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What Is Hybrid Work And Why Is It Important?

27 May 2022

HubStar

After over two years working remotely, companies around the globe have jumped on the hybrid work bandwagon as they start to figure out their future of work in a post-pandemic world. Hybrid work, which has been called the “best of both worlds,” has gained a lot of popularity and publicity since the start of the pandemic and for good reason. By allowing employees to split their time between the office and home, companies are embracing the flexibility that employees became accustomed to while they worked remotely during the onset of the pandemic.

So, what exactly is hybrid work? Is it right for your business? How can you implement it successfully?

If you’re considering implementing hybrid work and you’re asking yourself these questions, then you’ve come to the right place. In this post you’ll learn everything you need to know about hybrid work to help you make the right decision for your company.

What is hybrid work?

Hybrid work is an employee-first, flexible working model where people divide their time between the office, their homes, or other remote locations such as a co-working spaces. Hybrid work revolves around flexibility and agility, which puts workers in the driver’s seat to make decisions about how, when and where they get their jobs done.

According to Webex, hybrid work “drives increased productivity and job satisfaction while addressing the major challenges of remote work, such as isolation and lack of community.”

By February 2022, over 80% of workers either worked entirely from home or had a hybrid work schedule.

Different hybrid work models

There’s no one-size-fits-all model for hybrid work, and there are different approaches to implementing it depending on your business’ needs.

There are five different models of hybrid work:

  1. Office-centric hybrid – most days in the office with one or two remote
  2. Fully flexible hybrid – employees choose when they’d like to work in the office
  3. Remote-friendly hybrid – certain groups of employees can work remotely
  4. Hybrid remote-office – employees can choose remote, flexible or office-centric options
  5. Remote (or virtual)-first – employees work remotely by default

Why hybrid work?

If you’re thinking about hybrid work, the first question to ask yourself is: why is this right for your company?  Let’s answer that question with some of the more commonly-cited reasons hybrid work has become a leading trend over the last two years.

First and foremost, research – including a survey done by Smartway2 about the return to work – has shown that workers crave flexibility, and only 2% want to return to the office full time. Because many employees spent two years showing they can perform their jobs effectively from home, employers have responded by allowing employees to continue doing so.

And according to an April 2021 survey of 2000 C-suite and non C-suite employees by WeWork,“75% would give up at least one benefit or perk, including healthcare coverage, cash bonuses, and paid time off, for the freedom to choose their work environment.”

Hybrid work also boosts employee well-being and productivity. For example, hybrid work allows for a better work-life balance by limiting the amount of time employees spend in their commuting to the office. 

AWA breaks down the advantages of a hybrid model into 3 categories: benefits for individuals, benefits for organizations and benefits for society.

Benefits for employees

  1. Improved well-being
  2. More disposable income from fewer commutes, meals out and more
  3. Increased mobility

Benefits for organizations

  1. Reduced real estate costs
  2. Improved worker productivity
  3. Improved retention rates
  4. Bigger talent pool
  5. Ability to grow head count without added space costs
  6. Improved visibility of senior leaders for employees

Benefits for society

  1. Reduced carbon footprint and emissions from daily employee commuting
  2. Higher employment rates, since location is no longer a barrier to work
  3. A healthier society, since employees as a collective are happier and healthier

How to make the switch to hybrid work

It’s a big decision for a company to make the transition to hybrid. While the adjustment period for employees will be made easier because of the remote work done during the pandemic, permanent hybrid work is still a culture change.

Before you take the leap, it’s imperative to understand how hybrid work will affect your business and employees.

Here are four of the most common challenges you might experience when switching to hybrid work permanently:

  1. Communication and collaboration barriers between management and employees
  2. Lack of safeguarding around employee wellbeing
  3. Failing to give employees at all levels a voice
  4. Unused real estate, which leads to wasted money

Making sure you have the right tech stack to for effortless communication, checking in with employees regularly, constantly asking for feedback and using data to understand how offices are being used are all ways to combat these challenges.

HubStar

27 May 2022

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"HubStar enabled us to save millions in operating costs while not only avoiding disruption, but improving employee experience."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"We will not make any meaningful real estate and workplace decisions without HubStar data."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"Team were very happy! Implementation was great. We were up and running in days."

gavel_88dp_FFFFFF

Law Practice

"Perfect fit. The application works very well, and the support given has been exceptional. This was originally required for desk booking, but the business quickly took to the system and have been requesting further functionality since."

oil_barrel_300dp_FFFFFF

Application Analyst @ Oil & Energy Company

"Brilliant solution for managing office space. We've been able to be proactive and intentional about making our office space work."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"Would 100% recommended. Our account manager is by far the best and most approachable person I've met on any contract I've worked on. Nothings is too much. They always have the answer and help make the changes we need and want. Having this type of customer service really makes a difference."

groups_300dp_FFFFFF

Facilities Manager @ Civic & Social Organization

"Support response and attention to detail is exceptional. Highly recommend as very good value for the investment. Staff find it easy to use and integration to Microsoft Outlook is great. Support is excellent."

volunteer_activism_300dp_FFFFFF

ICT Manager @ Nonprofit Organization

"What we've found most useful is the ability to customise the system to suit our needs. The rules and policy engine have allowed us to build in desk and room booking processes to communicate well with our team, and manage the space in our building."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"The standout features are it’s clean and simple interface, ability to integrate with Outlook and the simple way it can be deployed to the display screens outside our rooms, not to mention the high level of support that’s provided with the product."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"User-friendly interface, real-time reservations, and effective resource management improve productivity and space use. I use it everyday."

engineering_300dp_FFFFFF

Civil Engineering Company

"Very adaptable, highly featured and easy to use. I like the ability to address our very detailed requirements in a quick implementation with a modern, attractive user interface."

diamond_300dp_FFFFFF

Luxury Goods & Jewellery Company

"My favourite feature is the Outlook integration, as it enables our staff to book meetings in a familiar way. The bookings are automatically transferred without any extra steps for the end user."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"The system was so intuitive, we really didn’t need to give people a lot of training."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"The reporting has been brilliant."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"Employees need to be able to collaborate closely, working in one room. The office environment needs to align with this seamlessly. What that means for us is that we need to measure usage and occupancy rates and adjust the workspaces accordingly as needed."

Mark-van-Rijt

Mark van Rijt

Managing Director of Facility Management @ ABN AMRO Bank

"HubStar has removed so much admin from my daily to-do list. These days I only spend about an hour a week, covering six offices and 800 staff members. Before I was spending an hour a day messaging people back and forth! This means the system has cut the time I have to spend on managing bookings by 80%."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"There’s a tremendous range of reports that we use to measure capacity levels."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"The experience that users now have using HubStar is absolutely fantastic. The implementation went smoothly and our staff find the system really easy to use. The support I’ve had is phenomenal - incredibly knowledgeable about the product and so helpful. They’re second to none"

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"With the single push of a button, my team gains insight into spaces that are consistently underutilised and how many ‘no-shows’ have taken place"

wur-350x350-1

Fred Jonker

Information Services Policy Officer @ Wageningen University & Research

"I’d absolutely recommend HubStar. If someone asked me why, I’d say it simply does everything you need it to do. The feature set is rich and covers all the requirements that most organisations are likely to have."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"HubStar enabled us to save millions in operating costs while not only avoiding disruption, but improving employee experience."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"We will not make any meaningful real estate and workplace decisions without HubStar data."

Fortune 500

Global Real Estate Lead @ Fortune 500 Company

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"Team were very happy! Implementation was great. We were up and running in days."

gavel_88dp_FFFFFF

Law Practice

"Perfect fit. The application works very well, and the support given has been exceptional. This was originally required for desk booking, but the business quickly took to the system and have been requesting further functionality since."

oil_barrel_300dp_FFFFFF

Application Analyst @ Oil & Energy Company

"Brilliant solution for managing office space. We've been able to be proactive and intentional about making our office space work."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"Would 100% recommended. Our account manager is by far the best and most approachable person I've met on any contract I've worked on. Nothings is too much. They always have the answer and help make the changes we need and want. Having this type of customer service really makes a difference."

groups_300dp_FFFFFF

Facilities Manager @ Civic & Social Organization

"Support response and attention to detail is exceptional. Highly recommend as very good value for the investment. Staff find it easy to use and integration to Microsoft Outlook is great. Support is excellent."

volunteer_activism_300dp_FFFFFF

ICT Manager @ Nonprofit Organization

"What we've found most useful is the ability to customise the system to suit our needs. The rules and policy engine have allowed us to build in desk and room booking processes to communicate well with our team, and manage the space in our building."

5-3

Commercial Director @ Technology & Services Company

"The standout features are it’s clean and simple interface, ability to integrate with Outlook and the simple way it can be deployed to the display screens outside our rooms, not to mention the high level of support that’s provided with the product."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"User-friendly interface, real-time reservations, and effective resource management improve productivity and space use. I use it everyday."

engineering_300dp_FFFFFF

Civil Engineering Company

"Very adaptable, highly featured and easy to use. I like the ability to address our very detailed requirements in a quick implementation with a modern, attractive user interface."

diamond_300dp_FFFFFF

Luxury Goods & Jewellery Company

"My favourite feature is the Outlook integration, as it enables our staff to book meetings in a familiar way. The bookings are automatically transferred without any extra steps for the end user."

AEU

Evan Henderson

IT Officer @ AEU Victoria

"The system was so intuitive, we really didn’t need to give people a lot of training."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"The reporting has been brilliant."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"Employees need to be able to collaborate closely, working in one room. The office environment needs to align with this seamlessly. What that means for us is that we need to measure usage and occupancy rates and adjust the workspaces accordingly as needed."

Mark-van-Rijt

Mark van Rijt

Managing Director of Facility Management @ ABN AMRO Bank

"HubStar has removed so much admin from my daily to-do list. These days I only spend about an hour a week, covering six offices and 800 staff members. Before I was spending an hour a day messaging people back and forth! This means the system has cut the time I have to spend on managing bookings by 80%."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"There’s a tremendous range of reports that we use to measure capacity levels."

Russell-Group

Jeremy Wilson

Operations Manager @ Russell Group University

"HubStar allows us to see how space is being used and occupied, and helps us predict the space we’ll need going forward."

donna-porter

Donna Porter

Senior Space Manager @ Sheffield Hallam University

"The experience that users now have using HubStar is absolutely fantastic. The implementation went smoothly and our staff find the system really easy to use. The support I’ve had is phenomenal - incredibly knowledgeable about the product and so helpful. They’re second to none"

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis

"With the single push of a button, my team gains insight into spaces that are consistently underutilised and how many ‘no-shows’ have taken place"

wur-350x350-1

Fred Jonker

Information Services Policy Officer @ Wageningen University & Research

"I’d absolutely recommend HubStar. If someone asked me why, I’d say it simply does everything you need it to do. The feature set is rich and covers all the requirements that most organisations are likely to have."

tristan-drinkwater

Tristan Drinkwater

Facilities & IT Services Manager @ Exertis