What Are The Latest Hybrid Workplace Trends?

Hybrid workplaces have changed the way organizations work today. This has multiple benefits, increased operational and management efficiency, and offers employees more flexibility at work. The hybrid workplace model has allowed employers and employees to work efficiently and save time and cost using technological advancements. 

In this article, we will come across some of the most amazing hybrid workplace trends that are set to revolutionize organizations’ traditional methods of operations. 

What is a Hybrid Workplace? 

In 2020, people were forced to vacate their offices and stay at their homes when the pandemic attacked the world. Some major global companies sought a solution for this by finding the work-from-home model for their organizations. However, when the effect of the pandemic died, while some companies asked their employees to return to their offices, others were happy to let their employees continue working remotely. This is because they understood the benefits that came along with working from home. 

A hybrid model is the one in which employees are allowed to work remotely, probably from their homes, and occasionally visit the office. It is an office environment allowing employees to work from anywhere, according to their own time. However, this model is impossible for various sectors to adopt, such as retail, healthcare, transport, security, etc., as they demand the physical presence of an individual. 

Today, almost 50% of the employees support the hybrid workplace model or desire to work remotely. Also, 90% of the workers working remotely today are content with the freedom of work that they are being offered. 

Hybrid Workplace Trends in 2022

Some of the most exciting workplace trends altering how things used to work are mentioned below: 

1. Increased Use of AI- Artificial Intelligence has become an extensively useful element in almost every company and industry. This has altered the roles of the individuals, affecting the level of difficulty, time consumed in completing the work, efficiency and level of perfection, etc. 

While the day-to-day tasks are being taken care of by AI, the human resource is being assigned jobs or tasks that require a human touch, such as imagination, creativity, strategizing, emotional intelligence, etc. This is set to boost employment levels in each sector. Some common examples of potential AI use in different sectors include –

1. Engineering- The engineers will use AI to understand the working of the machinery to predict shortcomings. 
2. Healthcare- The doctors can analyze the complete medical history of a patient to get the best results in diagnosing the illness in patients. 
3. Lawyers- Who may use AI to check for case history and all the necessary resources and search for the perfect precedents for their case. 
4. Retail- The store managers can efficiently conduct tasks such as inventory planning and management and sales predictions. 

2. Skills Over Roles- To enhance innovation and success within an organization, it has become essential to focus on the skills of the individuals, rather than their roles. This means doing away with the hierarchy, the chain of command, and the placement of employees based on their skills. This will allow the employees to work together to overcome the organization’s challenges. 

For the employees, enhancing their skills will pave the way for better career opportunities. Rather than focus on their roles, they will be able to focus on the skills they entail and allow them to be more furnished. Thus, this trend will be highly beneficial for employers and employees.

Also, Check – How To Know If Your Are Facing Discrimination As A Remote Worker

3. Redefining Work-Life Balance- The employees have redefined their work-life balance and priorities. They have become aware of their health and well-being and have chosen it as a priority over their work. This has raised the level of awareness amongst the employees, concerning their mental and physical health, which they deny compromising because of work. 

Employees are now not afraid of losing their job and working hard to retain them. Instead, they have started focussing on their health and family and quitting jobs whenever they cannot handle both. 

4. Employee Monitoring- With the level of hybrid workplace models. This allows the employers to be satisfied that their employees are working efficiently and giving their best to the organization. This increases transparency and accountability and reduces the scope of interdisciplinary behavior amongst the employees. 

Multiple tools and software have been launched in the market that helps employers measure employees’ productivity levels and generate payrolls accordingly. However, employers need to take their employees into the trust before moving forward with time tracking to ensure their complete and diligent compliance. 

5. Team Building– While the remote model makes you work away from the office environment and your colleagues, the hybrid workplace model helps you build teams and facilitate communication with your co-workers. Team-building tasks are conducted when employees visit the office so that they can convey each other significant information and formulate strategies that can be beneficial for their projects.

This way, they can work efficiently, despite working remotely sometimes, as the level of communication is enhanced when they visit their workplace. 

However, there are some repercussions to the hybrid workplace model as well, such as:

1. Employees have experienced an increase in working hours or working even after the job timing is over. 
2. Middle managers are perplexed as they are often caught between the higher management and the employees.
3. Collaborations have become a tedious task for HR professionals. 

Conclusion

The hybrid workplace trends are gaining momentum in multiple sectors. This is affecting the employers and the employees. Some managers still need to bring their employees to the office to promote better work. It has become significant for HR professionals to incur intelligent solutions based on their organization’s requirements.
And if your organization has still not witnessed any of these trends despite following the hybrid workplace model, gear up with the knowledge of what’s coming next to be completely prepared!