*Trends & Next Steps* Jabra Hybrid Ways of Working 2021 Global Report
The pandemic disruption affected every person uniquely, and made work much more personal for everyone, as the boundaries blurred between our home and working lives.
To help people thrive in more flexible working environments, every organization needs to plan processes and guidelines that drive a people-first agenda. This means emphasizing empathy, culture, and the tools and training needed for a work from anywhere future.
People > People Trends > Flexible working is more important than salary and other benefits
For many knowledge workers, it is not just the ability to work from either home or office, but the ability to work from anywhere, that is a true differentiator. With 75% of knowledge workers wanting to work from wherever they are in the future, organizations need to rethink benefit structures to remain competitive.
Flexibility is so important to the workforce that 59% of knowledge workers assert that it is more important to them than salary and other benefits. With employees able to access a broader range of employment options, the fundamentals of labor supply and demand have shifted in employees’ favor.
Hybrid work has catalyzed a power shift from organizations to employees and employees have realized that there is a smarter way to work and a more tailored way to integrate their personal and professional lives with flexibility.
Since the pandemic began, 48% of all employees surveyed globally have considered changing jobs. 81% have said that a hybrid work model will allow more intentional use of time and spaces in order to ultimately be more productive. As employee priorities change, and new ways of working are realized, organizations need to reconsider their workplace practices and benefits in order to remain competitive and attract the best talent.
agree that 'organziations who embrace a hybrid model will have a competitive edge in the future'.
People > People Trends > A hybrid working model with the right technology will lead to better employee mental well-being
While working remotely, anxiety levels rose, people worked far longer hours, and our research showed that lacking boundaries between our personal and professional lives consistently ranked as one of the biggest challenges around the world while working from home. During remote work, our research showed that sense of connection amongst teams decreased 28%, feelings of recognition decreased 17%, and employees’ feeling of closeness to their direct manager decreased 21%.
Conversely, nine in ten knowledge workers say a hybrid environment would either increase or maintain a sense of trust in their team (90%), the level to which they feel their employer cares about their well-being (89%), and the level of recognition they feel for their contributions (89%).
As the preferred model for the majority (68%) of employees, hybridwork can offer employees the flexibility to better balance their time,while technology coupled with clear guidelines can address the major concerns with hybrid work models and lead to higher performing teams with a healthier work-life balance.
One key action which leaders can take right now is to provide seamless collaboration solutions as well as opening up conversations about hybrid-work changes and employee well-being. When people have humanized collaboration experiences that make connecting from anywhere possible, it facilitates better inclusivity and teamwork. When leaders combine this with open team dialogues, it creates a common language and toolkit with which to address stress.
People > People Trends > Technology is key to inclusivity and hybrid work success
For people to work comfortably and equitably from remote locations, there is an increasing need to be equally seen and heard, no matter where you are. Companies are now considering increasing budgets into better technology to make sure everyone feels they are equal, regardless of their physical presence in a meeting.
According to our research, 84% of the workforce believe collaboration technologies will create a more equal and inclusive workforce and 80% would rather work for a company that invests in technology to better connect the workforce.
agree that ‘technology is critical to a work from anywhere future’
Research shows clear links between poor virtual collaboration experiences and a sense of connectivity in teams, and technology plays a key role in the remote working experience, with 85% of the global workforce reporting that being confident in their technology – audio, internet, video – allows them to excel at work.
agree that, ‘it’s important for all employees to feel included and valued, whether they choose to work from home or in an office.’ While home feels safest for the near-term, knowledge workers ultimately believe that having flexible options to work from wherever they want provides the best potential for equitable opportunity,as nearly 3 in 4 (73%) agree that ‘a hybrid work model is 90%more inclusive than a traditional 9-to-5 office structure.'
To accompany the new normal of hybrid meetings on virtual platforms like Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet, organizations must ensure equity in pixel real estate – that is, where all participants take up the same amount of screen space in a virtual meeting, regardless of their physical location.
In a return to the office context, this gives employees the freedom to enjoy the human benefits of in-person collaboration while not alienating those who aren’t in the room, by creating meeting environments in which screen-share and pixel real estate is equal.Rather than degrade the experience for everybody, focus on giving everybody the right products and technology.
People > People Trends > Teambuilding and collaboration need re-engineering
Lack of team connection and staying motivated are the top two concerns of knowledge workers, and 52% of employees are concerned about falling behind in their career if they stay home.
But health cautions and commute times are the two biggest pain points with a return to the office. Leaders need to reevaluate when and how to bring teams together in-person.
Enabling unstructured collaboration in offices:
As we shift to hybrid, fostering informal collaboration will become a higher priority. There are some hard problems that maybe we don’t have fully figured out when it comes to knowledge integration of information signals that are imperfect and imprecise. We’re picking up signals, sharing signals, sharing information, and trying to construct some coherence. When combined, these unstructured communications are what lead to high performing teams.
Social hygiene:
Hold 30-minute virtual open-mic sessions. These things happen in real life in your office and are like glue, especially for new people joining the team. Teams become comfortable engaging with each other because of informal exchanges. Creating 30-minute blocks of unstructured time is hybrid working organizational hygiene.
