The challenges of hybrid working

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world in early 2020, organisations were forced into significant changes in how they operated. We explored in our July edition last year how firms were beginning to think about the longer term implementation of hybrid systems. Since then, the challenges of such setups have become apparent.
 
In an article in the Financial Times, Stefan Stern outlines how companies are still finding it hard to maximise performance while attempting to balance home and office working. He argues that the complexities of the issue are so great that many are still in the process of trying to figure out how to integrate hybrid working into their operations. While some are fully committed to hybrid working, others, such as Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, have ended their flexible working policy, stating that staff work best in an office environment.
 
The impact on employees
 
Despite hybrid working being touted as the best of both worlds, giving employees greater flexibility while continuing in their current roles, time has proven that this is not universal. Emotional exhaustion among hybrid employees has risen according to an article in BBC Worklife, driven by constantly changing daily routines, digital presenteeism, and a blurring of the boundaries between home and work.
 
Martine Haas of the Wharton School also highlights the specific negative impacts hybrid working may have on women. She argues that the difficulties women face in the workplace regarding access to mentoring, questions around their commitment and getting their voices heard are exacerbated by hybrid working.
 
Deteriorating employer-employee relations
 
As well as deteriorating mental health, staff in hybrid situations no longer seem to be as loyal to their employers. With workers spending less time in the office, they develop less of an attachment to their colleagues and their employer as a whole.
 
Alongside this, unable to monitor completely what their employees are doing, employers are suffering from what Mike Thackray calls “a fear of not being in control.” As a result, employers are trying to get their workers back in the office more frequently, or are actioning a complete return to the office, now that COVID restrictions are long gone. This lack of trust from their employer, along with the inability to retain work/life balance they may have attained, creates a toxic work environment that employees don’t want to be in.