Today’s workplace has no limits. The meteoric rise of hybrid work has awakened new perspectives on both how we work and how to go about building an energized and successful workplace culture in the new hybrid era. It has demonstrated the liberating power of work from anywhere – how it can galvanize human talent, sharpen incentives, and accelerate productivity.
Not least, it’s changed the game as relates to employee recruiting and retention. Specifically, it’s helping future-focused HR leaders keep their best people, even in the midst of the Great Resignation, while augmenting their workforces with top quality talent worldwide.
In other words, a shrewdly conceived, effectively deployed hybrid work model might just be the best thing to happen to your business.
The Great Resignation — which saw droves of workers leaving their jobs or switching careers during the post-pandemic era — is far from over, with 4.4 million Americans quitting their jobs last month.
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that 45% of job-leavers in the 12 months say a lack of flexibility to choose when they put in their hours was a major reason why they quit.
As the world starts to open up again, organizations are actively rethinking their workplace cultures, and actively moving away from how those cultures used to operate. Creating policies and environments that get employees to a good place mentally and physically has become the new priority. Empathy is in. Employee well-being has become the next big thing.
Workers are making sure of it. The pandemic has put them in the driver’s seat and they’ve wasted little time hitting the accelerator. Some employees appear eager to get back to the office as soon as possible, while others are expressing their preference for working remotely for the foreseeable future. The takeaway for HR officers is this: Your hybrid strategy needs to ensure inclusivity for all of your workers’ preferences, even the ones for whom “working from anywhere” means relocating out of market.
And that’s just fine. Over the past two years, workplace leaders have come to realize that work need not always be a communal endeavor. At times, independent, remote work may be required to accomplish a specific task. Elsewhere, the increasing popularity of third place venues is making it possible to bring workers together episodically and in a more convenient way – without the lengthy, time-wasting commutes. Work can take many forms – concentration, collaboration, coworking. A successful hybrid work model accommodates them all.
Accommodation is well worth the effort. Increasing employee retention and reducing churn is no insignificant matter. The cost of hiring goes beyond just paying for an employee’s salary. It includes recruiting, onboarding, and training. The value of a workplace program that encourages employees to stay at their jobs can’t be overlooked and will be reflected in your bottom line.
When the time does come to hire new people, the advantages of a hybrid work model come into even sharper focus.
New research from Career Builder shows that remote and hybrid jobs are attracting seven times more applicants than in-person roles. You’ll be able to recruit and hire talent all over the world. The diversity of candidates applying to work with you will increase. Then there’s the not so small matter of leveling the playing field. Hiring without geographic restriction offers every company the so-called urban advantage. It brings the world – and its most talented workers – to your organization’s doorstep. It means competing nationally. It means competing internationally.
The inverse is also true. For job seekers, work without limits makes it possible to be more selective about career moves. Companies with set hours and non-flexible, in-office work environments are unlikely to be at the top of anyone’s list.
No workplace – even a hybrid one – is a panacea. New approaches to work present their own unique set of challenges. Critics of hybrid work see plenty of downsides to not working face-to-face all the time. Where’s the synergy? Where’s the connection? How can we be stronger together if we’re not physically together? Remote had its place, COVID-19 saw to that, but this so-called new mindset, in which workers are free to roam the planet, working from wherever they want, is clearly an experiment with an expiration date.
This simply isn’t so. Where’s the logic in forcing employees back to HQ when you can create a hybrid format that increases productivity, reduces employee churn and makes it possible for you to recruit and hire talent all over the world?
A recent study from Accenture on the future of work found that 63% of high-growth companies have already adopted a “productivity anywhere” workforce model. With the right resources, the report states, people can be productive and healthy in any environment – remote, onsite or a hybrid model.
A cohesive, people-centered culture can be a cornerstone of your organization regardless of where your people are based. It has to be nurtured. Encouraging different types of meetings – from virtual all-hands to team huddles and 1:1’s with members of the company’s C-suite is one great way to actively foster and facilitate that critical sense of connectedness.
As important, workplace leaders need to ensure equal experiences for their employees, regardless of where they choose to work. It’s a question of equity. Flexible work facilitates ease of use and convenience. It means matching each employee to the right workplace for the task at hand, when and where needed. But it also requires making certain every collaboration experience is inclusive, secure, and engaging as it can be.
As offices continue to reopen, they’re being used in very different ways than they were prior to the pandemic. Embracing hybrid work models, where employees work some days at home, some days in the office, and some days in third spaces that combine the best of both worlds, is proving to be an effective blueprint for the future of work.
The benefits of working from anywhere can be a boon to your business, too. Workplace freedom is more than a policy matter. It’s really about transformational change. Harness the power of the hybrid movement to rethink the way your company hires and retains workers and prepare to reap the benefits in the new normal and beyond.
At LiquidSpace, our mission is to empower organizations to give their employees the freedom and choice to work from anywhere. To learn about how the hybrid world’s only complete, end-to-end enterprise grade workplace management solution can benefit your workforce and your business, contact us or visit LiquidSpace.com/Enterprise.