The new year is anticipated to be a time when companies will be expected to make concrete decisions about their future workplace strategies.
Many have adopted hybrid models, in which employees can enjoy both remote work and an in-office environment. Others are making the leap towards a permanent remote working strategy.
Whichever a company decides to do, it will take more than simply making a proclamation of being a more flexible company.
“Remote and hybrid is a different beast, and it has to be built in a different way,” said Rebecca Ryan, an economist and founder of Next Generation Consulting Inc. “When we talk about remote work, remote work is just one way of talking about flexibility that allows employees to balance, juggle their whole life. It’s an accommodation that allows them to have a more complete life, and this is the existential underlying issue going on here.”
Leaders have a responsibility to create a workplace strategy that focuses on culture and enables employees to perform their best, or risk losing talent to the Great Resignation.
However, a report by the Fall 2021 Future Forum Pulse showed that 44% of executives working remotely want to be in the office every day compared to just 17% of employees.
This highlights different desires across hierarchies. But during this transition, employers will need to approach future workplace planning by understanding, just because they have a specific workplace preference, that doesn’t mean this model is applicable to all employees.
