Should you consider hybrid working?

Looking forward

Now that we are moving out of the coronavirus pandemic, many employers are considering how their staff will work in the future. For some, permanent homeworking will have proved successful and they decide to continue with it.

However, this type of arrangement won’t suit every employer and every employee. An alternative option is emerging: hybrid working .

What’s hybrid working?

In this scenario, employees work the hours and in the locations which best suit them. Unlike with a flexible working arrangement, which is usually a set pattern, hybrid working is fluid and unique to each employee.

For example, some employees prefer more time in the workplace, with the odd day or two at home whereas others are more productive if they work remotely for most of the time, only attending the workplace when a need arises, e.g. for a team meeting, training, etc.

Evolving pattern

Another feature of hybrid working is that it can change over time, depending on the employee’s needs, personal situation or other factors. One example is that an employee may choose to work more hours from home during the school holidays.

An employee may also prefer more homeworking in the winter months to avoid commuting in poor weather.

Hours to suit

A hybrid worker also works the hours which suit them personally. This might be because of childcare or other responsibilities or simply because they work better at certain times of the day, e.g. some of us are more productive in the early morning and others prefer a later start.

No two hybrid working systems will be the same and in any workplace they can change from day to day and week to week.

Any control?

For this reason, some employers aren’t keen to investigate or implement hybrid working . However, one of the common misconceptions about hybrid working is that employers have no control whatsoever over how, where and when their employees work, but this is incorrect.

Whilst the employee is the one setting their working pattern and place of work, you can still retain control over the times that they attend and when they do/don’t carry out their work.

Tip. If you have a weekly or monthly team meeting an employee can’t say to you: “ I won’t be there - it doesn’t suit me” . You can make it a condition of hybrid working that they attend your premises when so requested.

Tip. You can also make it a condition that employees advise you about their intended working hours and locations in advance, not on the day in question. The key to successful hybrid working is setting out clear expectations and having open channels of communication.