TRANSFORMING Teams By Paige McAllister
Reimagining your workplace:
Hybrid work
O
in the current COVID world with the relaxing of COVID restrictions across the country requires considering what your future workplace will look like. According to a survey conducted by orrester Research, while only of companies offered remote work options prior to the pandemic, going forward more than plan to offer fully remote or hybrid work arrangements. An equally important factor in the structuring of the workplace will be how employees want to work. According to a FlexJobs survey, 96% of employees would like some form of remote work arrangement. The primary reasons for their desire to remain remote are their continued concern about COVID-19 safety as well as their concern with having less fle ibility and less work-life balance. econdary reasons employees want to keep a remote work arrangement are due to the cost savings and their not having to commute. In fact, remaining remote is so important that of surveyed employees are willing to take a pay cut to continue their arrangement and 58% are saying they would look for another job if they cannot continue with some sort of remote work arrangement. What does this mean? It means that, while you may be uncertain about the need to offer some remote work arrangement, not offering something may result in valuable employees leaving you in a job market which is very employee-friendly. And who are the companies finding candidates to accept their positions he ones who are offering remote work. While weighing options for your workplace, consider some of these thoughts:
16
Building Products Digest August 2021
COVID is not gone yet. With a large unvaccinated population and the once-again increasing percentage of COVID cases due to the Delta variant, no one should act like everything is “back to normal.” As long as there is a chance someone can contract COVID-19, employers must take actions to prioritize the health and safety of their employees. his may mean offering reasonable accommodation to those who are at high-risk or who legitimately cannot get the COVID vaccine. If an employee is still staying isolated in fear of contracting ID, then offering a remote work arrangement may be necessary. But if they are eating in restaurants, going to the movies or sporting events, and traveling on vacation, you have more of an argument to require some in-office work. Changes to policies and work arrangements can be temporary or become regular practice. As with any policy or practice (except employment-at-will), employers should always reserve the right to modify or rescind an agreed-to arrangement based on company needs. This allows employers to try a new arrangement while not being committed to it if circumstances such as poor performance, lower ID rates, need for more in-office man power, or financial impacts change in the future. Most employees do not expect a fully-remote schedule but would prefer a hybrid arrangement to always working in-office. By having some days each week that they do not need to commute or face the disruptions in the office, employees can balance their face-to-face needs while having time at home to concentrate on their productivity. If you cannot have a fully-remote workforce, look into hybrid options. This could be having employees stagger Building-Products.com
