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Writer's pictureIan Kirkby

Does Hybrid Working Work?

"As of February 2024, Professionals working on a hybrid basis have the highest engagement rates at 35%". That's according to a recent study by Zoom (23+ hybrid work statistics for 2024 | Zoom). It also notes that "95% of business leaders say their organisation has become more flexible over the past two years, and 82% have plans to make it more flexible over the next two years."


Whilst it is an American-based study, I have seen reports from the UK showing a similar trend. The key difference centres around levels of engagement, which are depressingly, constantly lower in the UK than in most of the developed world.


Even before the Covid-induced lockdown, there was a discernible shift to hybrid and remote working. The main driving forces were a desire to reduce office desk space costs, a demand for more flexibility from employees, and an increasing willingness by businesses to access more available (and often cheaper) talent in other geographical areas.


There are costs, though. For example, in-person attendance at ad hoc meetings can be a highly valuable experience for new hires and, although output tends to be higher amongst remote/hybrid employees, reduced social contact may be one factor in the significant increase in mental health problems (Mental health and working remotely | Mind - Mind).


Overall, in my experience, hybrid is becoming the preferred and most common way of working today. It offers many benefits (not many of us want to spend much time in the rush-hour commute every day, and productivity generally increases), but the key to maximising those benefits for all parties is to pay even more careful attention to the 5 key elements of organisational health, namely good leadership, high-performance teamwork, clarity around purpose, effective communications and commitment to embedding people, processes and rewards accordingly.


The first step is always to develop effective leaders because they provide the vision and inspiration to lead change, and the assurance to deal with the inevitable setbacks.





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