The mixed bag that is hybrid working models

Yes, most private sector organisations have a hybrid working model, but the arrangements look different from company to company.

A recent study, titled Navigating the Future of Work: Global Perspectives on Hybrid Models and Technology, by Zoom, has revealed that the hybrid working arrangement is preferred, but there is no blanket model.

The study of more than 600 IT and C-suite leaders and nearly 1,900 knowledge workers discovered that the majority of organisations are embracing flexible working arrangements, with 84 per cent adopting either a hybrid (58 per cent) or remote (26 per cent) working model.

As organisations adapt the hybrid working model to align with their business practices and the demands of their employees, productivity has emerged as a top priority. Eighty-seven per cent of leaders considered increasing productivity as the main concern when determining the best working model for their business, which is not a shock.

This, paired with the fact that a lot of employees (83 per cent) feel their most productive in hybrid settings, makes it a no-brainer that most businesses would deploy a hybrid model. But once again, it comes back to determining which model works for your business.

For this reason, many organisations are still experimenting with the various types of hybrid models to find the best fit. Notably, scheduled hybrid (27 per cent) and flextime hybrid (19 per cent) have emerged as the most common workplace models from the report, with another 13 per cent of organisations adopting other kinds of hybrid workplace models organised around roles, locations, and outcomes.

In fact, 97 per cent of Asia-Pacific (APAC) region leaders said they have made their workplaces more flexible in the past two years.

As hybrid working remains a pillar in the contemporary workplace, employee engagement is something that is still lagging. According to the report, six in 10 leaders in the APAC region report a decline in employee engagement attributed to hybrid models.

“Workplace flexibility is not only becoming increasingly commonplace in the APAC region, but more diverse in itself – ranging from flextime to location, role, and even rotation-based models,” said Ricky Kapur, head of Asia-Pacific at Zoom.

“Leaders today are faced with a new challenge of finding the best-fit hybrid model while keeping up with the evolving expectations of a multigenerational workforce and the impact of rapidly advancing technologies like AI.”

In terms of counteracting the disengaging trend that’s happening to workers, generative AI is expected to have a great impact in changing this aspect.

“While our study shows that APAC leaders generally recognise the productivity benefits that adopting AI at work can bring to their teams, many are not utilising AI to their full potential. As organisations seek to reduce friction in the transition to hybrid ways of working, AI is a critical tool at their disposal to help employees collaborate better and feel more connected to each other.

“Beyond direct productivity benefits, leaders should look toward exploring more AI use cases to engage, inform, and connect employees. This will be key to building and maintaining company culture amidst changing workplace dynamics,” said Kapur.