Microsoft, LinkedIn: Businesses need to address the ‘hybrid working paradox’
Hybrid working is all about different strokes for different folks
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As employees begin to filter back into offices across the globe,Microsoftand LinkedIn have published the results of new research into working trends and preferences.
Based on a poll of 2,500 Microsoft employees, the Work Trend Index highlights a conflicting desire to both retain the benefits ofremote workingand reclaim the advantages of in-person collaboration. Microsoft is calling this the “hybrid workparadox”.
In comparison to last year, an almost identical number of employees said their productivity has not slipped since going remote (77% versus 76% in 2020), but the proportion that are “satisfied with the quality of connection with coworkers” has dropped from 86% to 79%.
To address these communication challenges, many workers intend to spend at least some time in the office in future. The largest section of respondents (48%) plan to work from the office three or four days per week, while 31% will make an appearance once or twice.
The research shows that businesses will need to accommodate a variety of working styles if they are to maximize productivity; it’s all about different strokes for different folks, says Microsoft. According to the results, the majority of employees who plan to spend the mostandleast time in the office will do so for the exact same reason: to help them focus on their work.
“Our new data shows there is no one-size-fits-all approach to hybrid work, as employee expectations continue to change,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO.
“The only way for organizations to solve for this complexity is to embrace flexibility across their entire operating model, including the ways people work, the places they inhabit and how they approach business processes.”
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The ‘Great Reshuffle’
The current period of transition is referred to at LinkedIn as the “Great Reshuffle”. A separate survey conducted by the networking platform shows that, broadly, business leaders are optimistic about the opportunity to “rewrite their playbook”.
“Leaders are rethinking their working models, cultures and company values, while at the same time, employees are rethinking not only how and where they work, butwhy. At the core of it all is the start of a new, more dynamic relationship between employers and employees,” thereportstates.
In a bid to help businesses navigate this period of turbulence, both Microsoft and LinkedIn are rolling out various new tools and features.
The former has announced araft of changesfor collaboration platformTeams, which it hopes will help workers transition more effectively between the home and office. New features include support forAppleCarPlay, andcalendaroptions that allow users to specify whether they will attend a meeting viaTeamsor in-person.
LinkedIn, meanwhile, has made roughly 40 online learning courses free until October 9, to help employees and HR staff prepare for the period of change. The company is also launching a new platform called LinkedIn Learning Hub, which will deploy “personalized content, community-based learning and skill-development insights” to enhance training initiatives.
Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He’s responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.
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