The workplace in this new decade is still going through a transition. Different return-to-work policies have been coming out as fast as one can imagine. With the emergence of new Covid-19 variants, there is a lot of confusion and questions. Some employees see returning to the office as a return to what used to be normal; for some, working from home is the new normal.
At this stage, nearly every organization is sure that hybrid is the future but there are still a lot of questions that need answering when it comes to implementing a hybrid workplace policy due to the different needs of organizations and employees.
Here are 6 questions you must find definite answers to before implementing a hybrid work policy:
1-How effective is the current policy and should you change it?
Starting off, you should evaluate the policy that is operational at the present time. This will help create a parameter to evaluate the hybrid workplace policies implemented in the future. Keep a record of your organization’s productivity and employee experience with the existing policy. Evaluating your current policies includes how many of your employees currently work from home and how many are coming to the office. After this, you will need to understand which set-up they prefer more. How much time they would like to spend at the office and home respectively? Only after understanding your current policy, you can make an effective future-proof hybrid work policy.
The important thing to remember is though 83% of employees agree that the shift to hybrid has been successful for them, 87% also agree that the office is necessary for collaboration and building relationships.
2-Why do your employees want remote or in-office?
Creating and implementing a hybrid work policy can be a very unique process for each organization. You must understand what is that employees love the most about staying home, it could be the reduced commute time, the flexible schedule or something as simple as the comfort of joining a meeting while saying in bed with a snack. On the other hand, you must also understand what are the reasons they might need to come to the office they could be feeling out of sync, their collaboration might get affected or they just might miss sitting with their favourite coworker.
Understanding needs only enhances the employee experience and makes transitioning into the future easy. We looked into the importance of feedback in our blog How to create a hybrid work schedule? Should the employee decide or the management?
3- What are the consequences of not implementing a hybrid policy?
What happens if you don’t transition into a hybrid workspace? Employee happiness is now highly dependent on the hybrid. Not having a hybrid workplace might now lead to something of a mini “The Great Resignation” at your own office with nearly 57% of employees saying they will quit if their workspace isn’t hybrid.
To put it mildly, not embracing a hybrid work policy might spell disaster for your company. It’s pretty evident by all the data available that where we are going and reluctance to do so might cost you losing your most valuable asset, your employees.
I was recently in a meeting where we were congratulating a teammate for her recent achievements and when we all turned our cameras on, I saw her sitting on her balcony smiling with her pet. I realised then that the workplace has changed forever and the future is hybrid.
-Aastha Sharma
Co-Founder Veris.
4- Will productivity be affected?
Perhaps the most burning of them all is this question. As we have discussed before you must evaluate your current set-up before implementing a new hybrid work policy to set a benchmark that will help you evaluate future policies. With all the data available right now the answer is productivity will be affected but in a positive manner, here are some stats reinforcing that:
- Employees save nearly 35 minutes a day because of fewer interruptions at home
- 47% of the time saved commuting to work is used to improve productivity
- Companies have even measured up to a 50% rise in productivity after implementing a hybrid work policy.
These are just some of the many stats that prove the productivity boost a hybrid work policy can give. Every workplace and policy can be unique, don’t forget to give it sufficient time before making a call. Be always acceptable to change and always be willing to listen to your workforce.
5- What is the perfect collaboration combination?
This is a slightly complicated task to accomplish and one that might require you to go through a lot of permutations and combinations. The easiest way to do this is again by simply listening, collecting feedback and evaluating. Identify the teams that work together the most and implement a policy that allows them to come to work on the same days. You can use the Rostering feature of the Veris Desk Booking App to set perfect schedules for your teams that collaborate the most.
Deploying good Desk Booking Software would make collaboration much simpler and more efficient. On the Veris Desk Booking App, your employees can see live 3D maps, Seat Availability, Meeting Room Availability, and Find a Friend and you can use the Rostering feature to make sure your policy is implemented properly to meet productivity goals.
6- What does it mean for your office space?
Lets us answer that in one word- OPTIMIZATION! Yes, with all the excitement and happiness. Implementing an effective hybrid policy will make your employees happy while saving you money. More than half of the companies are looking to be cost efficient and reduce office footprint by going hybrid.
Along with the companies saving money, the employees as well are benefiting and saving. Add to this a better work-life balance and you have every reason to implement a hybrid work policy.
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