Four years after remote working was introduced into our reality, the majority of companies have managed to deal with some problems of hybrid work, such as the blurring of boundaries between professional and personal life. Other challenges, such as managing dispersed teams or a decrease in the sense of belonging, still require the development of effective solutions. In the latest edition of the report called “Hybrid and Beyond,” Colliers Define’s experts present how companies’ approach to hybrid work and the challenges associated with it has changed in recent years, and how the landscape of benefits and risks of remote work from the managerial cadre’s perspective has been shaped.
Key findings from the report:
– Currently, 96% of companies declare operating in a hybrid model.
– The percentage of companies operating predominantly from the office or opting for a 2-3 day remote working schedule is decreasing.
– Over the last 3 years, the percentage of companies declaring that they encourage employees to return to the office has remained at a similar level – between 60% and 64%.
– 88% of organizations encounter resistance when encouraging employees to return to the office.
Organizations are opting for a hybrid model
As the results of this year’s study “Hybrid and Beyond,” conducted by Colliers Define’s experts, show, up to 96% (from 92% recorded in 2023) of companies declare working in a hybrid model. Importantly, the hybrid model is not only becoming increasingly popular but also evolving.
“The percentage of companies that operate predominantly from the office or opt for a 2-3 day remote working schedule is steadily decreasing. The percentage of organizations that operate predominantly on a remote working basis also increased to 25% (an increase of 4 percentage points compared with 2023, and 9 percentage points compared with 2022). It is also very interesting that 15% of hybrid-working organizations have implemented diverse working models, flexibly juggling models according to their teams’ needs, an increase of 10 percentage points compared with 2023,” says Dorota Osiecka, Partner, Director at Colliers Define.
Work-life balance maintained
If in the early years of the pandemic one of the more frequently reported problems in “Hybrid and Beyond” surveys was the disruption of balance between work and personal life, this year, according to the managerial staff, difficulties in separating professional obligations from personal life are less visible. What’s more, according to respondents, remote work is no longer burdened with discomfort resulting from working in unsuitable conditions.
“Over the last few years, a lot has changed in both employees and employers’ approach to the hybrid work model. Home workplaces have significantly improved, often surpassing the ergonomics of office desks. Also, every second respondent declared that their organization had implemented rules regarding hybrid meeting hygiene, and 44% of respondents pointed out that their organization provides employees with tools for time management or priority setting,” explains Grzegorz Rajca, Associate Director at Colliers Define.
However, a rather small percentage of respondents (18%) have good practices related to asynchronous communication, such as the right to disconnect from company communication channels after a certain hour.
Greater opportunities
Among the advantages that employees and employers alike see in remote work is the greater independence of the workplace from the place of residence, which has significantly widened the recruitment field for HR departments.
“In the current survey, 34% of manager respondents declared that their organization employs remote workers living within a maximum of two hours travel to the office, and another 33% declares employing workers living anywhere in Poland. Another area where, in the opinion of the managerial staff, remote work had a positive impact, is employee retention. Implementing hybrid work leads to a reduction in staff rotation,” says Karolina Dudek, Associate Director at Colliers Define.
Challenges increasingly perceived
Remote work, however, also carries certain risks, which, according to Colliers Define’s research, have not changed in recent years. Some of them bother organizations more year after year.
“The main challenge still is the increasing workload on managerial staff. Managers must be able to move smoothly in an environment where team members work in different locations, with different schedules, and varying access to company resources. Also, the fluidity of a hybrid work organization requires constant re-evaluation and adapting of policies and practices. Solutions effective in one team may not work in another, forcing managers to continuously adapt their approach,” Rajca highlights.
Other hybrid risks mentioned by survey participants included: a low sense of team belonging (after 3 years of research, still indicated by 2 out of 3 respondents), poorer cooperation and information flow (reported by half of the respondents) and the negative impact of remote work on the organizational culture (41% of surveyed managers saw this risk in 2022, now it is already half of them).
Employers’ incentives unchanged, employees’ resistance growing
In the face of these difficulties, a significant part of the organizations whose managerial staff responded to the survey encourages employees to spend more time in the offices. This percentage has remained relatively stable over the last three years – between 60% and 64%. However, the percentage of respondents who declared that their organization encounters employees’ resistance regarding these actions has increased – in 2022, 66% of respondents noticed this phenomenon, now it is already 88% of them.
“The feeling of increasing resistance may result not so much from a growing percentage of employees opposing company policy, but from the fact that the ‘return to the office’ desired by management never really happened and more and more leaders see the discrepancy between the organization’s expectations and daily practice. We can see a kind of paradox here. Companies, wanting to prevent negative phenomena – such as the erosion of organizational culture, a decrease in efficiency or the sense of belonging – try to enforce more frequent presence in the office. However, employees respond to coercion and attempts to limit autonomy with passive resistance and a decrease in engagement,” says Dorota Osiecka.
Systemic approach
Coping with the above-mentioned risks requires more direct actions. When undertaking them, however, it is worth paying attention to two issues: the correct approach to the diagnosis of the organization and systemic thinking.
“Before making changes to the company’s functioning, it is necessary to take a close look at its structure and search for hybrid work challenges on two levels: the team and the organizational level. One also needs to be aware that implementing initiatives aimed at improving the situation in a specific area may have unforeseen and potentially negative consequences in another. For example, careless implementation of initiatives focused on raising individual employee efficiency can lead to a decrease in the level of cooperation. It is crucial to be aware of the impact seemingly narrowly targeted initiatives can have on the entire organization,” explains Dorota Osiecka.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/praca-hybrydowa-zyskuje-na-popularnosci-ale-firmy-wciaz-zmagaja-sie-z-wyzwaniami-25059
