Reward director backs hybrid working to support ‘needs and dreams’

Recently hybrid working has been thrown into the spotlight, as employers navigate the return-to-work challenge after months of remote work.

Since Boris Johnson lifted work from home guidance, employees have been encouraged to return to their place of work, however due to the benefits of working from home, many have been reluctant to give it up.

This has sparked an increase in hybrid working, where staff are able to divide their time between their workplace and their home.

Stats also back up this appetite for hybrid working; in an Accenture survey 83% of workers said that they felt a hybrid work model would be optimal going forward.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found as part of its report Business and individual attitudes towards the future of homeworking, UK: April to May 2021 that 85% of remote workers want to use a hybrid work approach.

Debs Chapman, director of reward, inclusion and colleague experience at The Very Group, has also shared her support for the new working model.

Writing on LinkedIn, she stated that thanks to The Very Group’s hybrid model to work anywhere, as well as a physical workplace, it has had the ability to support employees’ “needs and dreams”.

“Thank you The Very Group for being awesome enough to support our needs and dreams,” she wrote.

She added: “What does it matter if I’m working from my lounge in Liverpool or Scotland – in fact I think some great thinking time was had given the change of scenery, the peace and stillness.”

Others also praised the idea of hybrid working, as Peter Meyler, a senior people analytics transformation consultant, commented: “It’s what you do and not where you do it from.”

Businesses back hybrid working

Recently Zoom announced it would adopt hybrid working following the success of the business while working remotely.

Zoom’s chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg, said: “So at Zoom, we’re preparing a hybrid approach – strategically mixing remote and in-office work – but we’re still experimenting with how that even looks.”

Similarly, Premier Foods is also embracing the work model. The company previously shared that its 800+ employees who usually work in standalone offices will be able to work “wherever they work best”.

In addition, Google unveiled its plans to embrace hybrid working earlier this year, which will see Googlers spend around three days in the office each week.

And with recent stats from the Adecco Group finding that hybrid working has boosted productivity for 82% of staff, adopting this way of working seems a positive method for the future of work.

If you would like to share how your company is adapting to the new ways of working, why not speak at the upcoming Reward & Payroll Summit this December? Contact Jade Burke on JBurke@shardfinancialmedia.com to find out more.