Abstract
Hybrids are becoming the order of the day. The word hybrid came into existence to define the offspring of two dissimilar animals. Later, it was used to define plants that picked up the strengths of two varieties and displayed it together. Hybrids were popular in vehicles too. The pandemic that has struck the globe has accentuated the need for a hybrid framework at work. A hybrid work order relates to a flexible system whereby the employees are given the liberty to categorise their workdays between work from home and work from office. It was meant to reinvent traditional workplaces to improve productivity and reduce cost and employee attrition. Most of the organisations do not have the awareness or experience to implement the model. The chapter has examined the development of hybrid workplace models, its role in changing work dynamics, the major issues and challenges relating to its implementation, and a few insights on the best practices in the design and delivery of hybrid models.
TopIntroduction
The future of work and the workplace is at this intersection of technology, workforce, and workplace.
John Means, Partner, McKinsey
The COVID-19 pandemic has paved way for a plethora of changes with the global workforce trying to grapple with the new normal. Coping up has been the law of nature and mankind has been inventing and reinventing work practices as they transcend from the ‘surviving’ to the ‘thriving’ mode of work. One of the notable changes in the work environment resonates with remote work, wherein work from home (WFH) has become the order of the day across myriad sectors. Nevertheless, even before the influx of the pandemic, companies in the IT sector had adopted and implemented WFH. IBM introduced the concept of WFH on experimental basis involving five employees in 1979, and realized that they were able to minimise cost and grow in the bottom line of business. Since then, they have been continuing with WFH option, and there were other IT companies that followed suit. Few of the companies which had given this option to their employees, had offered it only on a need basis, as they were apprehensive about its effectiveness. However, the COVID-19 crisis forced many organizations to adopt this work model as a means of survival. In many cases, it was found that the employees’ engagement levels were high and had resulted in productivity enhancement. The Gallup survey conducted in January 2021 reported that the employees had a mixed opinion about the WFH model. It showed that 39% of the employees who were given this option, wished to return to the workplace, while 44% preferred to work remotely. In response to this, the companies came up with a hybrid workplace model. This chapter focuses on the emergence of the hybrid workplace model, its value to the organisation, preparedness of the Organisations to adopt hybrid workplace and the leadership skills required to take it forward successfully. These focus areas will make companies value the hybrid approach and adopt them to their advantage. This chapter can also be used by the academicians to create awareness about Hybrid Workplace model to the students.
TopBackground
Hybrid Workplace: A hybrid workplace is a flexible workplace model that is designed to support a distributed workforce both in-office and employees working remotely. It was allowed in organisations in rare cases before the COVID-19 pandemic, but now companies have decided to introduce this model on a temporary basis and may continue based on its effectiveness.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Culture: It refers to the behaviour that needs to be cultivated among people for the benefit of the organisation they belong to, which is generally acquired through learning or experience and transmitted to others through social learning.
Leadership: It is the process where a leader inspires and motivates his/her subordinates to act toward achieving a common goal.
Flexibility: A situation an individual employee encounters during the course of work in the organisation due to which he cannot follow the normal working conditions, but the organisation supports by allowing short-term changes to adjust and deal with the situation to continue with the tasks.
Cost Minimisation: It refers achieving the objectives of the organisation by optimum utilisation of resources.
Workplace Policies: It refers to the statements approved by the leadership team that acts as a framework that guides the thinking of Managers in decision making at workplace.
Employee Well-Being: It refers to the physical and mental health of employees resulting from work dynamics within and sometimes outside the organisation.
Technology: It denotes the sum total of all the skills, methods, processes, techniques etc., required to produce goods or services in order to achieve the objectives.
Remote Work: A type of flexible working arrangement that permits, an employee to work from remote location, away from office premises.
Work From Office: An office building that provides facilities and an environment that necessitates employees and managers to work during the prescribed working hours in a day.
Productivity: A ratio of output is to inputs within a given time period without compromising on quality.
Pandemic: An epidemic that can spread all over the globe.
Employee Attrition: It refers to employees parting from the organisation due to voluntary quits, termination, death, or retirement.