A hybrid workforce has been a long-standing trend, with 47% of U.S. companies offering hybrid plans even before the pandemic. COVID-19, however, undoubtedly accelerated the adoption of hybrid workplaces in countless industries.

With the remnants of the pandemic slowly giving rise to a new standard, many companies are now offering a hybrid work schedule to remain flexible for their employees. The agility and flexibility of a workforce of this nature, combined with the stability and expertise of full-time staff, are highly beneficial.

While there are many benefits to having a hybrid workforce, companies must prepare for potential pitfalls. This blog post will discuss the four biggest pitfalls to avoid with a hybrid workforce and how they can affect IT security, collaboration, digital transformation, and company culture.

What is a Hybrid Workforce?

A hybrid workforce is a mixture of full-time employees that work remotely and in the office. This type of workforce has become increasingly popular as businesses strive to find the best way to optimize their resources while staying attractive to their workforce.

Being in the office five days a week will be a thing of the past. As a result, many companies are constantly adjusting their plans to create the best hybrid plan that works for everyone while maintaining employee wellness, communication, and productivity.

What Are Hybrid Work Models?

According to a McKinsey survey of 100 executives, nine out of ten organizations will employ a hybrid work model. Employee productivity and customer satisfaction increased during the pandemic despite the original skepticism, and these improvements correlate with individual and team productivity.

Hybrid plans are assumed to be the most flexible work model employers can offer, and current employers considering a hybrid model should follow the actions of companies offering hybrid plans before the pandemic.

Even with most surveyed executives realizing the potential of hybrid work models, only about a third of them have planned out an executable hybrid model. It's evident that employees are on board with this plan, considering that approximately 83 percent of them want a hybrid work model in place soon.

Because there are so many companies involved in establishing a hybrid work model for their employees, there are bound to be different schedules, policies, and infrastructure choices.

Generally, employers are establishing these models to increase flexibility, in-person quiet workspaces, and remote work opportunities for their staff. Most employees have three options for a work placement: Office-flexible, Home-based, and Office-based.

  • Office-flexible schedules - Allows employees to come into the office when they need to or when convenient. Usually, 1-3 days a week while the rest is remote.
  • Home-based schedules - Employees can work from home full time if they choose. Employees covet this type of schedule most of the time.
  • Office-based schedules - In this model, employees must be in the office every day during the week.

Companies like Salesforce are adapting quite well to hybrid models like these and offer their employees the option to decide their schedule by offering Flex Team Agreements. Essentially, entire teams will determine how many days they will come into the office, what tasks they can complete at home, and how they will communicate about work-related tasks.

The Benefits of a Hybrid Workforce

As many companies have realized, they must adapt to the digital age and reinvent the processes and procedures they relied on beforehand. Betting on a hybrid workforce has paid off for many companies. Companies with a diverse workforce model are more likely to be innovative than those without one, and there are more benefits, too:

  • Employees are happy - A study by Owl labs suggests that employees who work remotely are 22% more content and less likely to quit their job than those who work in an office or go to a work site. All they need is to be mindful of maintaining clear boundaries between their work and personal lives.
  • Flexibility - With a hybrid workforce, your employees can work safely from home when they are unable to come into the office, minimizing disruption to productivity.
  • Increased creativity and knowledge sharing - More opportunities for creativity and knowledge sharing are available with a hybrid work model. For instance, employees can share their knowledge through online collaboration tools or by working in an open office space.

Despite all the benefits, it can be challenging to get everyone to buy into a new way of doing things, especially when trying to strike the perfect balance between working from home and in the office.

To ensure an equitable and fair working arrangement for all employees, employers need to consider some of these factors when establishing and implementing a hybrid plan:

  • Have a clear understanding of what work needs to be done and how to divide it among employees
  • Keep the company’s overall goals and objectives in mind
  • Define how management will measure performance to manage and motivate a remote workforce
  • Ensure that everyone has the same level of access to information and resources
  • Maintain company principles, culture, and values despite having employees in different locations

Hybrid Work Models: The Pitfalls to Avoid

It should be no surprise that the hybrid work model, paired with the COVID-19 pandemic, drastically changed the way we work, and it's not going back to the old way.

Instead, the pandemic has forced employers to re-evaluate their policies and procedures around IT security, collaboration, digital transformation, and company culture. While there are plenty of benefits, there are also some potential pitfalls to avoid with a hybrid workforce:

Pitfall # 1 - Lack of IT Security Protocols

With more employees working remotely, there’s a concern about IT infrastructure security and the increased risks. When employees are working remotely, they are more susceptible to cyberattacks.

Usually, security risks are exacerbated because employees are using their personal devices and networks, which may not be as secure as the company's network. In addition, remote workers may not be as familiar with the company's latest IT security protocols and procedures.

To combat this, employers need to ensure that their IT security protocols are up to date and that all employees are aware of them. They should also provide employees with the resources to stay safe online, such as a VPN or secure Wi-Fi connection.

It’s also crucial to have informed, dynamic security protection and protocols that can evolve based on many situations. 62% of data loss is primarily due to negligent insiders. It is essential to encourage employees to keep their business conversations appropriate, no matter the collaboration platform.

Pitfall # 2 - Poor Collaboration

The digital age has given rise to new opportunities for connectivity. Despite the potential of video conferencing platforms to create stability and focused collaboration, employees still work in different locations. As a result, it can be difficult to collaborate on projects; most issues usually occur because of a lack of communication and coordination.

When companies realize that their video conferencing systems aren’t flexible enough to accommodate a hybrid workforce, communication issues often surface. Due to communication barriers, remote teammates may miss out on small exchanges or decisions when employees can't coordinate.

This lack of coordination is due to “faultlines” that researchers say naturally occur because those employees in the office have to go through the extra effort to include remote teammates in the decision-making process. Over time, in-office employees may consistently forget to loop in remote teammates, leaving them out of essential decisions.

To avoid this, employers need to provide employees with the resources to stay connected, and leaders should communicate any changes in collaboration efforts, meetings, or team direction on multiple platforms.

A "digital HQ" that engages and encourages employees to collaborate organically is ideal. Video conferencing platforms can create stability and focused collaboration with teammates. Creating an effective means of collaborating and interacting in a digital space with other employees is paramount to improving employee productivity and wellbeing.

As a natural evolution of collaboration technologies, focusing on user experience will be the next significant technological innovation.

Pitfall # 3 - Ineffective Digital Transformation

The digital transformation of a company's identity is another area where a hybrid workforce can tailor content and strategies to fit a more digital world.

Through this transformation, employees will increase their use of virtual desktops, cloud-based services, video conferencing software, and various mobile devices. The further along companies are in their digital transformation, the better positioned they are to ride the ever-changing waves of post-pandemic operations.

However, when companies try to transition to a digital workplace, they often don’t do it effectively, leading to employees feeling isolated and disconnected from the company. In addition, this places extra responsibility on IT professionals who struggle to manage company devices inside and outside the firewall.

Pandemic woes urged IT professionals to make hasty decisions to keep the business going as usual without being able to consider how to build a secure platform for the interaction of all endpoint devices.

Employers need to ensure that their digital transformation plan is well-thought-out and practical, in order to avoid this. Additionally, reassessing its technology stack and IT systems will fundamentally change how the company handles digital transformations in the future.

Although IT budgets can be limited, upgrading to a solid foundation of state-of-the-art platforms will help the IT department streamline their higher workloads and provide a better security solution for all employees.

Pitfall # 4 - Negative Impact on Company Culture

To create and maintain strong company culture, employers must find new and creative ways to engage their employees.

For instance, a survey from Salesforce on U.S.-based workers showed that at least 75% of employees would rather interact with colleagues than they would with their friends. Better interaction means integrating less rigorous collaboration methods that breed more fluid communication, engage company culture and improve wellbeing.

Since many businesses cultivate a culture based on the in-office experience, there are already difficulties transferring those benefits to remote employees.

Unfortunately, when employees work in different locations, they may not feel as connected to the company, making it difficult to maintain a cohesive company culture, leading to a decline in morale and motivation. Often, remote employees have fewer career or development opportunities because they are out of sight and passed over.

It’s also not uncommon for remote employees to not be supported by management or other in-person employees. Remote employees may be tolerated, but their role isn’t advertised or supported in traditional ways, and they may consistently have to justify their position to other in-person employees.

Remote employees may also be expected to do more or “overperform” to make up for not commuting into the office. They may receive pressure from management or other employees to provide more value than their in-person teammates.

To avoid this, employers need to make sure that they have a clear plan for maintaining company culture. They should also provide employees with the resources to stay connected, such as social media groups and events.

In addition, management should regularly communicate the company's values to all employees. Creating a seamless connection effort is essential, whether it's a "virtual water-cooler" or a bi-weekly video conference with all company teams to reassess, determine employee wellbeing, and realign company efforts.

Human Resources teams can evaluate the workforce, which will help facilitate faster course corrections to achieve company goals.

Avoid the Pitfalls & Make Hybrid Work Work for You

We can expect hybrid work models to proliferate for the next decade as companies choose to support or provide remote work opportunities. Whether employers believe that all-remote or hybrid work models are the future of business, they need to safely develop a working model to weather an ever-changing work environment that is conducive to employee productivity and satisfaction.

It is essential to remember to tailor any plans to the company's specific needs and consistently re-evaluate the hybrid work model to ensure that it avoids the pitfalls and effectively supports the workforce and the company’s mission.

About the author:

Swati Tewari is a Director at ShowMyPC, where she works on designing new and innovative collaboration tools. ShowMyPC is a platform that provides secure and reliable remote access, screen sharing, and enterprise workplace solutions.