There’s nothing like a global pandemic to make people take stock of their priorities.
Workers, in general, are reportedly happier with their newfound working from home freedoms, with one survey by Forbes suggesting that up to 97% of people don’t want to return to the office full time.
This mass preference for working from home is no longer a nice-to-have for employees either. It’s non-negotiable. Nearly half of employees responding to a recent survey went so far as to say they’d rather quit than stay working for a company that didn’t extend its remote working policy beyond the end of the pandemic.
So, making provisions for longer term remote or hybrid working is something organisations now need to consider urgently. According to Microsoft, “41% of employees are considering leaving their current employer this year, and 46% say they’re likely to move because they can now work remotely.” Which means, if you’re looking to retain or hire the best talent, setting your organisation up well for long term remote or hybrid working is a no-brainer!
41% of employees are considering leaving their current employer this year, and 46% say they’re likely to move because they can now work remotely.
This shouldn’t really come as a huge surprise to employers – since working from home, employees have reported improvements in health, wellbeing, and overall satisfaction, as well as taking fewer sick days. Not commuting has saved them time, stress, with many reporting an improvement in work/life balance, though this extra time has arguably also netted organisations extra working hours for free.
And that’s not the only benefit reaped by organisations - the financial advantages of reduced office overheads aren’t to be sniffed at, staff are generally more productive thanks to fewer interruptions, and teams can work in more flexible and agile ways.
Now the UK government has formally rescinded its working from home order, and organisations wrestle with what the ‘new normal’ looks like; why not capitalise on these unexpected benefits by embracing hybrid working by design, rather than out of necessity?
Put simply, hybrid working is a flexible working arrangement where employees split their working time between the office and remote locations. There’s no reason why long-term hybrid working can’t be as successful as office-based work. All it requires is planning and the right technology.
With the right IT infrastructure, teams can work seamlessly while split between the office and remote locations. Cloud-based systems mean shared documents can be accessed, collaboratively worked on, and saved in real time, no matter when or where they are accessed. And the move from traditional telephony to video conferencing , means that meetings in the conference room can be joined from anywhere.
Of course, ensuring that systems and data are secure both locally and remotely is of the utmost importance. Reassuringly, integrated tools such as Windows 365 come with built in security as standard, but there are many additional ways of layering your security measures to protect your people, your systems, and your data more effectively than ever before.
If you’re ready to fully embrace hybrid working, get in touch to see how our expert team can help you create a seamless and safe digital working environment for your people, wherever they are.
