Hybrid Working : Things To Consider
Published on June 8th, 2021 | by Sophie West
The pandemic has forced companies to operate in a different way than usual. The most common change has been employees suddenly being sent to work from home on short notice.
Before the pandemic hit, working from home for some people felt like a privilege and a reward, however nowadays it is becoming rarer for people to be working from the office.
But how do you manage returning to the office after the pandemic and do you want to go back to office working or continue to work from home?
Some employees are happy to continue working from home and not return back to the office, however most would prefer to have a ‘hybrid’ working model which compromises of both office and home working. A lot of companies are now considering the hybrid working and how it would work for them and their employees.
What is ‘hybrid working’?
Hybrid working is a relatively new term which essentially means a mixture of home working and office working. For example, an employee can work 2 days a week from the office and 3 days a week from home (based on 5 days a week).
Benefits of hybrid working:
Although the hybrid working model isn’t for every business or industry, it does have some benefits if your company is in a position to implement it.
One benefit of hybrid working is the work life balance it creates for your employees. Employees will save on commute time meaning they will get to spend more time at home with their loved ones once their workday is finished. However, this can sometimes be a catch 22 as some employees may struggle to switch off when the workday is finished. It is important that you ensure your employees are not overworking when working from home.
It also means employees will have more of an opportunity to undertake exercise, a fundamental part of health and wellbeing, physically and mentally. This will have a direct reflection on your absenteeism rates.
Additionally, employees will save money due to not having to spend on travel costs. In turn, this can potentially lead to higher motivation levels as they feel they have a degree of flexibility.
Things to consider:
Legal implications.
The word ‘legal’ sounds scary, but don’t panic! We just want to talk about contracts of employment. If an employee submits a flexible working request to work from home, you need to make a formal change to their terms and conditions of employment. This will also mean changing their place of work to their home address. You need to think about where employees can claim mileage/travel time from if their place of work is their home address.
You don’t necessarily have to change their place of work for hybrid working and can have the agreement on an informal basis, however it is recommended to put changes in writing to avoid any dispute later down the line.
Employees may also have to discuss working from home with their home insurance provider and mortgage provider/landlord.
It’s not for everyone.
We understand that hybrid working may not work for all organisations. For example, if you work in a factory, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to perform the role from home. In addition, some roles may benefit more from being in an office, for example, a highly active sales role may work better being surrounded by other sales people in an office environment.
Equipment.
In order for employees to work from home, they need to be provided with the right equipment. A laptop is usually efficient enough for employees to be able to work effectively from home. However depending on the job role and the results of a DSE assessment and home working risk assessment, some employees may need to be provided with screens, keyboards and a desk phone or mobile phone.
As well as the considerations above, you will also need to think about how you will manage employees remotely and their wellbeing. The impact of covid has had a serious effect on people’s mental health which may have cause employees to feel anxious about returning to work from the office. On the other hand, some employees may want to work from the office full time as working from home may influence their mental health negatively.
For more information about hybrid working, please feel free to contact us on 01527 571617 and speak to a member of our HR team or email hrsupport@agilityrac.com!
