The hybrid workplace model combines remote workers who are working from far off places to be specific from their homes with people working from the workplace. Information technology has helped to bridge the gap between employees who work in different locations using video conferencing and instant messaging tools, employees can stay connected and work together on projects in real time. In organizations some or all employees are given the flexibility to choose where and when they want to work. In-office time is allocated by days based on teams on need arising basis. The hybrid working model is a work style that enables employees to blend working from different locations: home, on the go, or in the office.

Amazon the biggest e-commerce player in world during the pandemic decided to give employees two days a week where they were allowed to work from home. Amazon prefers workers working in office and they did not want to embrace hybrid work model prior to Covid. But after Covid they found it difficult to go back to work from office. However, they still firmly believe that creativity is something that happens when people are together at the office and that employees develop and innovate the best if they are together at the office, so everyone is strongly encouraged to go. Also, some work functions such as hardware engineers and frontline operations are required to work at the office. Nevertheless, they do acknowledge the desire to work from home and nowadays, it is up to each team to decide what works best for their unit.

The hybrid model is not a fit for every workplace or every industry, it’s best suited to employees whose work is computer-based and doesn’t need to be performed on site. A recent report from McKinsey looked at remote work that can be done without loss of productivity. It determined that about 20% to 25% of the workforces in advanced economies could work from home between three and five days a week. This represents four to five times more remote work than before the pandemic. 

An effective hybrid work system promotes autonomy, flexibility, high performance, collaboration, positive work relationships and effective work habits.  A company might require that employees work three days a week in organization, with the option to work remotely the other two days. Or they might dictate a specific weekly schedule: for example, employees need to be in the office on Mondays and Tuesdays but can choose their work location for the rest of the week.

In Microsoft, the rules are quite clear for the over 180,000 employees of the software giant. Employees can work from home for up to 50% of the time after agreeing on their new hybrid schedule with their manager. Anything above 50% is considered a home office setup and will have different eligibility criteria. Work hour flexibility is standard for most roles, allowing employees to arrange their workday according to their preferences and needs.

At Apple Inc, the management recently implemented its hybrid work policy, but things have not been working smoothly. Apple adopted a relatively rigid approach to hybrid work. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday are fixed on-site days, and employees have been pushing back. Some high-profile employees even resigned over the policy. Although it is receiving criticism, Apple is firm on its policy. It just lacks the flexibility that many remote workers have grown accustomed to during the Covid pandemic. The example of Apple’s is also a warning in terms of how the hybrid workplace is constantly evolving, and organizations need to find solutions to change rapidly.

Businesses during Covid pandemic had to quickly overcome a countless challenge, from providing the right tools to managing productivity and a low morale in an isolated team environment. After few months, however, it was clear that there was no going back, because employees preferred this new, more flexible work model.

Non-tech firm Tata Steel has also embraced hybrid. It had implemented an ‘Agile Working Model’ policy in 2020 for white-collar workforce, under which the job positions were classified into absolute WFH (wherein the employee can work from any location in India) and flexi work from home.

Negative side of hybrid work model: Every organisation faces different challenges in making a hybrid work model successful. Developing a successful hybrid work model is not easy. Each company needs to design and develop a model to fit their organization culture. Each company’s needs are unique.

As companies move towards hybrid models’ security of information and data continues to be a threat and a concern. With employees working from home using their own networks, and potentially their own devices, HR and IT departments will need to focus on end-user education and security.

In a hybrid model, managers must take care to ensure that both on-site and remote workers have the same workload and same opportunities and exposure, including evaluations that are based upon productivity. It is crucial to ensure that remote team members do not feel isolated. The managers need to also make sure that the accountability of the employees does not go down.  It is difficult for HR teams to focus on keeping employees feeling connected when their staff is working from different locations at any given time. Getting seamless connectivity to avoiding gaps, silos, and knowledge loss, businesses need to develop barrier-free connectivity that allows hybrid teams to communicate quickly and efficiently. Maintaining a thriving company culture must be an intentional goal in a hybrid workplace model. 

The hybrid workplace model is not pro the ideal work culture. It is the “new normal.”  Inclusive hybrid workplace where all employees no matter where they’re working are productive, engaged, and feel connected and included. Technology has its limitation such as compatibility issues, internet connectivity, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, complexity, and overhead costs.

I end my article with an example of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s largest IT company is set to end its hybrid working policy. In an internal communication sent last year in mid-September, the company mandated that its workforce should attend office for five days in a week starting October 1, 2023.

How is workplace compatibility developed?

Many factors go into making a relationship work; the biggest ones is compatibility. If two individuals have nothing in common and share little or no interests once the newness of the relationship wears off, there’s not much left to work with. Compatibility is the like-mindedness shared by two people or a group. Therefore, when people work together the compatibility component is very important.

How does compatible relationship helps organization

Compatible relationships create individual peak performance and collective organizational reciprocity, resulting in an organization that functions at optimal levels of organizational effectiveness. Performance in an organization is influenced by compatible relationships between the leadership style and the motivational needs of followers. Organizations fail badly when they hire employees who don’t “fit” into the organizational culture and policies. The misfits cost a lot in terms of money and cultural pilferage. It includes cost to recruit, train the employee, and other employee morale gets affected. Wrongly selected employees can hamper an organization even if it is well established. Bad hires negatively affect organization.

While oil and gas companies are prime targets for a lot of negative PR and public ire, Chevron Corporation employees are well-versed towards the company’s culture. They are dedicated to safety, supporting employees and team members looking out for each other. Chevron cares about its employees by providing health & fitness centers on site through health-club memberships. It offers other health-oriented programs such as massages and personal training. Chevron insists employees take regular breaks. In other words, the company shows it cares about the well-being of employees, and employees know that they are valued.  The level of freedom are empowerment is understood in tight sense by its employees. Chevron grew as a corporation because it cares a lot about compatibility with its workers.

How does workplace compatibility affect Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions fail staggeringly and cultural incompatibilities play a dominant role in most of these problem mergers. Across industries, the failure rate of M&A is almost at 50%.  The unfortunate thing is that a majority of M&As, simply do not make the expected return on the investment and the toll on employees in merged or acquired organization is much higher.  In a muddled atmosphere key people leave organization which increases fear and resentment in other employees. Organizations lose the momentum on sales, product development, R&D, infrastructure etc. Hence each employee’s compatibility with the organization’s core values matters. The cultural fit is very important.

For a healthy union of two organizations, cultural norms of the two organizations need explicit attention, if it is ignored everything fails. The cultural norms are what drive almost every aspect of the respective companies; instead of assuming, there should be clarity on how the business should be run, how decisions are made, even how people should be treated. The bottom line is that leaders who ignore the role of culture during an M&A activity simply are not fulfilling their responsibility towards all stakeholders.

In Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is located at the very top of the pyramid, it embodies the need to fulfill one’s individual potential. According to Maslow, peak experiences plays an important role in self-actualization. This experience is really rare, which makes the peak experiences elusive. Not all people reach the peak of Maslow’s pyramid. In one study conducted across business firms the researchers found that only about two-percent of individuals surveyed had ever had a peak experience.

Peak experiences are not restricted solely to self-actualized individuals, however. Maslow believed that all people are capable of having these moments, but he also felt that self-actualized people were likely to experience them more often. Maslow also felt sure that the more emotionally healthy we are, the greater the likelihood of a peak-experience.

Workplace compatibility and leadership

This bring the focus on the relationship between leadership style and the motivational needs of the followers. When the leader-follower relationship is compatible, the followers feel motivated to give their best. Compatible relationships create individual peak performance and collective organizational tradeoff, resulting in an organization that functions at optimal levels of organizational effectiveness. Performance in an organization is influenced by compatible relationships between the leadership’s style and the motivational needs of followers. Employees who clearly understand their individual goals-and how they relate to those of the organization they work in are more engaged with their work. When the employees see how they can make a direct contribution, they become successful. They begin to focus on finding ways to work smarter and more efficiently. This boost in employee productivity is most essential for running organizations smoothly.

Southwest Airlines has been in operations for over four decades. They enjoy customer loyalty because of their happy and friendly employees who are extremely hospitable. This airline has managed to communicate its goals and vision to employees in a way that makes them a part of a unified team. Southwest believes in permitting its employees to go that extra mile to make customers happy, empowering them to do what they need to do to meet the organizational goals and vision. Employees who are convinced of a larger common goal are people who are excited to be part of a larger purpose.

To strike the compatibility with assistants’ leaders must talk with clarity; explain what is expected from the assistants. Why is the organization in business? Why should customers care? What is the next level the business wants to move? What strategies to adopt, what policies to make, clarity matters.

Actions speak louder than words. Followers watch their boss: is he doing all that he is speaking?  Employees appreciate a boss who is transparent about the processes and methods, everybody appreciates transparency. Fortunately, transparency does not require the leader to fork over trade secrets but it does mean being honest about how one conducts business. Openness and information sharing helps to build that trust.

That little motivation matters a lot; profitable and sustainable enterprises thrive on original thinking while copycat businesses shutter their doors as soon as the idea they have stolen loses its relevance. Since the successful conception and development of viable business ideas takes time and requires a flexibility motivates employees. Google does this by giving its engineers 20 percent of their time to work on any project they want. This allows team members to develop products they are passionate about. Many times, that means more care and attention goes into each effort. Gmail is the most famous consequence of Google’s generous 20 percent time policy.

So job fit refers to the degree the person hired can perform the responsibilities that the position requires while culture is how well the employees are compatible with core values and norms of the organization. The fact is that different people work and live at different tempos in life. Discovering and acknowledging a person’s tempo before hiring him is an important step to finding someone with a similar and compatible tempo.

Some people are laid-back and let little get to them, while others take every one of life’s challenges to heart. Some people value work, seeing no problem in working 12-hour days, while others value spending time with family and one’s children. What kind of person will suit the organization’s culture, requires decision. Both employees and management need to tune in on same note for deciding priorities, and once the priorities are set there will be lesser hassles and lesser arguments about any issues.