In this article, we will explore the key role of hybrid work, focusing on the contributions of C-suite, managers, employees, and Human Resources (HR) departments.

C-suite: Redefine the new workplace

Enabling hybrid work is no longer merely a matter of IT or security. Instead,
the entire C-suite is joining together to redefine the new workplace
and the technology supporting it.

According to IDC research, 60% of European organizations make workplace strategy choices collectively by numerous members of the C-suite. By “The Okta Hybrid Work Report 2023”, the CEO is the major champion in 57% of organizations in Europe when it comes to introducing new working methods. However, stakeholders in Finance, Operations, IT, Security, Technology, and HR also play important roles.

This shows that where and how people work is now a strategic requirement for corporations and a board-level concern.

Stakeholders from various organizational departments all play important roles in influencing workplace strategy. They also have more say over the technology used to achieve their goals. To create efficient and successful solutions, technology and business teams must collaborate to understand one another’s needs and difficulties.

Managers: Facilitating a Smooth Transition

Managers play a critical role in the implementation of hybrid work arrangements. They must ensure that their teams have the necessary tools and resources to work remotely, while also maintaining productivity and collaboration in the office.

For managers, key responsibilities include:

1. Setting clear expectations: Effective communication is crucial in a hybrid work environment. Managers must establish expectations for work hours, availability, and communication channels to ensure that employees understand their responsibilities.
2. Adapting leadership styles: Managers need to adapt their leadership styles to accommodate both remote and in-office employees. This includes conducting regular check-ins, fostering a sense of belonging, and promoting open communication.
3. Measuring performance: Managers should establish performance metrics that account for remote work, and regularly review employee progress to ensure a fair evaluation process.

Employees: Adapting to New Ways of Working

Employees are essential to the success of hybrid work arrangements as they must adapt to new ways of working and collaborating.

This shift in organizational goals is reflected in Okta’s research. The major motivations for organizations to embrace a hybrid working paradigm are improving employee well-being, increasing productivity, and lowering expenses.

We can see the power of this need in organizations’ readiness to engage in efforts aimed at making hybrid work more comfortable and rewarding for workers.

To better serve their remote and hybrid workforces, the majority of respondents’ organizations are altering procedures and deploying new technologies.

More than three-quarters (77%) of those polled indicated their employer has implemented flexible working hours, and another 21% said their organization would not rule out a shift to more employee-centric scheduling tactics.

To improve the experience of their work-from-anywhere workers, the majority of European firms provide access to training, pay for home office equipment and expenditures, and provide access to corporate subscriptions and wellness initiatives.

For employees, key responsibilities include:

1. Embracing flexibility: Employees should be open to working both remotely and in the office, as required by their role and team dynamics.
2. Maintaining productivity: Remote work can present unique challenges, such as distractions and isolation. Employees should be proactive in addressing these issues and developing strategies to maintain productivity.
3. Communicating effectively: Effective communication is essential for collaboration and team cohesion. Employees should be mindful of their communication habits and ensure they are using appropriate channels and tools for remote work.

Human Resources: The backbone supporting Employees

Organizations are also investing heavily to overcome ‘proximity bias,’ the propensity among leaders to favor people who are physically closer to them in the workplace.

Nearly three-fourths of companies are currently enforcing measures to prevent remote workers from being disadvantaged in organizational processes; Sweden is the leader in combating proximity bias; however, more than half of organizations in both the Netherlands and Germany (57% in each) are also making such investments.

Human Resources (HR) departments are responsible for developing policies and providing support to ensure the successful implementation of hybrid work arrangements and overcome ‘proximity bias’. Key responsibilities include:

1. Developing hybrid work policies: HR should create clear policies and guidelines that outline expectations and requirements for remote and in-office work, and ensure that all employees are aware of these policies.
2. Providing resources and training: HR should provide employees and managers with the necessary resources and training to support remote work, such as technology tools, workspace setup guidelines, and time management strategies.
3. Ensuring inclusivity and fairness: HR must ensure that hybrid work arrangements do not inadvertently create disparities among employees. This includes monitoring remote work practices and adjusting policies as needed to promote fairness and inclusivity.

ONES: Your best choice for hybrid work

To help different parties to work together for developing a successful hybrid working environment, you need a smart office system like ONES.

ONES offers a range of features that cater to the needs of hybrid workers, such as room booking, desk booking, and visitor management. These features not only improve flexibility but also enhance the productivity of workers.

Moreover, as the article highlights, successful hybrid working requires a shift in mindset and a culture of trust and communication. ONES foster such a culture by providing real-time data and analytics on office usage and creating a sense of community through its social features.

By incorporating ONES into their workplace, companies can ensure the success of their hybrid work model. To learn more, schedule a demo today.

The post Who plays the key role in hybrid work? first appeared on ONEs Blog.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk wants employees to return to office as soon as possible. On Tuesday (May 31 2022), he sent an email to his employees informing them that remote working is no longer permitted in the organization.

Employees who do not wish to return to the workplace can quit, according to the billionaire. “Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers,” Musk said in a leaked email that has since spread on Twitter.

Based on Bloomberg reporting, many bosses have wished for some sort of leverage to entice more employees to return to the workplace. Worries about the recession, a series of employment restrictions, and a scathing retort from the world’s richest person like Elon Musk may have just made matters worse.

For more than two years of pandemic, millions of white-collar workers at companies ranging from Apple Inc to American Express Co have grown accustomed to greater flexibility in where and when they work. The heated labor market has given them the power to argue against management’s decision to return to the office.

However, recent recessionary concerns have overshadowed the prospects of many companies, prompting some to cut back on hiring or staffing, which has led to renewed criticism of remote work.

Decision making in new hybrid working era

According to a new survey by insurance company Nationwide, half of all entrepreneurs expect to continue to work in an office for the next year. This underscores the fact that management around the world is still worried about the new era of hybrid work.

According to the senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment agency and executive coaching firm, there was some balance of power during the epidemic, “but we are starting to see the beginnings of layoffs. The requirement to work in an office can certainly be a way for workers to be voluntarily cut. Even if the recession doesn’t happen, employers could start making similar demands as Musk did.

But according to recent employment data, hiring continued normally in May, with no signs of slowing hiring among giant employers like IBM. Even in April, for every unemployed person, there were still close to two job opportunities. So many companies are opting out of the onerous back-to-work requirement in order to retain talent, while others like Apple, which has been pushing back-to-work itself, have relaxed the policy in recent weeks.

Wall Street bosses have also reduced their demands for reentry: Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co, said 40 percent of his staff will work in a hybrid model in the future, and Credit Suisse Group AG CEO Thomas Gottstein, said recently that the bank will never return to full-time office work.

ONEs Software now has a dedicated page to introduce a series of smart office measures to help you solve problems. You may wish to go to https://ones.software/hybrid-workspace/ for further reference.

Contact us: hello@ones.software, or visit ONEs Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/.

The post Recession fears complicate new work era first appeared on ONEs Blog.

Apple Inc. ended its two-year work-from-home policy during the COVID-19 pandemic on April 11, and its employees began returning to the office today. While many technology companies have offered some employees the option to work from home permanently, Apple is not one of them. She made it clear that employees will eventually need to return to work in the office.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said,

For all that we’ve been able to achieve while many of us have been separated, the truth is that there has been something essential missing from this past year: each other.

Tim Cook

Even though Apple Inc. did not force its employees to return to full normalcy immediately and return to the office five days a week, but rather adopted a gradual return strategy and a mixed work policy, many Apple employees were quite upset.

Many Apple employees did return to the office, but they only went back to see old friends and then handed in their resignations to find another job, Silicon Valley engineer Lu Yu said on a social media platform. Many of them are already used to working from home and don’t want to go back to the days when they spent a lot of time in traffic, preferring to find a new company where they can work from home permanently. High salaries and good jobs, and even Silicon Valley-style benefits, are no longer the compensation for long commutes.

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, many companies would not have considered working from home because there was no incentive to do so, and they were concerned that it would change the communication and synergy between teams and affect productivity. However, the hybrid work pattern that companies had to implement during the epidemic indirectly proved that many companies’ productivity would not be significantly affected by measures such as working from home.

As a result, not only do employees have a stronger reason to continue to work from home, saving a lot of commuting time and reducing expenses by choosing accommodation far away from the city, but companies also need to strike a balance between retaining talent and maintaining performance by implementing a hybrid work model that allows employees to choose to work from home while also returning to the company regularly to maintain teamwork and performance.

ONES Software now has a dedicated page to introduce a series of smart office measures to help you solve problems and overcome the epidemic. You may wish to go to https://ones.software/covid-19/ for further reference.

Contact us: hello@ones.software ／ (+852) 5538 3410, or visit ONEs Software official website for more information: https://ones.software/.

Ref:

Apple’s Corporate Employees Returning to Offices on Hybrid Schedule Starting Today
Corporate Apple employees in the United States began returning to their offices today, ending a two-year work from home…www.macrumors.com

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