Despite hybrid working being here for a while, a whopping 72% of businesses still lack a tangible hybrid strategy according to AT&T. We've asked industry leaders about their insights and thoughts about the new paradigm and what they imagine we should consider and incporprate when planning ahead:
Nicky Regazzoni
Co-Founder & Co-CEO at The PR Network
I’m excited to see how the evolution of the metaverse will affect working environments and cultures.
Web3 brings the opportunity to create dynamic virtual worlds where disparate workforces can feel closer to the business, whether they’re working in HQ or at home. We may see progressive companies start to use NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to offer access to town halls or seminars, where users can also find unique content to excite them about their company and help to build loyalty.
Helen Burgess
Employment Partner at Gateley Legal
It’s sad that it had to take a global pandemic for employers to realise that they could trust employees to work from home, or indeed anywhere other than the office. For years many employees, especially those with caring responsibilities, could see the benefits of occasionally working at home but employers were generally not accommodating. I would hope that hybrid working is here to stay and that it is embraced in all organisations where staff are able to do their jobs to an equally high standard away from the office.
Rahim Kassam
Head of Product Quality (TV Products) at Sky
Personally, I think Hybrid working is here to stay. The pandemic, for all the awful things we saw and experienced, did shift the mindset of a lot of companies in a positive way away from 'work is where you go' to 'work is what you do'.
Now, there will be certain roles and industries where hybrid working is not possible. That is a reality. However, for a large number of companies, it has been an opportunity to see how to leverage investments in technology to work more effectively remotely or in some cases, review and increase investment in technology to allow for remote working. The power has shifted from the company to the individual. With the skills shortage in this country and the abundance of companies now offering hybrid or pure remote working, if hybrid working is not something that is offered as a perk or benefit, that will count against you, regardless of the name or reputation of your organisation.
Hybrid working also allows companies to unlock the vast pool of amazing people up and down the country rather than being restricted to people who have the ability to travel into the office every day.
Marah Edelen
Director of US Print Sales at HP
I think we’ll see expansion, contraction, and a recalibration of values and styles continue to emerge; both from a company and employee perspective. Companies will pilot and test different strategies and employees will evaluate what works best for them and begin selecting companies based on balance, value, and purpose more and more.
Grant Spencer
Managing Director at MRJ Recruitment
Hybrid work will continue to evolve and integrate into our work lives. I think employees and employers throughout the last few years have both really seen the benefits that hybrid working brings, and I think it’s only going to continue to flourish and improve the output of teams.
Cathryn Hahn
Internal Marketing Manager at Strikepoint Media
I think we’ll see more companies leaning into remote work to keep top talent. That means we'll be ushering in new technologies to assist, up to and including working together in the metaverse in the not so distant future.
Connor Mylan Kunz
VP of Growth at Careswitch
Hybrid work is the future. Everybody has different needs and preferences, and that means allowing options for everyone to work in the way that best suits them. This is especially important as employee mental health increasingly becomes a focus for employers. Some people need the in-office interactions on a regular basis to feel fulfilled. Others (like me) are much healthier when they fully benefit from the flexibility and focus that comes from working at home. The employers that win in the future will be those that allow every employee the flexibility to work when and how they do their best work and feel most fulfilled.
Lee Rubin
CEO and Founder at Confetti
I think hybrid work will definitely be the status quo for tech companies or jobs that are computer facing.
As hybrid working evolves, so should our hybrid strategy.
In our upcoming course Leading Hybrid Teams we'll provide you with best practices, latest trends, and other leaders' insights into hybrid, as well as solutions to:
- handling conflict and employees feeling left out
- low engagement and productivity
- office vs remote division
Here's what our recent attendee thinks about this course:
"The course offered a range of practical tools for identifying and addressing the new issues arising from hybrid teams and blended working, and also provided a very accessible over-view of the academic thinking that supported the approaches discussed, which was helpful and thought-provoking. Like many managers, I'd postponed thinking too much about this, in the vague expectation of a return to the 'normality' of 2019...that's clearly not going to happen. Presented in a very clear manner, with good interaction/rapport with the vc/remote audience. Many thanks"
Book your place here: Leading Hybrid Teams
