4 Ways To Make Hybrid Working A Success
Hybrid working is now incredibly common across many different industries. Just 30% of UK businesses are currently working fully on-site, and many employees are reaping the benefits of more flexible work arrangements.
Not only is a hybrid work offering key for recruitment, but it’s now also a major contributing factor in employee retention. Reports suggest that 70% of UK employees are happy with their current hybrid working arrangements, while 59% of workers are more likely to choose an employer offering remote work opportunities versus one that isn’t.
According to research, 46% of hybrid workers claim that less time spent commuting is their favourite aspect of hybrid work, while 43% are enjoying a better work-life balance.
However, hybrid working doesn’t come without some challenges. The same study also revealed that hybrid working made 23% of respondents feel disconnected from their teams, while 17% were dealing with a lack of proper equipment at home. Although hybrid working can be fantastic for team morale and productivity, it needs to be implemented in a way that works for everyone - including employees, employers, and clients.
Let’s take a look at 4 ways to make hybrid working a success for your business.
1. Set up active communication channels
Communication is absolutely crucial for an effective hybrid working arrangement.
From a purely functional standpoint, hybrid working means that several employees can be joining meetings or scheduling calls from different locations. If your team is going to coordinate and collaborate on daily tasks, they need to be able to speak easily.
However, building effective communication isn’t just about logistics.
Without constant communication, off-site team members can feel disconnected from their colleagues and unable to contribute to conversations. This is why implementing convenient communication channels (i.e. Teams, Slack, Zoom) is so important for hybrid working.
2. Keep your office culture alive
If you want to make hybrid working a success, you’ll need to make your company culture as adaptable and flexible as your work arrangements. This means finding agile ways to make all employees feel valued in your business and navigating remote working schedules.
Making an active effort to regularly get your team together is key. For example, you might coordinate a particular day of the week where everyone works from the office to strengthen team connections and maintain your culture.
If you have colleagues in your team that are working in a fully remote capacity, then you may want to explore different ways to bring your team together virtually.
3. Create an ongoing feedback cycle
‘Successful’ hybrid working looks different for every business. Flexible working may be easier for some companies to implement, and each industry will face its own challenges in this area.
To make sure that your hybrid arrangements are working for everyone involved, be sure to collect regular feedback from your workforce.
Sending out surveys, for instance, is a great way to gather insights and gauge the success of your hybrid working system. By asking the right questions, you can understand how the current arrangements are working for your employees, and identify areas for improvement.
4. Put the right technology in place
Finally, be sure to provide workers with the equipment and technology they need to remain productive while operating off-site.
Equipment needs will vary between companies, but think carefully about the requirements of your workforce as you plan your hybrid working setup.
For example, will team members need access to specific files from a remote server? Can they join meetings and presentations easily from home? Do you need to enlist the help of the IT department for employee training?
If all workers have access to the equipment or software they need for day-to-day tasks, then you’ll find it much easier to implement a successful hybrid working system.
Introducing hybrid working can be a great way to accommodate your workforce and remain competitive as an employer.
To ensure that your flexible working arrangements are a success, aim to encourage regular feedback from team members and provide all employees with the resources they need to thrive.
If you’re looking for guidance on creating hybrid-working job postings or attracting the best candidates, don’t hesitate to reach out. At Barclay Meade, our recruitment experts can help you to get the best of your current employees and hire industry-leading talent that will make flexible working a success for your business.
Is your business looking to hire? Send us your vacancy details and we'll be in touch.