“We’ve moved into a new status quo that’s hard to change,” he says Benjamin Friedrichassociate professor of strategy at the Kellogg School researching labor and personnel economics.
Companies that have tried to implement a full return to the office have faced a lot of backlash. “You have to make a really strong case if you want a full return to office, because there’s really strong evidence in favor of hybrid,” he says.
So instead of reflexively calling workers back to the office because it’s more convenient for managers, many companies would be wise to focus their efforts on designing and codifying better hybrid policies.
“Both remote and in-person work have distinct advantages and disadvantages that depend on the context and affect workers differently,” says Friedrich. “A hybrid program works when it captures the value of proximity and flexibility and minimizes the disadvantages of remote control.”
By looking closely at the evidence—both external research and internal data about how effectively different parts of a job can be done remotely—leaders can make sure their hybrid system is one that allows both the company and its workers to thrive.
Below, Friedrich offers advice on how companies can do just that.
Recognize the benefits of personal work
The value of fully remote work has declined significantly since the pandemic, Friedrich says. Security is no longer the top priority of employees, and now people want to feel more connected to their work and their colleagues. As a result, the total share of employees who only want to work from home is relatively low.
Moreover, studies projection that face to face Interaction fosters creativity and innovation and helps workers complete tasks faster—which are compelling reasons to bring people back to the office. “A lot of those benefits are lost if you’re completely remote,” he says.
In particular, Friedrich quotes research on the value of proximitywhich found that colleagues who work face-to-face receive more feedback and have more opportunities to learn from each other informally than remote colleagues.
This happens in relationships between junior and senior colleagues, Friedrich explains. For example, if a junior colleague needs advice on a difficult project, she may feel uncomfortable asking a senior colleague for help if they haven’t interacted much. However, if they’ve met informally – like seeing each other at lunch – it’s much easier to start a conversation about work. Multiplied over weeks, months and years, this reinforces learning across the organization and can translate social capital into long-term career development for the junior colleague.
“Social interaction helps you advance your career by building relationships. You’re at a disadvantage if you don’t spend as much time in person,” says Friedrich.
Clearly, it makes sense for many organizations to insist on some face-to-face time for many, if not most, roles.
Recognize the benefits of flexibility
That said, flexibility is a pandemic-era asset that workers want to keep. And most knowledge workers expect some form of hybrid work. Recognizing this in your stated policies can be critical to recruiting and retaining talent.
“The pandemic created a complete shift that gave people time to think about their purpose in life, how they think about priorities and the role their work plays,” says Friedrich.
As a result, some workers are no longer willing to make sacrifices that were previously unquestioned: such as daily commutes. In fact, some workers are willing to accept lower pay for flexibility. If companies offer a hybrid model with some opportunities to work from home, those companies, on average, raised less pay over the past year.
“If you offer hybrid opportunities, you’ll have access to the talent pool that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to. If you can provide that flexibility, you’ll have an advantage in the competition for that talent,” says Friedrich.
Companies may also find that reductions in productivity from remote work can be offset by gains in employee engagement.
“Their mental health could be better. They may feel they have a better work-life balance,” says Friedrich. “These factors may, in aggregate, keep employees happy and motivated, which can help with employee retention.”
Or, as many studies in companies have were found, employees may use remote time for focused work, leading to increased productivity. Still, more studies have found negative effects, so these gains are not guaranteed. “If there is some flexibility,” says Friedrich, “the cost to the business may be worth it for other productivity gains.”
Know who benefits and who loses
Even companies convinced of the benefits of hybrid work arrangements will need to consider the details carefully. How will the timing and amount of remote work affect workers in different roles, in different demographics, and at different stages of their careers?
The disadvantages of telecommuting, for example, tend to affect experienced workers less than junior ones, who miss out on growth opportunities.
Furthermore, allowing workers to choose how often they telecommute can contribute to asymmetric inequalities between different groups of workers, including women. These inequalities must then be addressed.
“Teleworking could open up opportunities, but it could also mean that if we compare male and female employees, there may be new imbalances if we allow an option for more flexibility or more time,” says Friedrich.
On the one hand, this could systematically aid historically disadvantaged groups in the labor market. Friedrich notes that overall, women’s labor force participation has increased beyond pre-pandemic levels, mainly due to the record number of working women with children under five.
But on the flip side, women who choose to work longer hours remotely may be seen as less ambitious and less hard-working, with colleagues assuming they’re taking care of their children every day. Or they may be treated differently in other ways.
“Gender biases could exacerbate some of the disadvantages of telecommuting in your career for women,” she warns.
Turn to your internal data
While it’s helpful to keep these general trends in mind, the right hybrid policy for each organization should be specific to its needs. That’s why it’s important to rely on internal data in your decision-making.
To design a successful system, Friedrich says companies will need two kinds of data: employee sentiment (such as how their workforce feels about the way the business currently operates, its policies and potential changes); and tracking indicators (or ways of measuring performance, such as productivity output or employee retention rates).
“If you can identify problems in your data, it helps you understand what needs to be adjusted to maintain the benefits of flexibility but also mitigate some of the downsides,” he says. “You can track, for example, whether the collaboration is less effective with people who didn’t have the same access to training and coaching because they started while everyone was remote.”
With this information, leaders can determine what works, what doesn’t, and how current hybrid policy, formal or otherwise, can be calibrated and recoded.
Focus on communication
Internal data comes with another benefit, too: it helps leaders better communicate the business case behind their hybrid work strategies. This is critical, because even the most carefully thought out policy will fail if employees cannot understand it.
“With internal data, you can make a persuasive argument based on facts that are true in your organization,” he says. “Saying ‘everybody’s doing it’ or citing media articles won’t help your case as much as knowing what works and what doesn’t in your own environment.”
And as always, clearly communicating your goals, policies and timelines is key. But with that, a decision and announcement approach will backfire.
“You want to have open lines of communication,” says Friedrich. “You want to create opportunities for feedback because you want this to be a win-win.”
One key tip: when asking your employees for feedback, only ask questions you’re willing to act on. If people feel they’ve been asked multiple times about what they want to see done differently, but nothing has changed, this can lead to greater disengagement.
Finally, as you track data over time, continue to evaluate changes and remain open to adjusting your policies. Because flexibility is not only for the employees, but also for the company.
“You want to make improvements and not be stuck with an ineffective policy.”
