The recent outbreak of global pandemic COVID-19 meant the world had to adapt to a life where physical interactions were limited and working remotely became the new norm. Gradually, as lockdown measures began to lift, some businesses were relieved to go back to work as normal, others adapted to create opportunities for hybrid-remote working, whilst businesses where remote working was standard procedure remained unphased. There has been a lot of discussion lately around hybrid, remote and in-office work which leaves the impending question - which work model is better?
To answer this question, let’s define what these work models are and investigate some of the benefits and drawbacks of each one.
In-Office Work
In-office working is a traditional way of working that consists of all business operations being conducted in one physical location.
Benefits
1. Teamwork
Working in a physical office with other employees can dramatically improve the culture within an organisation. It is an effective way for colleagues to build relationships with one another and encourages social interactions and employee collaboration.
2. Face-to-face meetings
Depending on the industry that a business operates in, it may be necessary to conduct face-to-face meetings. Here at Warner Recruitment, as we are a recruitment agency, we prefer to hold interviews or meetings in-person where possible which wouldn’t necessarily be an option if we worked remotely. Conducting face to face interviews makes establishing connections and reading body language easier.
3. Access to better tools and resources
Better resources can be available to you when working in an office, making methods of working more efficient. Warner Recruitment provides everyone with a sit-stand desk, a Microsoft Surface Pro Tablet and two adjustable PC monitors to work on. Working in-office also allows employees to use tools and resources they would not necessarily have access to if they worked from home. Offices also provide a robust internet connection allowing workers to complete online tasks more efficiently.
4. Healthy work-life balance
Another benefit to working in-office is that it is easier to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Having set working hours to start and finish your working day help to create a clear separation between your work and private life. Being at home and away for the office gives you to opportunity to unplug and unwind from the working day.
5. Suitable workplace environment
Working in-office can be seen as a place where productivity is at its peak. An environment where everyone is working on their individual tasks can be motivating as you are all working towards a common goal.
Drawbacks
1. Distractions
It can be argued that working in an office is a distraction. This is dependent upon how often colleagues collaborate on work together and the relationships between workers, but increased conversations and communications can disrupt workflow and concentration within the workplace.
2. Less flexibility
It can be hard to find a good work-life balance and the rigid structure of working in an office can make you feel like you don’t have as much time to focus on other things.
3. Increased stress
Office culture can make workers feel pressured to perform. Being in the same environment as your employer can make you feel intimidated and working with colleagues can cause a certain level of competitiveness.
Remote Work
This is the practice of employees completing their daily work duties outside of an organisation’s official place of work.
Benefits
1. Wider talent pools
An employer can widen their search when allowing people to work from home because it enables them to market jobs vacancies to people that don’t live locally as well as people that do. This will give employers a bigger selection of candidates to choose from and find the most suitable candidate for the job.
2. Less commuting time
Working from home saves a lot of time as you no longer need to commute which also narrows down the chances of lateness. In addition, this allows workers to save money they would have otherwise spent on commuting costs.
3. Saves money for the business
Remote work doesn’t only benefit employees but employers too. Enabling employees to work from home means that businesses can save money where they would’ve normally paid for an office space and associated costs.
Drawbacks
1. Heavy reliance on technology
Remote working means there is an increase in the usage of technology. If there are any technical issues, they may be more difficult to resolve compared to working in the office where you may have access to an IT department and face-to-face support that can help to resolve any problems.
2. Loneliness
Working from home every day can affect a persons’ wellbeing, this can have a bigger effect on people that live alone. Remote working can make an employee feel isolated and stuck in one place. Additionally, new employees may not get the chance to establish relationships with their colleagues. In the case where a business has decided to allow employees to work remotely, existing work relationships may weaken because there is no longer a physical workplace for them to interact.
3. Poor work-life balance
Working from home means that workers do not have to commute to and from work and so can be tempted to work on tasks past assigned working hours. This can form a bad habit where there is a poor balance between home and work life.
Hybrid Working
Hybrid working is a method of working that allows employees to work from home and in-office at different points during the week.
Benefits
1. Improved employee satisfaction
There has been a lot of discussion about whether hybrid workers are happier, research shows that hybrid work increases employee retention. Having the option to work both from the office and at home throughout the week allows the best balance.
2. Greater flexibility
Hybrid working allows employees to work from home or any suitable environment outside of work, offering more flexibility. This method of working gives employees more opportunity to take care of any duties they may have outside of work.
3. Better work-life balance
It can be argued that working from home offers the best work-life balance. This method of working means employees can take more frequent breaks if needed, see and be around family a lot more and can work in a comfortable and familiar environment. This can also reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction.
Drawbacks
1. Increased meetings
Hybrid working may result in frequent video meetings to ensure that employees are meeting goals, and everything is running smoothly. An employer may have to take time out of their daily schedule to do this, whereas this would be an easier thing to do in an office setting. Video calls can also be disruptive, time consuming and running into technical issues are also a risk.
2. Cybersecurity risks
Hybrid working arrangements sometimes means that employees work from home using their personal devices and this can potentially present a cybersecurity risk. Most businesses have security measures in place to protect all devices from viruses and data breaches. Warner Recruitment supplies all employees with a company device to work on and ensures all workers use Keeper which is a password manager and digital vault with 2-factor password authentication.
3. Decreased productivity
Working at home can have a negative impact on levels of productivity as employees can be less focused and motivated and the absence of colleagues can make working day-to-day feel mundane.
4. Distractions at home
There can be a lot more distractions when working from home such as deliveries, household duties and family members. This can have a negative effect on productivity so it would be important to put measures in place to ensure these factors do not interfere with working hours.
Now that each working style has been defined and we have looked at the pros and cons of each one, all that is left is to answer the question. Are any of these approaches better than the rest?
The answer to this question is subjective. No one method of working will suit every business and employee. The best approach is to find the best fit for business operations, business culture and the individual workers. Change is inevitable and the working world has adapted and evolved since the outbreak of COVID-19. It is unlikely that businesses will fully return to how they were pre-covid and it is likely these different methods of working are here to stay.