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What is Hybrid Working?

Different organisations are finding their own ways to strike the right employee balance between home-based and office-based working. Many a forging a middle path of hybrid working, taking the best from what remote working can offer, and also including some time in the office – but perhaps in a more team-centred and collaborative way.

The smart organisations will be surveying their employees, asking how they want to work, what is important to them and what will aid their productivity. Individual flexibility whenever possible is key as everyone’s circumstances will differ. The big risk of not asking these questions will be increased attrition as employees seek out companies who are engaged and tailoring the way they work.

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Emerging trends

Stats from the 2021 Workforce Trends Survey Report

60%

want to see a clear policy around hybrid working

47%

are worried about retaining work / life balance when returning to the office

60%

of people would invest in a dedicated working space if their employer introduced a hybrid working policy

70%

want to return to the office in some way

Additional insights to help you transform

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the meaning of hybrid working?

    Hybrid working is a form of flexible working which enables an employee to split their time between remote working and office working.

  • What is a hybrid working model?

    Hybrid working is where a mixture of working from home, working remotely from a location of your choosing and office working are all combined. Hybrid working encourages employees to work flexibly wherever they decide is best for them on any given day. To find out how to adapt a hybrid working model and make it a success, take a look at our hybrid working guide.

  • What is the difference between flexible working and hybrid working?

    Flexible working encourages employees to work hours which suit them, although it may not necessarily always be a strict 9-5. Hybrid working typically refers to where employees work, bringing together a mix of remote and office working.  

  • What does a hybrid workplace look like?

    A hybrid workplace will mean employees have more choice over where they choose to work each day. Depending on what works best for the employee, they may choose to work from home, from another remote location (such as a WeWork facility or something similar) or the company office.

     

  • How to build trust in a virtual team?

    Building trust virtually is more challenging than in an office environment – but a fundamental to achieve this is good communication. Making sure communication between managers and employees, but also across teams, remains strong despite working virtually is key to ensuring team members trust each other and respect each other’s priorities. Our guide on staying connected in a virtual world explains how to put communication at the heart of your team’s culture.

  • What is the impact of remote working?

    Working remotely provides a range of benefits for employees, but there are also some challenges to consider. Many prefer remote working as it means they don’t have to spend time and money commuting to the office, and they are able to be more productive working from home in a quieter environment. On the other hand, some individuals don’t have an appropriate space to work at home or find it harder to achieve a work / life balance, struggling to switch off at the end of the working day. 

    Take a look at our remote working whitepaper to explore the benefits this could have for your workforce.

  • How to manage your hybrid workforce

    Having the right software in place is crucial to managing a hybrid workforce. HR teams need to be able to easily access employee records, track absence and health and wellbeing of employees - as well as have a platform for recruitment and ongoing retention.

  • How can HR support hybrid working?

    HR teams can update their policies and encourage employees to think differently about their approach to the working day. Having the right software in place is also crucial; if employees are able to be just as productive whilst working remotely this will make it easy to implement a hybrid working strategy. Learn more about productivity software for hybrid working.

Browse all hybrid working resources

BLOG // 12-08-2021

Employers need to ‘show up’ for their young recruits post-lockdown

by Alex Arundale, Chief People Officer, Advanced

Employers need to ‘show up’ for their young recruits post-lockdown

Expert Insight

“For me the future is flexible, it has to be! But there needs to be an agenda change. We used to ask why we would work from home, now we ask, why would we come into the office? So, we need to live and breathe this transition to flexibility and use technology to help understand how we work, which days we work from home and which days we come into the office.”  

Alex Arundale

Expert Insight

“It’s going to be very difficult to tell people they have to come back in now when they’ve demonstrated so ably that remote working is productive and it works for them. In some recent data we have collected, a third of employees say they will resign if they don’t get the same flexibility, going forward, that they’ve had over the past year.”

Victoria Robinson

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Top Tips

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4 Tips

for building team culture remotely

  • Read tips
    • Be open and transparent as a team – provide shared calendar access and encourage employees to be honest about their home commitments as well as their professional workload
    • Adopt technology which supports communication across teams
    • Introduce the same kind of structure as you would have in a physical office such as regular morning catch ups
    • Suggest virtual team activities to help with team building amongst colleagues

    There are multiple ways an organisation can encourage teamwork and team building in a hybrid workforce. Read our guide to Virtual Team Building Ideas.

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4 Tips

for managing hybrid teams

  • Read tips

    One of the biggest challenges in managing a hybrid team is ensuring trust and productivity remain high. Businesses can achieve this by:

    • Communicating effectively with your team – ensure you have open channels of communication and employees feel they are able to discuss challenges
    • Introducing a flexible working policy so employees can schedule their work around personal commitments
    • Adopting technology which enhances productivity and communication whilst working remotely
    • Ensuring employees still have opportunities for social interaction with the team despite not always physically being in the office

    Take a look at our guide, which provides more in-depth tips on managing a hybrid team.

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4 Tips

for building a successful hybrid work culture

  • Read tips
    • Open communication – ensure colleagues feel comfortable sharing and being open with each other about their workload and their priorities.
    • Have the right technology in place – not only do employees need access to tools to work productively remotely, but managers and employees need appropriate tech to facilitate regular catch ups and drive objectives and work priorities.
    • Ensure your team trust each other – working hours in a hybrid environment may be slightly different to the 9-5. Colleagues understanding and appreciating this is key to hybrid working.
    • Get social – set up virtual social events to get teams talking and having those ‘water cooler’ moments.

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4 Tips

for hybrid work security and efficiency

  • Read tips
    • Partner with a Cloud software provider – review your current technology stack and ensure your software solutions are secure, integrated and enable efficient and productive working.
    • Consider additional technology requirements – do teams need extra platforms to enable hybrid working and improve new working practices?
    • Provide suitable hardware – ensure teams are set up to work effectively from home in a comfortable environment.
    • Allow flexible working where possible – people work differently and often work most productively at different times of the day depending on their personal preference and work / life commitments. Be inclusive and accommodating if you can.

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4 Tips

for a successful return to the office for your hybrid team

  • Read tips
    • Outline a clear return to the office strategy – plan ahead for multiple scenarios and communicate this to your workforce.
    • Try to be accessible to everyone and don’t have a one-size-fits-all model – employees will have very different personal situations and will feel differently about coming back to the office as a result
    • Talk to your teams about how they feel – returning to the office may be very daunting for some, take the time to listen to feedback from employees and adapt your approach if necessary
    • Present equal opportunities – don’t praise individuals who return to the office over those who don’t, ensure all employees feel valued regardless of their choices over where they work

    For further guidance on safeguarding your workforce as they return to the office, take a look at our return to office guide.

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4 Tips

to support mental health in a hybrid workplace

  • Read tips
    • Listen to feedback – ensure your employees feel heard and know you take their feedback into account. Empower employees to share their thoughts and challenges with you.
    • Recognise success – important to boosting morale is recognising excellence and success among high performers. Make sure employees feel their efforts are appreciated.
    • Be flexible – let employees know they have flexibility around their working day and are able to work in a way which is best for them.
    • Encourage conversations – schedule frequent conversations with team members and ensure you have a culture of openness.

    There are many other ways employers can encourage employees to ensure they are staying well in the hybrid workplace.

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Tips

for building a successful remote working model

  • Read tips

    Flexible and remote working is new for the majority of employees and businesses. With many employees planning to work remotely for the majority of the time moving forward, it is important that businesses adapt their working models to ensure employees are connected and productive when working away from colleagues.

    Read more on how to make remote working a success.

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Tips

for HR to improve productivity in remote employees

  • Read tips

    It can be difficult for many employees to remain productive when the distractions of home life are more present in their working environment. On top of this, it can be hard for many employees to feel motivated when away from the office and they can often feel disconnected.

    Read more on helping your remote workforce stay productive.

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4 Tips

for working from home

  • Read tips
    • Create a dedicated working space – tTry and ensure you have somewhere at home set up with everything you need to be productive and that you have the space to focus.
    • Take regular breaks – make time throughout the day to break up work to regain your focus.
    • Create a ‘fake commute’ – for many people this separates the working day from home life and provides a clear distinction between the two.
    • Schedule regular check ins with your team – ensure communication with team members remains high and relationships with colleagues are strong.

    There are also many considerations employers need to have around more practical things such as data security and the physical requirements of employees for working from home.

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4 Tips

for using people analytics to manage a remote workforce

  • Read tips

    Employers should ensure they have the appropriate people analytics and HR software in place to manage their remote workforce. They should consider if their software allows them to do the following:

    • Give and encourage regular employee feedback – help keep employees on track with objectives and goals by providing written feedback. Encourage peers and other leadership members to do the same too.
    • Find patterns in absence – being able to analyse absence may give managers warnings of issues such as burnout or stress.
    • Analyse employee productivity – remove pointless admin tasks and track progress on objectives to help spot when employees need support in achieving goals.
    • Log mental health and Covid-19 statuses – being able to track which staff members have Covid-19 or may be isolating, as well as those struggling with less visible mental health conditions, helps provide appropriate support and workforce planning.

    To find out more about HR and people analytics software that can help, take a look at our MyWorkplace platform.

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Tips

for managers to support remote employees

  • Read tips

    Many managers are still trying to understand how they can best support employees when working from home.

    There are a wide range of ways in which this can be done, however a fundamental element of this is ensuring teams have the technology in place to collaborate with other team members and feel part of a wider team. 

    For advice on tools and software which can support remote employees, read more about our MyWorkplace platform.

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Workplace Wellbeing

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Working Models

What can we learn about evolving ways of work as we look to the future?

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