“I’d like to sometimes work from home, sometimes from office” would have been met with a stare of disbelief in the years preceding 2020. What sort of a request is that?
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, challenged a lot of set notions on how we do things, and the way we work has undergone a radical shift as well. Many companies are adopting a hybrid work culture of part-office, part-home, and the data seems to back up the merits of such an arrangement too. In fact, a recent survey highlighted that over 85% of companies in Asia are encouraging hybrid work set-ups.
A Harvard Business School Paper highlighted that such a flexible approach to the workplace offers people a better work-life balance while at the same time enables collaboration periodically without isolating colleagues from one another, representing the ‘best of both worlds’.
In our recent study, ‘Emerging from the Pandemic: The New Mood in Singapore,’ our results corroborate that a hybrid work culture is in sync with people’s perceptions, with a majority (74%) opining that it is a step in the right direction.
What this means for businesses and managers
To attract and retain the best talent, companies will need to accommodate the changing preferences of employees while not compromising on productivity, and a hybrid model seems best placed to ensure this. A purely work-from-home arrangement may work for many, but it might not be the best idea when it comes specifically to building company culture, which requires in-personal collaboration between teams in an ‘office atmosphere’ setting. A 2021 study by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that two-thirds of employers are struggling to sustain employee morale and over one-third find that maintaining company culture in the absence of physical presence of employees is challenging.
The productivity conundrum
There is also the productivity aspect to consider, and top tech company honchos are not mincing their words about this concern. Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, recently told employees (as widely reported by the media), “There are real concerns that our productivity as a whole is not where it needs to be for the headcount we have. We need to create a culture that is more mission-focused, more focused on our products, more customer-focused. We should think about how we can minimize distractions and really raise the bar on both product excellence and productivity.”
The buck stops with leaders though, and in an increasingly dynamic work environment with employees spread across the world, the way forward will be the tried-and-tested way of effective communication. Leaders and managers, to keep team morale and productivity up, will not only need to communicate more frequently and meaningfully, but also be sensitive to employees’ needs – more so at a time when there is increased focus on mental health owing to the pandemic. The much-talked about trend of ‘Quiet Quitting’, wherein employees simply do the bare minimum to retain their jobs, is becoming commonplace, ranging from factors such as burnout and toxic work culture to inadequate compensation and seeking a better work-life balance. A recent paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that hybrid work can reduce quitting rates by 35%.
Cost and convenience: A win-win situation?
If the hybrid work culture continues to survive and thrive, then companies are likely to go in for more lean set-ups and flexible office spaces that are cost-saving as well. A report by IWG shows that hybrid working benefits businesses with savings of GBP 8,100 (Approx. SGD 13,500) per employee. Notably, this further translates to some staggering numbers. For example, a global bank with 200,000 employees could end up saving GBP 1.6 billion, and even a ‘smaller’ tech company of 20,000 employees would save GBP 160 million.
It is clear then that if the aforementioned point on culture is addressed, the sheer savings that such a model would provide for companies would be too hard to ignore.
What would work look like in the future?
It is important to note that while employees have generally been positive about hybrid work models, there is a substantial number (70%) who seem quite keen to return to the office as well.
Going ahead then, the real change that is likely to occur at the workplace will be that of choice, while balancing the needs of employers and employees alike. There is no doubt that exclusive work-from-home is a boon for those with physical challenges, who would otherwise find it difficult to find employment. For the rest of the working world though, it might simply come down to choosing a company that offers a hybrid model of working compared to one that does not.
For the latest insights on how you can make your organisation ready for changing workplace trends and better accommodate the needs of your employees, get in touch with us on connect@blackbox.com.sg.
Author: Blackbox Research Team
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