The evolving hybrid working dynamics in Europe
Our research revealed that flexible working is a most valued benefit by employees. This is good news for the large numbers of organisations investing in improving the concept and experience of hybrid working:
76%
now use hybrid work models
38%
prioritise flexible work over rewards (32%)
67%
of companies plan to improve tech for remote staff
Employee wellbeing is a top driver
Interestingly, ‘employee wellness’ appears to be the key motivating factor for the continuation of hybrid working across Europe. Global business executives and IT leaders ranked it the top driver for adopting hybrid working (44%) just above ‘better colleague productivity’ (42%).
What’s the impact of hybrid working on European employees?
However, our research actually gave a mixed picture around the current impact of hybrid working on job satisfaction, productivity and motivation:
59%
believe WFH has improved employee wellbeing
61%
feel more productive using collaboration tools
74%
say employees are confused by tool complexity
62%
feel they need to be available at all times now
When asked about the biggest challenges of hybrid working for their organisation, top answers included ‘new starters didn’t feel part of the team’ (13%), ‘colleagues at home were distracted by personal matters’ (11%), ‘remote employees struggle to participate in hybrid meetings’ (10%) and they faced ‘difficulties with collaboration experiences’ (10%).
Recognising room for improvements
Today, 91% of businesses still believe they could improve the way they collaborate, both internally and externally. To do this, they’re looking at a range of improvements in their working practices and cloud collaboration tools to better support their people’s wellbeing, productivity and motivation in the future:
66%
see improved app and tool integration as valuable
71%
want to restructure their IT for remote work
65%
think better collaboration boosts company success
What’s next for hybrid work?
Looking ahead, our respondents gave a variety of predictions for the future of hybrid work:
A diminishing company culture
60% feel the culture of organisations will become weaker as we continue to hybrid work.
Just a fad
53% even believe that homeworking will be recognised as a ‘fad’ and many organisations will eventually return to a five-day office working week.
Shorter working weeks
56% believe the four-day working week will eventually replace the five-day, but with equal pay.
Immersive experiences
75% believe that cloud collaboration tools will continue to improve and offer immersive and lifelike experiences at work.
Finding your perfect fit
European organisations are still navigating the best hybrid working approach for their people. But it’s clear that they need to centre their cloud collaboration tools and strategy around the end user, looking carefully at how their people like to work and what they want to be able to do.
Find out more about this people-first approach, and how we can support you with the right connectivity and collaboration applications, in our research paper ‘The best of both worlds: building a successful hybrid workplace’.
