Many employers are making sincere changes to their businesses in order to incorporate the increasingly popular Hybrid Working Model and prioritise Employee Mental Wellbeing.
The UK Government’s initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to impose a countrywide lockdown, enforcing workers to work remotely from home where possible. Businesses as a result, had to adjust and comply with new regulations for the safety of its workers.
Subsequently, the effects of lockdown has now and forever drastically transformed the UK’s relationship with work. UK research revealed that 40% of people (50% under 35) believed that returning full-time to an office environment would negatively impact on their mental wellbeing.
So as lockdown eases and people prepare to return to work, employers will need to once again further adapt to the current post-Covid business climate. Businesses will need to focus now more than ever on ‘employee experience’ which includes;
1) Hybrid working model for more permanent flexible working conditions and,
2) A greater focus on championing employee mental wellbeing.
Hybrid Working Model
The hybrid working model is a location-flexible arrangement between the employee and employer. This model suggests that workers are able to work remotely offsite or onsite as per agreed arrangement. Many employers have taken this step a bit further and are giving employees more control and freedom over their working schedule, focusing on results rather than hours worked. Companies that offer flexible working conditions makes them more attractive to workers. For some workers, it is non-negotiable and will even consider resigning.
Stuart Templeton, the Head of UK at Slack says, “Business leaders must take employee experience to the next level in order to benefit from the now post-pandemic trend of hybrid working. Flexible hours and ability to work in an office and/or home has been a key theme for many workers over the past year. Now that flexibility is becoming a default setting, many workers like it. Less time wasted in rush-hour commutes means more time to spend of things that really add value. Flexible work even helps retain and attract employees who need to shape work around life in different ways. The 9-to-5 doesn’t suit everyone anymore. ”
Championing Employee Mental Wellbeing
If you consider that 56% of workers have experienced a burnout in the past year, it’s no wonder employee wellbeing has become a pressing issue. Employers are beginning to acknowledge how emerging hybrid working arrangements have the potential to do a lot of good for employee wellbeing and overall productivity.
In contrast, people are inherently social beings and working remotely may deprive workers of daily social interactions. Working from home can also blur the lines between work and personal life, resulting in longer working hours and imminent burnouts. That is why it is important for employers to establish a strong communication network, support and work culture in their hybrid work models.
Rob Archer, founder of the Career Psychologist, says “Since the start of the pandemic, many people have understandably experienced higher levels of stress and worry. We know that overall rates of anxiety and depression have risen sharply in the UK, due to many factors including the isolating effects of lockdown and people feeling concerned about the health of themselves, family, friends and colleagues. Many working from home are putting in longer hours, and spending more time in back-to-back video calls every day. This, combined with a lack of variety, has meant that we have seen higher levels of burnout emerging. ”
Companies embracing the ‘new-normal’
As it currently stands, the 21st June 2021 marks the day when Government plans to end all social distancing restrictions. Many companies are preparing employees for their return to work and for other companies, have decided to embrace post-Covid working conditions which focuses on employee experience. Among those in the UK embracing the hybrid working model are KPMG, Google, HSBC and Nationwide.
KPMG UK has told its 16,000 employees that they need only work on average 2 days a week in the office. The firm is also offering its workers an extra 2.5 hours off each week in the summer to ‘to give people time away from work and to re-energise’. Furthermore, Jon Holt, Chief Executive at KPMG UK, said: “We trust our people. Our new way of working will empower them and enable them to design their own working week. The pandemic has proven it’s not about where you work, but how you work.”
Google is working towards getting 20% of employees to work from home permanently while Nationwide has said that its 13,000 staff who do not work in branches would be allowed to work from wherever they wanted. HSBC plans to cut its property footprint by 40% in the long-term.
Employee experience is not going to be another buzzword, but will be a seismic movement by companies that is here to stay. Now is the time for companies to understand it, embrace it and invest in the potential if offers employers and employees alike.
