Navigating the challenges of hybrid work is tricky for most businesses, and the ones who achieve success are the ones who embrace the three Es of a flawless hybrid experience, writes Bill Zeng, Senior Director, APAC, Poly.
Hybrid working, combining remote and office-based work, is here to stay. Post-pandemic, it has become the new reality for most organisations, whether small and medium businesses or large corporations.
According to Accenture research, 63 per cent of high growth companies have adopted a ‘productivity anywhere’ working model, and 83 per cent of workers prefer hybrid working.
While there’s a push by some businesses to return to the office, with the goal of improving employee collaboration and workplace culture, there’s a risk of losing valuable people if more flexible arrangements aren’t offered. In fact, a recent report by the ADP Research Institute found that two-thirds of workers would quit if required to return to the office full time.
Small businesses, already struggling to compete for talent with fewer resources than larger peers, cannot afford to lose existing staff. According to Poly’s Recruit, Retain and Grow study, 55 per cent of organisations said they could be put out of business due to the skills shortage.
The need for a hybrid work strategy
Multiple studies have shown that productivity isn’t reduced with remote working – in fact, it’s repeatedly been demonstrated to increase productivity. Our study found that 72 per cent of organisations saw an increase in productivity because of remote or hybrid working. So there are very good reasons for small and medium-sized businesses to pursue a hybrid strategy.
At the same time, there are some disadvantages to purely remote work. Virtual collaboration can result in higher levels of fatigue, which is exacerbated by poor quality media, technology and connectivity issues. There are also issues with isolation, an increased need for meetings, and people becoming ‘less visible’ and potentially being overlooked.
Balancing remote and office-based staff
SMBs face a tough balancing act when determining the best working arrangements for their business. The nature of some job roles also precludes them from being able to take advantage of hybrid arrangements, so a 100 per cent online workforce is unlikely to work for most small businesses.
At the same time amid the skills shortages, many people have been hired remotely and are geographically distributed, unable to come into the workplace even if they wanted to.
This results in businesses having to manage a workforce with diverse locations and working styles, while also trying to ensure workforce equity. Equalising the remote and office-based experience is critical, which means rethinking traditional processes and investing in tools and technology to avoid remote workers ending up as ‘second class citizens’ in virtual meetings and events.
So how can small and medium businesses bridge the divide?
Delivering flawless hybrid experiences
Equality, experience, and evolution are three Es that will make hybrid work a success in the future.
- Equality involves ensuring all workers are treated equitably, regardless of location
- Experience is about creating similar meeting dynamics and experiences in virtual spaces, through pro-grade audio and video conferencing devices.
- Evolution concerns the way offices are perceived and used, which means re-evaluating how physical spaces are used in a hybrid arrangement in future
Significantly, Poly’s research revealed that 64 per cent of organisations no longer see the office as the face of a company. Instead, its technology and experience define it better.
The challenge for small businesses as they adopt new work styles post-COVID, is to better understand the priorities of the staff that these changes are intended to benefit.
Businesses need to combine people, space and technology to create engaging environments as part of a hybrid work strategy. How can a space be designed to be more engaging, rather than just another lounge for networking and winding down between meetings? Do employees need more individual space to get work done? The same applies to virtual experiences.
Employee engagement is critical to ensure meeting equality, no matter where someone joins a meeting from. Taking a people-centric approach to hybrid working will ensure higher talent attraction and retention rates, and make small and medium-sized businesses more resilient to the skills shortage and Great Resignation.
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