The times they are a changin'

And fast, with so many questions Hybrid, remote or on-site? Where should employees be asked to work? In which environments will they thrive? According to a recent LinkedIn Workforce Confidence survey 56% of UK professionals say they'd prefer either hybrid or remote work. Flexibility versus Visibility

It’s well established that the pandemic forced the remote work experiment that had been mooted for years, but not many were brave enough to implement it – until they had to. And in many cases it proved very successful. Here are the statistics:

• Prior to the Covid pandemic in 2019, 4.7% of UK employees worked from home
• By April 2020, 46.6% of employees did at least part of their job from home
• In 2022, a quarter (25%) of UK employees worked from home at least some of the time, and 13% worked from home all of the time Source: Forbes Remote Work Statistics

Many organisations cited increased productivity with hybrid working during the pandemic which could be aligned to; flexible working hours, introverts thriving by working from home, fear of losing your job, or increased workload/expectation due to furlough.

Fortunately lockdown is well behind us now but the legacy has presented some major challenges in determining how and where we work. There are many benefits in returning to the office:

Communication and Culture

So many younger people finished their education and started new jobs, from their bedroom. Working in an office environment can be a strange new world where you need to learn new ways to communicate and to understand company culture. One of the most effective ways to do that can be by being in the office.

Learning

It can be massively underestimated how much you learn by osmosis, overheard conversations, the ability to immediately ask a question or seek help (rather than an endless wait for a response to an email) and those water cooler conversations that can inspire great ideas.

Networking

Inevitably it is easier to meet and develop relationships when you see people on a regular basis, travelling to and from office spaces, in meetings, by the vending machine etc.

But an increasing number of employees want the option to work hybrid. I guess it comes down to the role, aligned to the personal and corporate needs.

It is worth noting that productivity is based on a combination of ability, personality and motivation relative to the role. Understanding the personality traits and motivators of any individual helps to indicate the role and working environment in which they will thrive; hybrid, remote or on-site. There are many tools out there to help you measure personality and motivation - the trick is knowing which ones will give you the information you need, and more importantly what that data means in the context of a specific role and your organisation.

Using unique combinations of accurate assessment and consultancy, at GFB we support our clients in understanding their people, helping them to hire and develop individuals that will thrive in their chosen work environment.

If you would like to understand more or talk through any strategies your are working on, get in touch:

Email info@gfbgroup.com or Call +44 (0) 333 090 2580