Hybrid Office of 2024 – How It's Different and How Can Businesses Prepare?

Anyone who was working from office when the COVID-19 pandemic hit would argue that companies didn't have much time to prepare for the radically flexible mode of working. Their culture, practices, technology, and policies weren't designed to accommodate this big change that transpired overnight.

Work-from-home became a necessity rather than an afterthought, and understandably so. But as the pandemic subsided into a more manageable situation, the world of work began to grapple with the question: "What now?"

The answer, as we now know, is the emergence of hybrid office. In 2022, almost 30% of the organisations had shifted to hybrid work. Fast forward to 2024, 60% of the employers are preferably moving towards a 2-3 days per week in-office work setup. An interesting development is the shift from a fully remote to a hybrid way of working. A 2024 survey stresses that 29% of workers want to work in a hybrid setup compared to 23% who prefer remote work.

2024, in particular, is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the hybrid office.

"Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance" concluded a recent study published in the internationally acclaimed journal Nature. This study drew results from a six-month analysis of the effects of hybrid work on 1612 employees — the largest study on the topic to date. Researchers found that hybrid work:

• Reduced attrition by 33%, with major positive influences on non-managers, women, and those having to travel a lot

• Didn't impact employee promotions and performance for the next two years

Indeed, hybrid work isn't just a fad; it's a sustainable and effective model that benefits both employees and employers. This idea is reinforced by the mere fact that employees working in such a setup switch less than their office counterparts. For instance, a 2023 study by Owl Labs reported that about 23% of employees changed places in 2023. Out of these, 26% were working from office and only 17% were part of a hybrid or remote workplace.

Now, as we navigate 2024, it's certain that the hybrid model is here to stay. However, whether it can be refined and put to use better for improved collaboration and morale is a question organisations must address head-on. The challenge lies in finding the right balance between flexibility and structure, autonomy and accountability, and human resource requirements.

Hybrid office is no longer just a temporary pandemic measure.

Global Workplace Analytics' president Kate Lister says, "Remote and hybrid work didn't create the need for more effective work practices — it revealed them." Safe to say, this sentiment aptly encapsulates the discourse of hybrid office going beyond a mere reaction to the pandemic to a proactive and strategic approach to work. Today, it's a fundamental way of working characterised by:

1. "Intentionality" over "Reaction"

   
   

   The latest edition of the EY Future Workplace Index outlines that 80% of employees are working from office three or more days a week. And one of the biggest challenges that employers face is "optimising office space."

   There are more challenges in fact — fostering seamless collaboration, providing better shared spaces and even better individual focus zones, establishing policies that place performance and productivity at the heart of evaluation instead of "mode of working", etc.

   Through all this, what's clear is that the shift to a hybrid office model isn't a test-and-see activity. It isn't a collection of patchwork activities anymore. Businesses need to tailor their work setups to specific circumstances, driven by variables such as industry, nature of work, employee preferences, etc.

   They need to understand that remote productivity isn't the problem statement anymore. It's how the desired productivity levels can be achieved by investments in culture, innovation, and technology.

2. Technology as the great enabler

   
   

   EY's Mark Grinis is of the opinion that business leaders must "earn the commute" and rightly so. He stresses that "there's now an increased spotlight on workplace investments — from AI integration to expanded office footprint and virtual collaboration resources."

   Simply put, the hybrid office is a playground for tech innovation and it needs to be that way. Think of it as the ultimate remote control for work – businesses and employees alike can now fine-tune their environment to maximise productivity.

   This means more than just Zoom calls; it's about weaving technology into the fabric of the workday, from better productivity monitoring to smart office layouts customised to individual needs.

3. The need for flexibility ̦and associated factors

   
   

   In a survey by McKinsey, 87% of the employees indicated that hybrid work would prove more productive for them than the stringent all-week in-office setup. This isn't merely about working from home on Fridays; it's about empowering employees to choose where, when, and how they work best.

   The allure of flexibility is, in fact, exceptionally strong. It can be a dealbreaker in many cases. This means that companies clinging to rigid work structures risk losing out on top talent to more adaptable competitors.

   There's definitely logic to this allure. Flexibility isn't just about convenience; it's deeply intertwined with employee well-being and performance. A 2023 study found a correlation between hybrid office and better work-life balance, increased savings, and higher overall productivity.

   When you think about it, flexibility has also become a key differentiator in the war for talent. It signals to potential employees that a company values their autonomy and trusts them to manage their own time and work effectively.

Of course, with multi-faceted factors at play, it's not just about specifying a definite amount of days that employees should work from home. Businesses must reimagine and revamp their approach to work — both in theory and practice — from office design to technological integration to cultural dynamics at play.

At the centre of this transformation lies the critical need for data-driven insights that reduce guesswork and define patterns of work, what's hindering employee productivity, and how the hybrid office model is impacting overall performance.

It's here that a productivity gauging and monitoring solution like CleverControl can prove immensely useful. Here's how:

CleverConrtol is a full-stack monitoring solution — meaning that it offers the breadth and depth of features that encompass all the critical aspects of all functional layers of employee productivity monitoring. For instance, it excels at:

• Exhaustive monitoring: Thanks to screen and video recording, application and web usage monitoring, keystroke logging, etc., CleverControl ensures that all avenues of a person's work day are covered.

• Time management & reporting: From managing timesheets to generating detailed activity reports, CleverControl helps businesses promptly identify issues and carve out pathways to better employee productivity.

• Cloud and on-premises setup: The tool is available in both cloud and on-premises variants. So, based on their requirements of security, level of control, and work setup, businesses can choose the one that makes more sense to them.

Businesses can easily turn the employee activity data within their CleverControl setup into insights using the AI Scoring feature. With the help of a rather sophisticated data collection and analysis process, AI Scoring allows employers to seamlessly:

• Analyse activity logs and drastically reduce dependency on manually sifting through data

• Derive unbiased insights from objective activity usage metrics and understand productivity nuances

• Identify areas of improvement and drive related discussions

Talking about improvement, CleverControl now also lets employees monitor themselves — thanks to the personalised dashboard they can access for viewing their activity data. Employees can learn about their application usage, idle and active time, and more. Such insights prove exceptionally vital in helping them get a sense of their workplace habits.

In a hybrid office setup, such an understanding of one's work patterns can go a long way in helping achieve work-life balance, productivity enhancers and detriments, and areas of improvement.

There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer, of course, for an ideal hybrid office setup. But what recent studies and surveys unequivocally reveal is that flexibility and the technology accommodating it is the cornerstone of a successful workplace.

It's this dynamic duo that empowers employees to work when and where they are most productive, while also fostering a sense of connection, collaboration, accountability, and performance in the employer's books.

The crux of the matter: It's not whether you wish to go hybrid, it's how you can be successful with such an office setup.

For one, having an employee productivity monitoring solution like CleverControl in your ranks is a great start. Sign up for a free trial today.