means not missing out on the social interaction of the office space.
How to Make Hybrid Work Better
- Try to resolve the hybrid work paradox: The managers and other reporting authorities must monitor the changing employee satisfaction expectations. Try to find a way to fulfil these expectations so that your employees are not a part of the 40% global workforce considering a job change right now.
- Creating a Culture of Trust: The supervising authority must build a culture of trust. It is evident that hybrid work allows employees to work to their optimum productivity. Moreover, the flexibility factor keeps them motivated. Avoid micromanaging and over monitoring while working off the office; it will keep the employees return your trust with integrity.
- Make them feel Included: Let’s look at Microsoft’s ‘great reshuffle’ as a case study. According to reports, 1,60,000 plus Microsoft employees folded to remote work in one year, and 25,000 new recruits were virtually onboarded. Their recent Work Trend Index report shows that the percentage of employees who feel included was 90%, an all-time high. The figures show that the culture of inclusivity can be nurtured even when people work remotely.
Various efficient team collaboration tools can be adopted to stay in touch with the team and exchange information.
- Cloud Support: Have your company’s IT requirements covered with the best cloud service providers. You can distribute your workload on different cloud portfolios creating a multi-cloud environment. You can adopt a combination of private and public clouds for on-prem and remote operations. While choosing managed cloud services, make sure to look into the security and compliance issues, costing, licensing issues, etc.
Conclusion
If the future of work is hybrid, the best you can do for your business is stay future-ready. With 365Solutions, one of Europe and the UK’s most sought after cloud solutions providers, get your business operations on the cloud. Visit our website and look up the wide range of cloud services and products to choose from at affordable pricing. You can contact us at +44 20 3880 1220 or sales@365solutions.com for further details.
Also Read:
Best Cloud-based Team Collaboration Tools in 2021
7 questions to ask when selecting a cloud solution provider
References
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200824-why-the-future-of-work-might-be-hybrid
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210713-hybrid-work-what-the-office-could-look-like-now
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/whats-next-for-remote-work-an-analysis-of-2000-tasks-800-jobs-and-nine-countries
https://businessnewswales.com/hybrid-working-is-the-future-for-uks-biggest-employers/