The rise of the hybrid world of work.
As we start to see light at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic tunnel, the thoughts of IT and facilities managers has turned to providing a safe working environment for employees as they start to return to the office.
Returning to the new world of work.
We know that the office employees return to will not be the same as the one they left. The future of work will not be a wholesale return to the office, or a total move to remote working, but a new balance. This balance will be a hybrid workplace approach that provides a flexible, laptop-centric way of working that is tailored for maximum usability and better meetings irrespective of a participants location.
If done well, this will be good news for businesses. Workplace flexibility improves employee productivity and reduces costs. Hiring top talent is easier because you are no longer limited by geography and an increasing number of employees are demanding flexible work options. If you do not offer this, you will be missing out on top talent or, even worse, losing some of the top talent you have.
When it comes to returning to the office, many organisations already have a short-term plan, which takes into account the guidelines provided by the Government. Nonetheless, in the medium and long term, many issues remain. Many organizations right now are asking the question: What next? Especially what next when it comes to the future of work.
The evolution of the office space.
We all know that the work environment won’t be the same.
Recent studies have shown that on average employees wanted to work three days from the office and 2 days remotely. Only 27% of UK workers felt the office was equipped with the right technology tools. A lack of investment in hybrid working technology will create new challenges and many companies will struggle again. Having the right tools and management platform of these tools will simplify new workplace trends and help employees stay productive.
Depraved of face-to-face interactions, people want to come back to the office. But the office needs to be safe and offer a different way to be productive compared to what they already get from home with much better collaboration experiences.
Are you prepared for a hybrid workplace?
This is one reason why the role of the facility and IT managers is shifting from an operational to a strategic level. Facilities staff are being tasked with reducing the company’s real estate footprint whilst trying to redesign office spaces. The office has to be perceived as a safe place to be and must meet the needs of employees in this new hybrid workplace environment. Companies who do not commit financially to hybrid working risk losing valuable team members and not being able to attract new talent.
So how do you get prepared for this next phase of employee engagement?
At Unifi we have been providing secure, remote working solutions for many years so, to us, the hybrid workplace is nothing new, it is our norm. Unifi have designed a framework of hybrid workplace services to span collaboration, networking and security, which we call Collaborate, Connect, Protect. These solutions are delivered as a service and are designed to help all businesses keep employees working productively and securely, no matter if they are remote or working from the office. Please find more information on these offers here
So if you need some help in meeting the challenges in preparing for the new hybrid future, please get in touch.
