Communication needed for hybrid operating to work – Image from iStock
Hybrid work can mean widely different things in practice to groups of employees, according to a report by a university.
The research-led guide into effective hybrid working, carried out by the University of Leeds states that working arrangements that are optimal for one sector of an organisation’s workforce may be incredibly detrimental to others.
As such, it is crucial that organisations recognise the need to maintain communication lines with their staff so that they can work together to find "an effective way forward". This will help to avoid misalignment between the priorities of employers and their employees, say the researchers. It also ensures that staff feel listened to – supporting both employee output and general wellbeing at work.
The researchers say it is "important that organisations have opportunities to think through, define and agree the different aspects of success together". This could include clear and agreed metrics that reflect individuals’ and organisational needs. This can make it easier to think through alternative scenarios, and their implications for the wider organisation systems, including any trade-offs that might need to be considered, and contingencies to mitigate these.
The research concludes that "a crucial note on future workplace design is that there is no one-size-fits-all" because "different scenarios will have pros and cons".
It states that organisations "need to consider each of the socio-technical aspects in relation to the objectives they are trying to achieve, together with the specific circumstances and constraints under which they adopt the new scenario".
Researchers from organisational psychology, information systems and engineering carried out the study because it is key to take "a broad view of what is happening in practice to join up the dots between the management practices, employee perspectives, new technologies and workplaces being adapted".
This is the first of two reports that will share key findings and suggestions for how to "think about the challenge of adapting organisations to hybrid and more flexible ways of working". This first report explores the trade-offs involved, provides a socio-technical framework to approach change and provides data and insights into employee responses to different workplaces and ways of working. The second report, to be published in September 2022, will share more findings from analysis of employee diaries, surveys and social network analysis from different offices.
