Financial Blog

Nowadays, we can see that many offices have slowly started to welcome back their employees and are even considering restructuring their work culture, giving rise to the “hybrid work” setup. But what is it in the first place?

When the pandemic came, different organizations acted and adapted quickly to the sudden change. Lockdowns were implemented which hindered employees from working to work in the office. However, businesses should continue as usual.

At first, employees are mandated to work remotely 100%. But when the COVID-19 restrictions were finally lifted, more and more companies adapted to the hybrid work setup.

What is hybrid work?

Think of this as half working from home and a half working from the office. Hybrid work shifts from the traditional workspace model and allows employees the flexibility to work onsite and remotely from their homes or other places on any day of the week.

There are various types and models of hybrid work scheduling that companies can adopt, but the most common are the following:

1. Flexible hybrid work model – Employees can choose their own time and location according to their needs based on their projects or tasks
2. Fixed hybrid work model – The company can set a specific time and date where and when the employees can work from home remotely and work in the office physically
3. Office-first hybrid work model – The employees are required to work physically in the office but have the flexibility to select a few days in a week to work at home
4. Remote-first hybrid work model – The employees do remote work most of the time only occasionally visiting the office physically for collaboration, training, or team-building activities.

Any of these types and models affect and contribute to the productivity and motivation of the employees while working.

Read more: Work from home guide for beginners

How does this setup give value?

As more work in this day and age starts to lean towards being digital, we can expect the instances of remote jobs to increase. With this in mind, the flexibility and versatility of a hybrid workplace benefit the employees, employers, business, and environment.

Good mental health and better work-life balance

When employees have more control of their work schedules, they can set aside time to take care of personal things. This makes it easier to find balance and maintain good mental health.

Work when and where the employee is most productive

This means having more flexibility to get the work done when one is most productive. For instance, some employees work best during the day while others choose to work with their teammates. Some employees may even prefer to go to the office because it gives them more opportunities to focus on their work while the opposite may be true for some.

Reduce exposure to sickness

An ill employee will have the option to do remote work from home under a blended work arrangement and lower the chance of infecting others.

It improved employee satisfaction

Providing autonomy to the employees is key to satisfaction. Trusting that everyone is doing their best and making responsible decisions while working remotely will increase motivation at work.

Lower costs and saves time

A hybrid work arrangement allows employees to save expenses for their travel and food since they are remotely working. In fact, some office jobs these days can even be considered home-based jobs since oftentimes these can be online.

Contributes to the environment

More remote working jobs mean less transportation. This in turn reduces air pollution, which helps gradually heal the environment.

In conclusion

In these trying times, companies need to adapt to the new normal – the growing popularity of work-from-home jobs being one of its major effects. Hence, regardless of the kind, hybrid work models are built upon trust.

Companies need to discuss with their employees and ensure that their needs and well-being are tended to achieve a safe, healthy, and productive future.

In essence, we cannot deny the possibility of hybrid working as the future model of the workplace set-up.