BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Hybrid Work: Beyond The Point Of No Return

Forbes Technology Council

Vish leads Cisco’s Architectures business in APJC and helps companies transition to new-age operating models. Find his blog posts here.

Events that get classified as "historic" have one thing in common: The changes they trigger last for decades beyond the initial occurrence of the event. The latest addition to that list is the Covid-19 pandemic. The changes it's initiated, especially in the way we work, are here to stay, and the impact on all stakeholders—including companies, employees and families—will be profound.

As we start to emerge from the pandemic, with countries lifting restrictions and economic activity picking up, one thing is clear: Employees across the globe don't want to go back to the pre-pandemic culture of working from the office five days a week. They want a hybrid work arrangement in which they can choose whether they work from the office, home or any other place, depending on what they're working on and with whom.

On the surface, it looks simple. Employees just want choice. However, enabling and empowering them to do so presents complicated challenges for companies on multiple fronts.

Reimagining Technology

The shift to distributed work environments means employers need to reassess their technology infrastructure at various levels. To start, in a hybrid environment, employees will be accessing company applications and data from different locations and using multiple networks.

This presents two distinct challenges. First, the stability of the connections can be an issue. This has serious implications. The findings of a recent survey conducted by Cisco of 28,000 full-time employees (outside of Cisco) about their experience with and expectations around hybrid and remote work showed that 62% of respondents believe "suffering connectivity issues on a regular basis is career limiting for remote workers."

Second, as employees log in from multiple networks—in some cases, even public WiFi hotspots, the level of security may not always be the same. This can create issues for companies, as it provides bad actors multiple opportunities to hack into their networks. The IT team can no longer just protect the office IT infrastructure or the home connection—they must also ensure that their security posture is strong enough to verify identity and devices every time an employee tries to log in.

In addition, companies need to rethink how they look at collaboration platforms. Just one collaboration tool can’t help them connect with everyone. They might need a slew of products because their colleagues, clients and other stakeholders have their own preferred software.

Return On Investment

All this may make it seem that companies need to get ready to invest more money in their infrastructure. One thing that business leaders need to remember is that it isn't about how much money you're going to invest but the strategy behind your investment that will set you up for success.

Also, we've seen that experiences across organizations have been that strategic investments help employees make a positive difference in how they do their jobs, allowing them to spend time improving relevant knowledge and skills and to focus on building relationships at work. It also tends to improve attitudes across hierarchies.

Overall, most people seem to believe that hybrid working has made people happier and more motivated in their roles and that, in turn, means they’re less likely to look for a new job in the immediate future. This is a huge plus in an environment in which many companies are dealing with attrition in what's now popularly labeled the "Great Resignation."

This is a lesson for employers as companies begin to figure out the road ahead: Employees are happier and perform better in a hybrid model, so returning to a fully office-bound role could have a significant impact on talent retention and acquisition.

The past two years haven't just been a one-way street for employees. Employers have also seen considerable benefits, and fears of a nosedive in employee performance turned out to have been unfounded. According to our study, nearly two-thirds believe the quality of work has improved since the start of the pandemic and 60% believe productivity has gone up.

Evolution Of Leadership

Hybrid working has reached the point of no return. As a result, organizations need to adapt nearly every facet of their operations, and leaders must adapt too.

A key area for leaders in a hybrid working model is employee engagement and building an inclusive culture. This is going to take some effort, not least because each individual employee is going to be defining the work style that best suits them. Management, though, has to ensure that every employee has the same experience irrespective of their preferred work style.

Additionally, leaders will also need to rethink the way they assess their employees. It will be crucial that leaders don't let biases affect the way they evaluate employee performance—especially if some team members are in the office more than others. Companies that have never had a hybrid work arrangement should look at investing time and resources in training people managers on this aspect. This is going to be critical in making hybrid work truly successful in the long run.

It's clear that changes are required across all aspects of the way organizations operate, from the mundane to the business-critical. Leaders and managers across organizations know that employees recognize the need for change too.

Technology will play a critical role on all these fronts to not only empower a truly hybrid workforce but also be the equalizing factor to ensure that the experience for employees who may still prefer to be in the office regularly, those working fully remotely and those who toggle between home and office remains the same. That will be the differentiator between companies that succeed and those that get left behind.

As with all inflections in business and life, there are huge opportunities for those who can adapt quickly and embrace the changes. Those who are unable or unwilling run the risk of being left behind. They might look back in a few years and wonder, what if?


Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?


Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website