08/07/21

What is hybrid working?

Hybrid working is when a business employs a mix of people who work from the company’s offices and those who will be permanently working from home – or a mix of the two.

It is a form of flexible working that has been adopted by many businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that many employers plan to continue with even when restrictions are lifted.

What are the benefits of hybrid working? 

Moving to a hybrid option requires new ways of working and the creation of associated policies and practices, which can mean greater demands on managers and organisations – but there are many benefits.

  • Reducing site and facilities costs
  • Enabling employee wellbeing and supporting diversity and inclusion.
  • Greater ability to focus with fewer distractions
  • Saved commuting time and costs
  • Higher levels of motivation
  • Reduced absence rates

As flexible working has become so widespread – and welcomed by employees – organisations who do not support flexible forms of working may risk increased employee turnover and limitations on the ability to attract new employees in the future. 

How do we, as an IT company, support hybrid businesses?

If you are planning to introduce hybrid working as a permanent arrangement for your company you need to agree on an overall strategy for your business and develop a policy and supporting guidance to reflect that strategy.

IT should be on that list. When it comes to IT systems they feature in a wide variety of aspects when hybrid-working:

Communication – how will you share information with employees across the organisation and what systems will be used? Will they have the internet required at their home base for the system you will be using?

Working together – will you use a cloud system that allows employees to log in from wherever they are? What security measures will you have in place to protect the data they will be working with?

Technology – what will you do if an employee working at home has an issue with their technology? Do you have a team that can work on that outside of the office?

As a company that remotely supports businesses we are ready and prepared to step in and support those businesses moving to a hybrid way of working – but it is important to involve us in the planning as well as the implementation….so we can make sure that you can hit the ground running.