Hybrid work: towards a new model

Although the hybrid working model already existed in the past, it is now gaining ground, prompting companies to rethink the way they operate. Employees are neither 100% telecommuters nor 100% face-to-face workers, and this mode of working offers a host of advantages and has its own fans. The promise of hybrid working? Hybrid working offers greater efficiency and flexibility in reconciling professional and personal life, without sacrificing a genuine corporate culture or bonds between employees.

What is hybrid work?

Hybrid working refers to the division of working time between telecommuting and face-to-face work. Generally speaking, telecommuting is limited to one or two days a week. However, the proportion of telecommuting and face-to-face work is sometimes subject to employee discretion. Hybridization has become the norm and has proved beneficial - particularly in terms of productivity - forcing companies to be more flexible about how their employees work.

The benefits of hybrid working for businesses

According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group and Cadre Emploi, 78% of French people are attracted to hybrid working, particularly for its promises of time savings, productivity and flexibility.

Productivity gains

Hybrid working boosts efficiency: companies have seen proof of this in the form of increased productivity when teleworking, and are now in favor of the flex office. In its survey, the Observatoire Cetelem found that 38% of respondents had noticed substantial time savings when teleworking.

Cost reduction

The rise of hybrid working means significant savings for companies, in terms of real estate costs and energy consumption. The deployment of telecommuting requires smaller premises, and represents a significant reduction in costs.

Company attractiveness

Hybrid work is a differentiating factor that contributes to a company's attractiveness. The majority of candidates want to take advantage of hybrid working, especially younger ones. Companies are well aware of the importance of offering work-sharing arrangements, in order to retain employees and provide them with the flexibility they need to flourish.

Hybridization from the employee's point of view

In addition to the possibility of alternating between several workspaces, it's also the distribution of work, with fixed working hours, that employees feel would benefit from greater flexibility.

Distribution of time between telecommuting and face-to-face work

A study conducted by L'Observatoire Cetelem shows that the majority of French people prefer to alternate between telecommuting and face-to-face work. This is supported by the Cadremploi x Boston Consulting Group study: 78% of those surveyed are in favor of hybridization, and 48% envisage a pattern of 3 days in the office/2 days telecommuting per week.

Choice of workplace

44% of working people want to telework. The reasons? Reduced commuting time and expenses, and greater flexibility. A trend that is also reflected in the thinking of managers: 79% of them plan to allow their employees to split their time between the company and another workplace.

Flexible working hours

80% of talented people aspire to a more flexible model that allows them to adjust their working hours.to take longer breaks, start earlier and finish earlier, and vice versa.

How do you make the transition to hybrid working?

Developing hybridity without sacrificing corporate culture and performance requires connecting the physical workspace of the office with the digital world. Find out how to make a successful transition to hybrid working, to facilitate collaborative working.

High-performance equipment

Companies need to provide high-performance IT and office equipment, given the disparities between private telecommuting spaces and company premises. Hybridization also raises the issue of security: the company's IT department is responsible for ensuring that employees have all the tools they need to work efficiently and securely, wherever they may be. Because when employees work remotely, shadow IT practices (use of IT solutions without the agreement of their CIO) tend to intensify, potentially increasing cybersecurity problems.

Hybrid management

Managing a hybrid team does not present the same difficulties as managing a team you work with every day. For example, it is not possible to assess the efficiency of each individual according to the time spent on a task; it is important to establish a culture of results, where the work accomplished is valued above and beyond other considerations. To this end, management can activate several levers to keep its teams motivated and committed:

• Organize regular updates: via chat and videoconferencing to streamline communication and maintain close contact with your teams;
• Accepting not to control everything: hybridization is based on trust between the manager, who must reduce his or her relationship with control, and his or her colleagues;
• Converting to new uses: collaborative tools encourage interaction in the office and at home to reconcile corporate culture and results;
• Leaving room for informality: exchanges between employees should be nurtured through physical or online team-building initiatives;
• Supporting employees: as the boundaries between professional and private life remain porous, the risk of isolation and demotivation is high. To avoid this, employee support systems enhance the employee experience.
  
  

Strengthening ties through transparent communication

The key to a successful transition to hybrid mode is to maintain communication between employees. At a distance, exchanges are less spontaneous and more frequent, links become looser and misunderstandings may arise, resulting in wasted time and a feeling of isolation. Dialogue therefore needs to be organized in order to be maintained, with communication remaining essential to guarantee good working conditions; in this respect, installing a fleet of screens dedicated todigital signage and using an application on your Digital Workplace helps to create bridges between all employees. These complementary communication channels enable the dissemination of highly attractive, interactive content that captures attention and increases engagement tenfold.

The screen placed in the workspace can broadcast information centrally and automatically throughout the week, relayed also on desktop or mobile via the Cenareo App integrated into your Digital Workplace, ensuring that the company offers the same level of information to all employees, whether teleworking, on site or in the field. The Cenareo multi-channel solution transforms every screen into a high-impact communication channel to reach all your employees and streamline exchanges for customized, contextualized, high-impact communication.

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Make the transition to a hybrid working environment a success with Cenareo 's dedicated digital signage solution. Flexible and intuitive, these powerful tools fit naturally into your company's organization. Unite your teams through the transmission of relevant, memorable content, for a unique experience. Cenareo can help you define a tailor-made internal communication strategy, to enhance your company's competitiveness and the well-being of your employees.