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What is a hybrid workplace?
- A hybrid workplace involves a mix of remote work (at home) and working in the office.
What are the benefits of a hybrid workplace?
- Improved mental health and productivity of employees.
- Flexibility between working from home and the office.
- Lowered staff absenteeism – less chance of catching an illness in the office or less chance of an employee “taking a sickie”; a hybrid environment can mitigate this as the employee can work from home some days.
- Staff retention – less time and money spent on recruitment as employees are happy with the flexibility the employer offers and want to remain in the workplace.
- Cost saving benefits to employers – reduced office space, lowered electricity costs and less supplies needed such as stationery, furniture or computers.
- Allows for a better balanced diet, more time for physical activity and good sleeping habits and this equates to a healthy lifestyle and a more productive employee!
With all of these scenarios in the workplace, there are challenges as well. Some of the most common challenges as workplaces roll out the hybrid work environment:
- Challenges with maintaining regular contact with employees working from home;
- Ensuring a balanced input regarding work matters from both office and at-home employees;
- Not being aware of, or knowing how to deal with mental health issues concerning employees working from home. When people are not in front of you, it’s harder to measure that mental health and how they’re travelling, and some of those impacts include loneliness or feelings of isolation;
- Managing productivity levels, ensuring the same level of work is being done in the office and remotely;
- Ensuring employees do not become accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle. So, when they’re working from home, there’s less chance of them getting up and going for a walk or getting up and interacting with other employees—so, making sure there’s that physical break from work.
- And making sure that teamwork and collaboration does not decline.
So some considerations before you do implement a hybrid offering in your workplace.
- Employers need to set clear expectations regarding responsibilities and communication when working from home.
- The tasks to be undertaken by an employee are suitable to be performed at home.
- Fairness and consistency is applied to all employees whether they are working in the office or at home:
- if Managers work from the office and communicate more frequently with fellow office employees, the idea of employees working from home are not included as part of the team discussions needs to be excluded;
- need to avoid the “out of sight, out of mind” theory.
- Managing work performance and appraisals is fair and work productivity of each employee is assessed regardless of the location the work was carried out.
- Employers organise a social event to gather all employees for a catch up regardless of work location.
- The workplace has up-to-date and relevant policies and procedures in place available to all employees for example:
- Hybrid and Remote Working Policy; and
- Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy,
which sets out the guidelines and expectations of both employer and employee.
Requirements for a hybrid environment
WHS/Operational set up:
- Ensure employees carry out a WHS inspection of their home workspace to check for issues such as:
- potential trip hazards;
- adequate lighting;
- noise factors;
- working smoke detectors; and
- correct ergonomic workstation set up.
- Employers must follow up on any issues or concerns an employee raises in relation to working from home.
- Employers need to ensure employees working remotely have the necessary equipment to carry out their work tasks.
- Make certain WHS risks are constantly managed so far as is reasonably practicable:
- Repetitive tasks such as typing;
- Monitoring heavy workloads;
- Sitting for long periods of time,
and assessing if working from home could potentially lessen or mitigate these risks.
- Establish high priorities in relation to mental health and wellbeing and regularly check-in with hybrid employees to ensure they are not feeling isolated or lonely.
- Employers to promote and maintain internal employee communication by:
- Holding regular team meetings ie Zoom or Teams;
- Establishing regular one on one catch ups with individual employees.
- Adequate training and development is maintained in order to carry out work tasks safely.
- Employers to remind employees of their EAP or other counselling services.
Hybrid work policy:
- Implementing a remote and hybrid work policy protects both the employer and employee:
- It sets out the expectations, conditions and possible risks operating under a hybrid work model;
- It provides a reminder to both parties they have a duty of care to maintain work, health and safety standards;
- Responsibilities are clearly set out;
- It can serve as a reminder that support is available to employees through an EAP if applicable, or other counselling services such as Beyond Blue;
- The policy can provide an equipment checklist that employees acknowledge and complete that outlines which equipment is personally owned or borrowed from the employer; and
- The policy can include a risk assessment checklist for employees to identify any potential hazards or safety concerns in relation to their home workstation and report back to their employer who will then address those issues.
Managing WHS in a hybrid work environment
- All WHS requirements and obligations extend to the hybrid work environment!
- Employers are responsible for following up and resolving any WHS issues that are reported by the employee.
- General WHS issues within a home set up may include the following:
- Clear pathways and no tripping hazards ie extension cords;
- Correct ergonomic workstation set up;
- Sufficient natural light;
- Minimal noise disruptions;
- Adequate desk and chair;
- Working smoke alarms;
- Taking regular breaks; and
- Adhering to work hours and not working beyond them.
- More complex WHS issues may include:
- Bullying and harassment or sexual harassment;
- Injuries such as musculoskeletal, which can occur after prolonged sitting;
- Potential risk to domestic violence;
- Mental health issues such as isolation.
Managing the ‘disconnect’ from an employer’s perspective
- Below are some key tips to help manage employees working from home:
- Have a designated day or time to speak to the employee to ask how they are going;
- Introduce different ways to contact employees, ie phone call, zoom call, email;
- Introduce the idea of “live working sessions”;
- Regularly check workloads with employees;
- Promote social functions and invite all employees whether they are working in the office or at home;
- Ensure employee recognition is maintained ie employee of the month;
- Promote the EAP if one exists, or counselling services for employees to reach out if they have any issues with the disconnect from the workplace.
Case Study – How Google approaches a hybrid style of working as quoted by Google
A more flexible work week:
- “We’ll move to a hybrid work week where most Googlers spend approximately three days in the office and two days wherever they work best. Since in-office time will be focused on collaboration, your product areas and functions will help decide which days teams will come together in the office. There will also be roles that may need to be on site more than three days a week due to the nature of the work.”
More choice around where you work:
- “These changes will result in a workforce where around 60% of Googlers are coming together in the office a few days a week, another 20% are working in new office locations, and 20% are working from home.”
The future of a hybrid working environment
- Not everyone will be able to work hybrid as it depends on certain positions and how employees carry out their inherent requirements of the position but for many, it is the way of the future and will be the number one priority for many employees.
- Therefore it is imperative that employers are across their responsibilities in effectively managing employees working from home. This also includes managing employee mental health and wellbeing by having up to date policies in place whether employees are in the office or offsite.
- It has been proven there are many benefits to both employers and employees when working within a hybrid style environment; employers see high standards of productivity whilst employees are happier enjoying a balanced work/life combination.
- Flexibility in the workplace is here for good and this is reflected in the recent changes in employment laws relating to employers being required to seriously consider flexible working requests and must have “reasonable business grounds” on which to reject such a request.