Hubspot’s 2022 Hybrid Work Report focused on the ways in which the world worked during 2021 as well as what is likely to lie ahead in the future. So, what did it say? Here, we take a closer look at its contents and what they reveal.

The COVID Chaos

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly had an unimaginably powerful effect on society during the last two years. Now that 2022 has arrived, and a “new normal” appears to be on the horizon, it’s time to consider the impact that the global crisis has had on our working lives.

One key change that arose during the pandemic was the need for remote and home working due to the voluntary and imposed lockdowns around the globe. Therefore, what did the HubSpot survey of four thousand full-time flex, in-office, and remote workers from across the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, France, Japan, Australia, and Canada reveal about culture, collaboration, communication, management, and mental health?

Better Flexibility

Interestingly, a key feature of the report was the note that employees had enjoyed having the opportunity of working both onsite in the office and remotely. This has, in turn, led to numerous companies considering the possibility of embracing and adopting the hybrid work model.

The report suggested that hybrid working will be around for some time to come, and in 2022, the priority will be to future-proof that work model.

Collaboration And Communication Present More Challenges

When companies have hybrid workforces, collaboration and communication becomes more challenging. Almost half of all remote workers surveyed reported that they missed in-person, spontaneous connections with other colleagues.

Almost 60% of workers still onsite found that connecting with their teams and staying motivated with the main challenges when it came to transitioning to in-office work from working from home. Meanwhile 61% of flexible workers agreed that they had an effective working relationship with their team within their hybrid environment.

It was perhaps telling that almost 40% of respondents said they’d prefer to go to the dentist every month than go to the office five days each week!

Employee Experience Helps Culture Thrive

A fifth of flexible workers saw differences between the remote and in-office employee experience as one 20% of flex workers see differences in the in-office and remote employee experience as an obstacle to success.

Meanwhile 60% of people ranked a better work/life balance as their top aspect of their company’s culture. Almost half of all survey respondents said they’d rather have an extra day off during the week than an increased salary, while 31% believed opportunities to supply anonymous feedback would make them feel more included and supported in the workplace.

Better Communication For Better Long-Term Productivity

In the report, 34% of flexible workers said they actively went to the office in order to communicate more effectively with their colleagues, but 72% of respondents said that too many meetings and calls in the workplace disrupted their concentration.

Holistic Approaches to Mental Health

In the last year, 40% of respondents said they’d had a better work/life balance, but nevertheless, almost 60% said that they found it hard to set the right boundaries between their work and personal lives. Caregivers and parents especially agreed that they felt under pressure to be “permanently on” in working hours, regardless of their home situations.

Better Resources For Team Support

Management appeared to be problematic, with almost 30% of flexible workers finding that managing remote workers was their toughest challenge when working with hybrid teams. Meanwhile almost half of all managers reported breakdowns in communication as their top concern. Fortunately, though, 60% of them believed they had the correct tools to manage effectively even in the hybrid working environment.

Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra | March 29, 2022
AGM IT Application, In2IT Enterprise Business Services Pvt. Ltd.