Why hybrid work is the best path to optimizing the employee experience
Most mornings I wake up and I run. I’ve done this for almost exactly a year now, since the last week of March 2020. It started just after I sent an email to all clients saying we would be working from home for two weeks and hope to be back soon…
The running started as a push to get fit and use what used to be commuting time for something useful. It has evolved into a structural necessity for my day and my mental health in general.
After my run, I shower, dress, eat breakfast, open the laptop, drink coffee, start work, breaking for a Zoom call with my team around 10. I take breaks which fit in with the cadence of my work and make time every day to have dinner with the kids (which is generally less idyllic than it sounds).
This all happens in the same way almost every day. It has become a routine. As life changes again over the coming months there are parts of this daily regime that I really like and have no desire to give up.
But at the same time, I want change. I crave human company outside my immediate family and the dog. I want to experience the bustle, noise and crowds of London that used to annoy me so much. I want to go for a beer after work, eat out in a restaurant occasionally, have meetings in person with colleagues and clients and travel on public transport.
I am human, so I am complex. I want seemingly contradictory things. I want to satisfy the parts of my personality that crave diversity and change, as well as the ones that like security, comfort, and predictability. As a largely unremarkable member of an 8 billion strong species, I really don’t think I’m in the minority.
So why do so many credible outlets and commentators think we have to choose one way or another?
This week we heard that Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon has rejected remote working and labelled it an “aberration.”
Then, according to a widely reported survey “HQs are finished” because “Working in the office…is just disruption.”
These are not isolated articles I’ve cherry-picked to make a point. They seem to be everywhere right now. No surprise really – consensus or compromise rarely makes for good copy, so extremes prevail. But if we are looking for credible visions of our future workplace, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
From my conversations with, and observations of, client organisations, hybrid working patterns will predominate. Structures and processes will flex to reflect the culture, industry, and demographic of individual companies.
This is largely being driven by employee preference. Companies will do whatever it takes to attract and retain the talent they need, while servicing the economic needs of the business. If these needs overlap beneficially on a Venn diagram (increased flexible working/cutting real estate costs in half) then organisations will apply them vigorously.
“The office” will continue to play an important role in this but will evolve to be something different. A place for the collaboration and creativity that comes with less frequent, less forced interaction, rather than a location we have to attend every day.
As far as internal communications is concerned, we will see less of a focus on physical set-pieces and more on digital platforms and content. Things were already moving in this way. But necessity has shown that an online event where 30,000 people are invited is more inclusive than a 1000-person event in a regional hub office. The latter will have its place, but for specific reasons – reasons related to individual teams, geographies, and offices.
Just as physical offices will play an important but evolving role, so will Town Halls, exhibitions, posters, banners, and huddles – just in a different way. They are all part of a big, complementary toolkit of tactics and channels at our disposal. It’s a richer mix than we have ever had before, with the ability to reach all employees in the way they prefer. The best communicators will keep learning and adapting and using all of these touchpoints effectively rather than moving to one extreme or the other.
So, in a few months I’ll probably be running a bit less. I’ll work less frequently at the kitchen table. Swap lunch from the fridge for a sandwich from the shop on occasion. But I’ll do it all the way it suits me, reflecting the way I work best. I’ll also be forever grateful for the flexibility and freedom to choose, and for being treated as both a team member and an individual by the company I work for.
