With changing times of work, technology, and industries adopting newer ways of working, the hybrid model is emerging as a revolutionary development, leading to a perfect balance between flexibility, productivity, and sustainability.

What is the Hybrid Work Model?

The hybrid work model is a modern approach to companies that combines remote and in-office work, allowing employees to enjoy and split their time between working at home and attending the office when needed. This working model has helped in sustainability in the workplace by swiftly increasing the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reasons.

How Has the Hybrid Work Model Helped Build a Sustainable Workspace?

A hybrid workspace is helping to adapt newer ways of working by offering employees certain changes and is also offering a change in the workplace in many ways:

• Lowering The Travelling Emission:
  It helps in lowering the need for travel every day, which reduces carbon emissions during transportation, leading to an eco-friendly initiative by the companies. This initiative is helping a lot of companies economically as well. The International Energy Agency conveys that “Working for just one day or a week from home during an average year, the overall energy saved from less traveling is around four times larger than the increase in the residential energy consumption.
• Saving the energy
  Remote work can increase energy savings because the work-from-home culture typically uses much less energy than that of traditional office environments. Some of the studies relating to the same by the engineering consulting firm have suggested that, based on a study of 200 UK-based employees, that WKH in summer and in the office over winter is the most productive way to reduce carbon emissions. It saves around 400 kg of carbon emissions. Home working staff lowers the carbon emissions from their transportation, which is a great reason for saving energy.
• Minimizing Office Footprint
  More occupancy at the office has been reduced with the WKH of the employees and has led to a decrease in the environmental impact of the workplace. Real estate cost savings from minimal office space utilization can also support sustainable growth in a company. Companies are taking care of people, the planet, and profit by using their space in an effective way to reduce their carbon footprint responsibly and sustainably.
• Efficient Workspace
  The traditional form of workspaces is being replaced with modular collaborative spaces that accept the dynamic workforce needs and demands, making the office a more interactive space to get comfortable and more resource-efficient. According to the ESG, or the environmental, social, and governance analytics, buildings are responsible for around 40% of global energy consumption and 33% of greenhouse gas emissions. Offices are built and used under the maximum limelight.
• Enhancing Productivity
  Every company has a major concern about productivity for every individual in a workspace. Considering that, it is observed that when working remotely from the office, employees are free from every kind of distraction and interruption. When there is less disruption, the outcome is clearer and more efficient. When the employees are productive, they work faster and more efficiently, leading to more rapid growth of the company.
• Increasing the Well-being of an Employee
  A hybrid work model can help maintain employee well-being by reducing stress and fostering a better and healthier work-life balance. Ensuring a healthier work-life for the employees creates a trustworthy environment, and a bond between all the colleagues leads to a more productive and sustainable workspace.

Contribution of the Hybrid Workculture During Covid-19

The hybrid work culture has emerged as a major success and support for companies during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting the continuation of work, ensuring safety, and increasing productivity in the most unpredictable and uncertain times. Converting in-office work to remote workspaces for organizations that have successfully navigated the crisis while reshaping the future of work.

• Business continuity was ensured by swiftly shifting the work culture to remote workspaces despite having lockdowns and other restrictions.
• Employee safety was the primary concern at the time of COVID-19, which was properly balanced by regular workflows and on-time salary payments, leading to more economic productivity among employers.
• Exceeding Workforce Inclusivity & Flexibility: With the creation of this new version of the combined workspace, companies expanded their hiring beyond their geographical boundaries and connected to more clients, to on-site and off-site, leading to global talent pools and promoting workplace diversity.
• Digital Transformation Acceleration: The evolution and need for remote collaboration have led to the rapid adoption of cloud-based tools and AI-driven solutions, and virtual communication platforms are driving innovation.
• Cost Efficiency: The offices saved a lot of expenditure on an employee by cutting off the need for transportation and infrastructure costs.

Disadvantages of the Hybrid Work Model

Every story has two folds. Similarly, every positive thing has its negative impact, which changes the work culture within an office and personal spaces as well. The hybrid work model, following the trend, also has some disadvantages that can be categorized by:

• Communication Barrier between the Colleagues: Due to the lack of physical presence, remote employees do not get the opportunity to communicate with the ones who are working on-site and vice versa. They couldn’t coordinate with the employees and work differently. The lack of proper Wi-Fi strength and neighbours’ howling during the meeting leads to more disruption in communication.
• More Employee Collapses: If there is no track kept on work timings of the remotely working employees than those of the on-site workspaces, then it can cause a lot of employees to burn out, making them feel insecure regarding their work time schedules and overload of the works with fewer breaks than that of the on-site folks. They might feel guiltier for taking personal time off in the afternoon and overdoing their work after office hours as well.
• Challenge During Keeping up with Hybrid Schedules: It becomes very difficult to cope with the remote employees’ schedules, as they might run into resourcing issues. It will be tough to choose the on-site employees for a certain project.

Conclusion

The hybrid work model has undeniably redefined the way businesses work, contributing a mixture of flexibility, productivity, and determination to work harder. As with many of the new inventions hybrid model of working also comes up with a lot of challenges, including communication gaps, employee isolation, Cybersecurity risks, and maintaining company culture. To reduce these challenges and to maintain the hybrid Work culture, a company must prioritize certain factors of ensuring clear communication through regular virtual meet-ups, engaging with their work-life, and strengthening the concern of cybersecurity concerns to secure access to the company resources.
As a software and business trends company, we support the culture of Hybrid work models with smoother workflows for employees. Want to know more about how we maintain a work-life balance and constant communication with our employees? Follow the link and learn more about it!