Hybrid working has become a hot and contentious topic over the course of the past five years as it has gained more visibility and public awareness has increased. There is a strange disconnect however, in the upcoming workforce’s attitude to hybrid working, and remote working’s position in industry. Although the vast majority of 20 to 30 year olds find their main source of social connection and interactivity with other people to be within the workplace; almost half of them would leave their current job if remote working was not an option. This confusing statistic isn’t even the most confusing however. Although remote working and hybrid options are being campaigned for being available, the majority of worker’s actually do want the ‘normal’ working day to be available again too. Hybrid working can reportedly be more exhausting than a normal day, due to the ability to not switch off. So why do so many worker’s not think hybrid working is sustainable? And what can you as an employer do to change that?

The Reasons Why:

• Hybrid working just adds more work. Travis Patrick, a business writer at Origin Writings and 1 Day 2 write, noted, “The option to take work home means that for most people, work always comes home. It’s almost like always being on call.” This can be exhausting and ruin any resemblance of a work life balance. A lot of people like it better physically leaving work behind.

• The combination of remote working and office working can cause rifts and breaks in communication. If all workers are remote or if they are all on site, there will be predictable streams of communication. However, if location is always changing, it is likely that things will continuously get lost in translation.

• Rifts can start to occur within the team based on who is on site more and who works remotely more often. This can chop the team in half and make work more difficult and potentially unenjoyable.

• Productivity could decrease in those not on site, and no one would know. Although it would eventually show, teams often feel that those working at home have it easier.

Boosting the Popularity of Hybrid Working within your Company:

• Try upskilling your managers and those in authority within your business. At the end of the day, people work for people; and they do not resign from businesses, they resign from managers. In order to make hybrid working a possibility, you need to have properly skilled managers.

• Ensure that you are measuring output correctly and fairly across all platforms and working arrangements. It is crucial that employees know that they are being measured and assessed fairly on their work quality and performance; and not to do with where or how they are working. If this is not obviously the case, there will be build up of resentment against hybrid working, each other, and management within your teams.

• Empower everyone, and do not favour one specific type of person because of their personality type or confidence. Haley Williams, a recruiter at Brit Student and Write my X, commented, “Often, hybrid working can actually help people within your teams who are not confident to come out of their shell and share ideas with other people. Encourage this through allowing online interactions and sharing of ideas.”

• Create moments for interaction between colleagues and the creation of ideas. Ingenuity does not happen when one person sits at a desk and never talks to the person next to them. It happens when two people add to a google document at the same time and create a great idea; or when a conversation happens that changes the design of something great.

• Design your workspaces to be tailored towards creativity and working as a team. When working in person is happening, make sure you take full advantage of the opportunity it presents your team with. Working together is not about being within walking distance, it is about being able to interact productively.

So, whether you think hybrid working is the best thing since sliced bread, or even if you are just having to implement it to make your teams happy; make sure you do your research. The attitude towards remote working can differ greatly from team to team.

About the Author:

George J. Newton is a business development manager and content writer for Write my essay and PhD Kingdom. He has a very patient wife of over ten years, who is his biggest supporter.