As laid out in the Hybrid Manifesto, hybrid work is dedicated to helping three main areas flourish: People, Profits, and the Planet.
It’s a bold claim. You might be wondering how such a seemingly simple change in your team’s way of working could have such a wide-ranging impact (and you wouldn’t be alone in wondering that).
The proof – as they say – is in the pudding. In this particular case, the “pudding” is a growing body of evidence that gives weight to the claim that hybrid work performs exceptionally well across all three of those areas.
So let’s dive into the stats.
It’s no secret that our society is experiencing a mental health crisis. Alone time among adult Americans has more than doubled since before the pandemic, while the adoption of fully remote work has increased feelings of loneliness by 67%.
The learnings are clear: fully remote work, with all of its superficial benefits for flexibility and work/life balance, comes at a deep cost.
Young professionals are wise to this cost. A recent survey found that 74% of Gen Z workers prefer interacting with colleagues face-to-face, and would see partial office work as an important part of their early professional development.
Hybrid work is a clear solution to these problems. While it keeps all of the perks associated with remote work — autonomy, flexibility, work/life balance — hybrid work emphasizes the importance of the office space as a hub for collaboration, community building and human connection.
The working world agrees. 68% of surveyed professionals said a Hybrid work schedule would be ideal for them. Hybrid work also presents a solution to the 47% of people who are concerned by a lack of clear vision about the post-pandemic working world. (Looking at you — companies who are still sitting on the fence when it comes to “committing” to a new work system).
Hybrid has the good of people at its very heart. It recognizes the uniqueness of each individual’s situation and provides a framework for catering to that uniqueness — and getting the most out of it.
The most undervalued aspect of hybrid work has to be its direct impact on the success of a company’s business.
While unhelpful myths still circulate around the supposed downsides of hybrid models, there is a growing mass of evidence that supports hybrid work as a major force for optimization and boosting productivity.
Just ask the 63% of high-growth businesses that are going hybrid. Or the 58% of executives who report improvements in individual productivity in a hybrid system. What about the [94% of employees who are more productive when they feel connected to their colleagues]
The numbers tell a clear story: implementing the right balance of remote and in-person work leads to employees who are more motivated than ever to succeed, and help their company succeed.
That’s not even scratching the surface of what gains are to be made for a company on a cost-saving level. The oversight hybrid work gives companies as to the use of their physical office space, and the better management of that space can yield jaw-dropping results.
It’s estimated that companies that adopt hybrid work could save $11,000 a year on each employee who works remotely at least half of the time. $11,000! Furthermore, companies can expect to reduce up to 40% of their office costs by either downsizing their spaces, saving on rent, or just getting smarter about the employee-to-desk ratio.
A happy, connected hybrid workforce will go a long way towards boosting productivity in your company. If you pair that with the right tool to help manage the transition, you’ll discover ways you never even knew you could optimize your business.
Optimization is in the DNA of hybrid work. Helping companies understand how to better coordinate their employees and physical space not only means big gains for productivity — it also means stripping out unnecessary energy usage and emissions.
For example — research has found that hybrid work can reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions by up to 10% (nitrogen dioxide being the main pollutant caused by traffic). Commuting for a good reason (an important creative meeting, a cross-functional workshop) comes hand in hand with reducing unnecessary emissions.
When it comes to the physical workspace, research shows inefficiencies in building management account for 30% of energy use in offices. This leaves ample opportunity for a hybrid work tool to help streamline office use — indicating where your energy-saving zones are, and letting you know which inactive desks and areas can be switched off.
If and when your company decides it’s time to downsize, you can expect to reduce your overall energy consumption by up to 40%.
As if that wasn’t enough — hybrid work systems also get to grips with meetings, avoiding unnecessary video calling where possible. It’s estimated that three hours of video calls per day can result in almost the same yearly emissions as commuting every day.
When video calls are designated for remote-only situations, and in-person meetings become more and more frequent, companies will keep the emissions associated with video calling to a minimum.
Hybrid work is swiftly becoming the most popular work model for business leaders navigating the post-pandemic professional world.
To get the most out of a hybrid system — and maximize your impact on People, Profits and the Planet — you must spend time choosing the right tool for hybrid work.
It could mean the difference between a working arrangement that feels like a compromise, and one that feels like a business strategy with scarcely believable benefits.