Shaping the Hybrid Work Future

By Samarth Kasturia, Director, Workplace & Strategic Consultancy, Knight Frank Asia-Pacific

The workplace conversation is a little like the tailored suit conversation – can you buy things off the rack? Yes. Will they fit as well as a bespoke one? Perhaps not.

The onset of the pandemic left businesses with little choice but to implement mass work-from-home arrangements that were the exception rather than the rule. And so, many of us had to create quick fixes (dining tables becoming workstations, sometimes beds serving the same purpose). While this arrangement may have served us for a while, remote working does take its toll on our ability to collaborate as the unplanned, organic interactions are missing.

While the height of the pandemic has passed for most markets, it looks like 2021 isn't going to be a sudden 'reversion to normal' or a definitive entry into the 'new normal'. Even as offices reopen, COVID-19 has changed the way businesses begin to plan for new working models for the postpandemic years ahead. One of the most common emergent models of work has been the notion of hybrid working: a combination of in-office and remote working in varying proportions as a means for employees and employers to capture the benefits of both.

However, this approach requires careful consideration in how we plan our work and place in the future; multiple variables need to be calibrated in the equation. Here are some things to think about when deciding whether to go 'hybrid' or not – or even 'how hybrid':

Collective Creativity

Whether you are based at home or have been slowly returning to the office, the level of collaboration and ideaexchange has been different, and in most cases, not as smooth as we are used to. There is a component of lag to be accounted for. Understanding this is a new medium to swing towards, there is definitely demand from employees to rethink how they can safely and productively collaborate in the future –in person.

Focus

Focus is harder to achieve (or what the productivity pundits refer to as 'flow') if there are constant distractions at home. Mentally, one would find it hard to switch to being 'at work', and the mental 'flip switch' that comes with the sanctity of the personal space to the workspace would not be achieved. This is hard to achieve in spaces not designed to be settings of work – especially in markets where residential area per capita is low, like Hong Kong and Malaysia. However, for those with more conducive work environments at home, productivity for individual work can increase. In a survey by EngageRocket collecting responses from Singapore workers in June last year, 64% of respondents reported being as or more productive working from home than in the office.

Culture and Camaraderie

Workplaces do foster culture, create an environment of productivity and form relationships that are harder to develop & maintain remotely. Most of the workforce has been conditioned on relationships, engagement, and appreciation pre-2020. Some have spent most of their careers using the personal touch to sell, manage, and grow. There is value in the personal when it comes to retaining talent, creating, and managing relationships and teams. While remote working can increase self-reported productivity levels, it can also lead to people feeling disengaged with the rest of their team and the company, as we've seen from work with our own clients.

What does this mean for the office?

Returning to the tailored suit analogy – tailored suits have a higher ability to adapt to your changing shape – they are easier to alter. Off-the-rack ones

lose structure when altered too much. The office –much like a tailored suit— can evolve to suit the changing models of work.

As hybrid working arrangements grow in popularity, we expect to see a change in the form and function of the office. According to our global survey, (Y)OUR SPACE, which aggregates the views of 400 global companies, fifty-five per cent believe that there will be an increase in the proportion of collaborative space in their offices. Thus, while the home may be the setting of choice for focused and individual work, the office will support a more dynamic work environment that brings people together to interact, collaborate, create, and sustain corporate culture.

This is a far cry from the 'death of the office' narrative sensationalised in the press over the past year. Our survey finds that just over a third of respondents (35%) expect to see a reduction in the size of their global portfolios over the next three years – the very same proportion that expects to see their portfolio size remain stable. In contrast, some 30% actually expect to increase their global quantum of space on the back of business growth.

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 is forcing business transformation, but the right fit for a hybrid work future will look different for each company. This transformation is not without challenge, not least because of the fragile operating environment and cost-consciousness apparent as we emerge from the pandemic. However, it also presents business leaders an opportunity to build an even better model of work for the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samarth Kasturia is the Director for Workplace & Strategic Consultancy at Knight Frank Asia Pacific, supporting corporate occupiers to optimise and transform their workplaces and portfolios. Samarth is passionate about transformation, culture, and helping shape the positive role our workplaces and organisational policies can play in them. He is a trained architect with a Master's Degree in Finance and Investment, specialising in workplace and real estate strategy development.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Knight Frank LLP is the leading independent global property consultancy, serving as our clients' partners in property for 125 years. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank has more than 20,000 people operating from 488 offices across 57 territories. The Group advises clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors and corporate tenants. For further information about the Company, please visit knightfrank.com.