Hybrid working is on the rise as businesses of all sizes recognise its value in fostering a productive environment, equipping employees with the necessary capacity to continue operations during disruption and/or crisis, thus strengthening resilience. Companies are discovering how to effectively manage remote teams by utilising the latest technology to reduce commuting time and enhance efficiency, regardless of team locations.
The past five years following the pandemic have proved that businesses could work in a distributed model, and productivity was maintained. In many instances, organisations completely transformed their operations, and companies had to embrace new working methods on a global scale. While C-suite executives were understandably apprehensive, numerous businesses and their employees appeared to flourish in these new circumstances.
After the lockdown, employees seemed to relish the challenge of adapting to new ways of working and operating within their company and team. They realised they wanted the ability to choose where, how and when they work. The numerous benefits of flexible working also became apparent, from an improved work-life balance to shorter commute times and more money in their pockets.
It became clear that never working together in real life could influence team chemistry and cohesion, which may have an effect on business performance. Leaders realised they needed to find ways to build trust amongst their teams and across their whole organisation.
Many found a solution through hybrid working. Enabling their workforce to operate from a range of locations – a central office, home or different locations nearer home – bolstered companies’ operations and still gave that workforce what they desired.
“Fostering remarkable growth for the IWG business, this shift sees our centres located in suburban areas and local communities are experiencing the highest surge in demand throughout the network, while urban centres continue to prosper as well”, says Joanne Bushell, Senior Vice President, MD, IWG Plc. Africa
Recent discussions around Return to Office (RTO) mandates and how these have gained significant momentum amongst companies of all sizes and have dominated media headlines over the past few months.
While these headlines overlook some nuances of the shift towards RTO, the trend is unmistakably happening as companies prioritise team collaboration in person regularly, which is once again transforming how and where people work, with the company’s head office no longer having the monopoly on where work can take place. Companies are increasingly prioritising the happiness and productivity of their employees by empowering them to work where they are happiest and most effective.
As a result, hybrid and more flexible ways of working have become the default model for a significant proportion of white-collar workers, with companies enabling their employees to work across multiple locations.
Businesses realised that they had an opportunity, like never before, to revolutionise ways of working. The Hybrid work life can deliver a unique trifecta of employee benefits: it can be more flexible, productive, and satisfying. And those employee benefits can pay back for an entire enterprise through increased productivity, employee engagement and reduced fixed overheads.
Liberated from its dependence on an individual location, an enterprise can now operate from thousands of centres worldwide. Should a crisis hit an operation, large or small, in one place, employees elsewhere could pick up the slack and keep things moving.
These can be part of a formal disaster-recovery plan for a business facing disruption. This approach might range from solutions which: offer teams ‘plug and play’ office space on the same or the next business day; guarantee that critical team members have permanent access to back-up workspace, whenever they might need it; or simply give clients back-up office space that they can use on an on-demand basis.
Alternatively, these new locations can form part of a new everyday working practice involving a ‘,ub and spoke’ model and a distributed workforce.
A new way of working
What was once seen as an exception to the rule – allowing people to work from multiple locations – can actually prove hugely beneficial. These benefits will not only be felt by employees but will also affect the performance of the whole business. There are several reasons for this:
- When employees are offered the choice to operate from different locations, mutual trust between them and their employer is built. They can move between working from home, the central office, and the local workspace. Working face-to-face for at least part of the week helps maintain working relationships and improve team trust.
- Working from different locations means employees feel like they have more control over their day. They can reduce their weekly commuting time without losing that vital connection with each other.
- It can also create better working relationships between team members. Employees can collaborate face-to-face or work alone when needing to focus or reflect.
- From a business perspective, wastage is reduced. There is no need to pay for empty offices or waste carbon by heating and cooling them. There will be a steady flow of people moving between allocated spaces instead. And risk is distributed more widely, too. From the C-Suite’s point of view, there is the added benefit of knowing that disruption to a single site will no longer have the potential to cause significant damage to the whole enterprise.
Rapid technological advancements have made work no longer confined to a single location. The workplace is now a digital construct; the office is in the Cloud, connecting people through technology. All the information and resources billions need for their jobs are compacted into portable devices. Individuals can use an app to find their workplace for any duration- an hour, a day, or a week.
Regardless of an enterprise’s size, it relies on individuals. Allowing personal growth fosters trust within the workforce, enhancing productivity and organisational effectiveness.
Find out how IWG can strengthen effectiveness and recovery capabilities for your business.
