Workplace wellbeing: Why hybrid working is here to stay
WORK-LIFE BALANCE: In a recent survey, 76% said working from home made their jobs easier and 96% said it made their lives easier. Picture: iStock
When we packed up our office supplies to work from home in March 2020, we assumed it was a temporary measure. We had no idea that two years later, many of us would be asking ourselves if we wanted to return to the office at all.
The pandemic shifted our priorities. That’s according to Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index. This study of 31,000 workers from 31 countries found that 52% were more likely to value health and wellbeing over work than they were pre-pandemic. And 47% were more likely to put family and personal life before work.
The National Remote Working Survey carried out by NUI Galway paints a more detailed picture of what’s happening in Ireland. More than 8,400 employees were asked about their current experience of remote working.
“It’s our third annual survey and each has shown a sustained desire by workers to work remotely for some or all of the time post-pandemic,” says Alma McCarthy, professor of public sector management at NUI Galway.
Before Covid, 58% of respondents had never worked remotely. But when they tried it, 76% said working from home made their jobs easier and 96% that it made their lives easier.
“The top advantages were greater flexibility and reduced commuting time and cost,” says McCarthy. “Many even reported increased productivity.”
People don’t want to part with these benefits now that it’s possible to return to the office — 30% said they would change jobs if their remote working preferences were not facilitated, with 33% of those reporting that they would do so even if it meant a pay cut.
The new normal
There’s no going back to the nine-to-five deskbound job, says Professor Margaret Hodgins who lectures on the postgraduate certificate in health promotion in workplace wellness at NUI Galway. “Eighteen per cent of the workforce undertook some of their work remotely in 2018,” she says. “This increased to 68% in October 2020 and more than 90% of those showed a strong preference for continuing to work remotely. It’s unlikely we will ever return to the way we worked pre-pandemic.”
Associate professor in organisational behaviour at Trinity College Dublin Wladislaw Rivkin believes the flexibility offered by remote working is why we don’t want to return to our offices.
“Working remotely, they can arrange their day as they like, going for a midday jog if they want,” he says. “We all want to be the authors of our own lives and giving people autonomy in how they shape their work and time is a big way of contributing to that.”
Companies like Spotify may have decided that employees will continue working remotely but others have been more reluctant. In March 2021, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon declared that working from home would not become the ‘new normal’ for the investment bank. He wanted people back at the office.
He’s not alone. Microsoft statistics show that 50% of businesses plan for staff to work full-time in the office in the year ahead.
Irish employers may be more open to negotiation. Research conducted by the business representative group IBEC in 2021 found that 62% of companies were planning a hybrid model, where some or all employees worked from home for some of the time.
The National Remote Working Survey is even more encouraging for those who enjoy remote working. Of the 50% of respondents whose organisations had confirmed how they would work in future, 61% had adopted a hybrid model, 30% a remote working model, and only 9% had decided that everyone should work fully on site.
Claire Hellen, IBEC’s HR strategy specialist, thinks this is because Irish employers realise it’s what workers want. “Talent attraction and retention is the top priority for CEOs and IBEC’s research shows that hybrid and remote working is a key tool for achieving this,” she says.
Sharing skills
So why are some business leaders against it? Goldman Sachs’s Solomon has said that remote working doesn’t allow for the development of a collaborative, innovative business culture. He also thinks it’s detrimental for those at an early stage of their careers as they miss out on the mentorship provided by colleagues.
Na Fu, associate professor in human resource management at Trinity College Dublin, sees his point. “Employers want to create and maintain a culture of people working together as a team, sharing skills and perspectives,” she says. “This is hard to do when people work remotely. Interpersonal connection also helps people to feel part of a company and its culture. It helps with the exchange of knowledge too. A quick chat in the corridor can solve a lot of problems more quickly than an email exchange ever could. We’ve been missing this by working from home and it’s a big loss.”
Hellen identifies other potential drawbacks to working from home. “Remote workers may be negatively impacted due to reduced visibility in the workplace which can affect career and technical advancement,” she says. “They can also feel isolated.”
Microsoft’s research backs up her view. Some 37% of those it canvassed in Ireland said they felt lonelier working from home. Another 37% found creativity and innovation were more difficult.
It’s a dilemma. Workers want the flexibility of remote work yet miss interacting with colleagues. Employers appreciate the importance of offering remote work to attract talent but identify significant disadvantages to such working arrangements.
Fu thinks the solution to this conflict starts with consultation. “People need to be shown the purpose of returning to the office and this means including them in the decision-making process,” she says. “The decision about how to return to work should be taken collaboratively through focus groups and surveys, the results of which should be shared with everyone.”
Rivkin agrees: “Companies implemented remote working polices as a reaction to Covid,” he says. “It was an emergency and there wasn’t time for consultation. There is now. They have time to ask if they want everyone back in the office, working remotely, or on a hybrid basis. Why do they want this? And how can they make it work? By making the purpose of what they are doing clear and involving employees in finding solutions, they maximise their chances of success.”
IBEC confirms that Irish companies are already doing this. “Teams are working together to design hybrid work models that maximise the benefits of on-site attendance and allow staff to undertake focused independent work at home,” says Hellen. “Employers are ensuring that staff members are on-site for a specific purpose and that there is a clear value to their attendance.”
Team building is being prioritised. “Companies are arranging team lunches and other activities on days that teams are on-site to strengthen relationships and networks within the workplace,” says Hellen. “Office space is also being redesigned to support these on-site team activities.”
Business leaders have to accept that hybrid working is here to stay, according to Hodgins. “Now is the time for organisations to take stock and explore how to support workers to undertake at least some work remotely while balancing the impact of this on organisational culture, staff engagement, creativity, and innovation,” she says.
Fu urges employers to see it as an opportunity. “First we had the great reshuffling as we adjusted to working from home,” she says. “Then there was the great resignation as many quit their jobs. Now, we’re embarking on the great evaluation. It’s a chance for us to re-evaluate our work cultures and to take time to decide how we want to work in future. This conversation between employers and employees needs to begin now. If it doesn’t, we will have lost a great opportunity.”
In-person meetings
Mary Malone understands how hard it can be for an organisation to look after its staff when not all of them are in the office. She previously held the role of wellbeing coordinator and staff engagement officer at the Central Statistics Office, Cork, and is now field survey staff manager, a role that involves supporting more than 100 survey interviewers nationwide.
Pre-pandemic, the CSO’s wellbeing programme amounted to organising initiatives like healthy meal options in the staff canteen, fitness classes at lunchtime, and regular wellness talks and presentations.
“Working from home changed everything,” says Malone. After health and safety accommodations had been made to home-based workstations, her priority was ensuring that staff maintained a high level of engagement.
Technology helped with this, as the likes of Zoom and MS Teams allowed staff to meet virtually. In some ways, it was an improvement on in-person meetings.
“It made it possible for more employees — including those who would previously have been unable to attend on-site events — to access and avail of presentations and initiatives,” says Malone. “With many events being recorded and made available after the live event, there was more flexibility and autonomy for everyone.”
The CSO continues to use this technology alongside its current work policy, requesting staff to attend the office for a minimum of two days a week. “We now have a blend of people attending in person and through virtual meeting rooms,” says Malone.
Since March 2020, Malone has maintained regular contact with the teams she works with. “This ranges from facilitating one-to-one chats, group discussions and fortnightly information sessions about a range of topics to sending out quarterly newsletters, sending links and reminders to encourage attendance at wellbeing talks and initiatives, inviting suggestions and advocating to have those suggestions implemented, if at all possible,” she says.
“I want everyone to feel part of the organisation even if their work may essentially be that of a lone worker.”
She believes hybrid working is here to stay. “Done right, it can ensure a fair and equitable working environment that works well for everyone.”
There are pitfalls to be avoided though. “Resourcing staff with the tools they need to work efficiently at home and in the office is critical,” she says. “Training in new technology needs to be part of that. Providing training in distance management for line managers would be a good investment in the long term too as they are often the only link between organisations and employees in this new work environment.”
Malone thinks teams should work together to make hybrid working a success. “For me and the people I work with, we all share tips and lessons learned. Personally, I’ve learned the importance of planning, scheduling face-to-face meetings, and networking with people to make the most of those days I’m in the office.”
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