Many companies and employees are still searching for the right balance between working from home and in the office. Hybrid working won’t disappear anytime soon, but it can’t be captured in a single formula.
If Dolly Parton’s song 9 to 5 were released today, it wouldn’t be as popular as it was in 1980. Society has changed drastically in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic made remote work a necessity, and it has since become a habit that many employees don’t want to give up.
Today, COVID is just an unpleasant memory, but the impact the pandemic has had on work is lasting. Full remote work has evolved into hybrid working for most companies, where employees divide their time between home and the office. There is no single right way to do this, as quickly becomes apparent during a roundtable organized by ITdaily about hybrid working.
Matter of trust
A survey of the five panel members about the hybrid working policy in their organizations yields as many different answers. At the table are Elizabeth Callens, Product Manager at Barco, Koen Van Beneden, Managing Director HP Benelux, Kristof Willems, Head of Product Management Benelux for Samsung, Peter Van Hoof, Operations Director BIS Econocom, and Femke De Vleeschouwer, Chief People Officer for Teamleader.
“At HP, the focus is on trust”, Van Beneden opens the debates. “We have diverse roles and international functions, working at all possible times and locations. We give employees the trust to determine where and when they can work best. Creating opportunities to bring people together motivates them more to come to the office than making it mandatory”.
Free Food on Fridays
The rest of the table nods in agreement. “We apply a 3-2 rule, but it’s flexibly implemented within teams. Some prefer to work entirely in the office, others want to work more from home. Social control can be a motivator for the office, but productivity is flexible. Forcing doesn’t work”, says Callens. “It’s sometimes a challenge for HR to get people to come to the office”, adds Willems.
Teamleader has found an original solution for this. De Vleeschouwer: “On Fridays, we offer free food. We see an effect when you give something in return, as Friday is the most popular day. Furthermore, we place the responsibility on managers to determine what works in their teams. It also has to be worthwhile for the employee to make the commute”.
Cross-pollination
Finding the ideal balance between home and office work didn’t go smoothly for everyone. “We felt that the cross-pollination between teams was lacking and that working from home created distance. That’s why we reversed our policy last year to four days in the office”, testifies Van Hoof. “We do as many meetings as possible in person. But the time employees spend in the office is flexible. If someone wants to leave earlier to beat traffic and continue working from home, that’s possible”.
“People can become disconnected from the organization if they work entirely remotely”, De Vleeschouwer agrees. “But too often, business leaders try to get employees to come to the office from a controlling idea. Not everyone can focus equally well in an office space, and then it can be counterproductive. This is still not thought about enough: give employees the freedom to choose their focus moments”.
Callens: “We conducted an internal survey on employees’ motivation to come to the office. The connection with colleagues and the chat at the coffee machine were given as the main reasons. But in reality, people sit behind their desks with headphones on. We feel what we want, but it doesn’t always come out in practice”.
“For us, it’s the rule to sit together in a meeting room as much as possible during meetings. Working together in the office offers little added value if everyone is wearing headphones”, says Willems.
Everyone Equal
There’s even a hint of nostalgia for the corona era. “I feel that meetings were more efficient during COVID. Everyone had the same image and the same audio. In hybrid meetings, it’s often the meeting room that dominates”, says Callens.
De Vleeschouwer agrees. “One person remote and the rest in a meeting room doesn’t always work well. When everyone in the meeting is remote, everyone has the same limitations. That might seem a bit antisocial, but in some situations, it’s convenient”.
“It’s important to actively involve everyone in the meetings, especially those following remotely”, Van Beneden believes. “Technology can make a big difference here. Small things like turning on your camera often lead to better meetings”.
“I really call people out on this. Turning off the camera increases the distance in a meeting. You have no idea if the person you’re talking to is paying attention. During the integration between BIS and Econocom, we noticed that the culture around this can differ greatly within teams and organizations”, Van Hoof adds.
The Ideal Office (Doesn’t) Exist
The role of the office has changed, but that hasn’t made it less important, on the contrary. The office is now a place of encounter, although not every office space is equally attractive. “Many organizations are still stuck with pre-COVID infrastructure”, Willems points out the sore spot.
Van Beneden agrees: “Office spaces need to be adapted to the current reality, and that’s a struggle for many organizations. Some people have difficulties in a classic office setup. The ability to create a setup that you don’t have at home should be a reason to come to the office. It’s the responsibility of employers to provide a place where everyone can work in pleasant conditions. But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution”.
read also
More productivity and less physiotherapy: the importance of the right equipment for hybrid work
“The corona pandemic has exposed many issues. Younger generations are asking for more adaptations for diversity and inclusivity. To attract them and get them to come to the office, you’ll have to evolve with that”, says Callens.
“The switch is slowly starting to happen”, Van Hoof observes. “Previously, bigger was better, now there’s more demand for smaller spaces. The situation is different for each company: some need more collaboration, others work more independently. It’s a matter of offering what your company needs. That can only be done if you measure how spaces are used and talk about it with your people. That way you can make adjustments”.
9-To-5
There isn’t one success formula that can be cut and pasted in every organization. Every company is different, so everyone will have to work out their own recipe. This will require an effort from both employers and employees to meet each other halfway. Not just about where they work, but also about when.
“Does something like a ‘hybrid mindset’ exist? I don’t think so. Some are more or less willing to change, you have to be flexible in that. The government policy to limit work outside hours can, in my opinion, actually cause more stress”, says De Vleeschouwer.
“We try to work in blocks as much as possible, but if employees have appointments in between, we allow it if they make up the work in the evening. But now there’s pushback from the government that people shouldn’t receive emails after 6 PM. We try to make it clear to our people that they shouldn’t feel attacked if they still receive an email in the evening. An email is not urgent. If it’s urgent, pick up the phone and call”, concludes Van Hoof.
“The legislation is aimed at a Belgian perspective that every organization works from nine to five, but doesn’t take into account companies in an international context. It’s better to equip your people to determine the boundaries for themselves”, says Van Beneden.
Does something like a “hybrid mindset” exist? I don’t think so.
Femke De Vleesschouwer, Chief People Officer Teamleader
Showboats
“Flexibility can actually lead to more competition because people have different work hygiene”, Callens notes. “The ‘showboats’ might then win over people with a healthier mentality, or make them feel that they too need to be a showboat to advance”.
“Managers have an important role in making this open for discussion. It should be about content and not about outward appearances”, adds De Vleeschouwer.
Will hybrid working remain? The answer to that question is a clear yes for Van Beneden. “There is no technical work-related motivation to switch back to full-time office work. But the idea of full remote is also disappearing quickly. Every job is different”.
This is the first editorial in a series of three on the topic of hybrid working. Click on our theme page to see all the articles from the roundtable, the video and our partners.