The Rise of Hybrid and Remote Work (Once Again)

With the recent headlines about Starbucks, Disney, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Apple, and other companies forcing employees back to the office, you might be forgiven for thinking that hybrid and remote work is dying. Yet clickbaity headlines designed to appeal to the anxiety of hybrid and remote workers don’t tell the whole story. That’s why we need to look at the data.

And the data shows that remote and hybrid work has been on the rise. In fact, such work arrangements saw a 30% increase since last year, according to the 2023 State of the Digital Workplace and Modern Intranet report conducted by Akumina, compared to its 2022 report a year ago. This significant increase in remote and hybrid work shows that more companies are recognizing the benefits of such approaches, and are catering to the needs of their employees. It also shows that the large corporations driving employees back to the office will be left behind in the search for talent in our tight labor market, with a 3.4% unemployment rate, the lowest in over 50 years.

The Benefits of Hybrid and Remote Work

Flexibility continues to be a top priority for employees, as shown in the 2023 State of the Digital Workplace and Modern Intranet report. The report also showed that 55% of survey respondents have considered or are currently considering leaving their jobs for a company that prioritizes their mental health and overall wellbeing.

The remote and hybrid work approach offers employees the flexibility they need to maintain a healthy work-life balance, which has become increasingly important in the post-pandemic world. The ability to work from anywhere, at any time, has become a crucial aspect of job searching for many professionals.

Managers Must Adapt to Hybrid and Remote Work

The increase in remote work is a clear indication that companies are recognizing the benefits of hybrid and remote work, and are taking steps to accommodate the needs of their employees. Managers must also adapt to this new reality, and must find ways to support their employees, even if they are not in the same location.

The rise of hybrid and remote work brings new challenges for managers, such as maintaining team morale, ensuring productivity, and fostering collaboration. Managers must be creative and proactive in finding solutions to these challenges, and must invest in the tools and technology that support remote and hybrid work.

Cognitive Biases Impeding Hybrid and Remote Work

Despite the benefits of hybrid and remote work, many managers have struggled to adapt to this new reality. This struggle can be attributed, in part, to the impact of cognitive biases.

Confirmation bias and attentional bias are two cognitive biases that can have a significant impact on a manager's ability to adapt to hybrid and remote work. Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that confirms one's existing beliefs, while ignoring information that contradicts them. This can cause managers to overlook the benefits of remote and hybrid work, and to cling to outdated beliefs about the importance of in-person work.

Attentional bias is the tendency to focus on information that is most salient or attention-grabbing, while ignoring other important information. This can cause managers to overlook the benefits of remote and hybrid work, and to focus solely on the challenges and difficulties of this new way of working.

To overcome the impact of cognitive biases on hybrid and remote work, managers must be aware of their own biases and must take steps to challenge them. This can involve seeking out new information and perspectives, actively engaging with others who have different opinions, and being open to new ways of thinking and working.

Managers must also invest in the tools and technology that support remote and hybrid work, and must work to create a culture that values flexibility, collaboration, and productivity. By embracing the benefits of remote and hybrid work, and by taking steps to overcome the impact of cognitive biases, managers can help their organizations succeed in this new reality.

Conclusion

The 2023 State of the Digital Workplace and Modern Intranet report shows that the increase in remote and hybrid work is a clear trend, and one that companies must embrace to stay competitive. The needs of employees continue to change, and companies must adapt to these changes to attract and retain top talent. Managers must also be proactive in finding solutions to the challenges of remote and hybrid work, and must invest in the technology and tools that support such approaches. With the right support and investment, remote and hybrid work can lead to increased productivity, higher morale, and a better overall experience for employees.

Key Take-Away

The 2023 State of the Digital Workplace and Modern Intranet report shows that the increase in remote and hybrid work is a clear trend, and one that companies must embrace to stay competitive..>Click to tweet

Image credit: Monstera/Pexels

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Lauded as “Office Whisperer” and “Hybrid Expert” by The New York Times, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky helps leaders use hybrid work to improve retention and productivity while cutting costs. He serves as the CEO of the boutique future-of-work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts. Dr. Gleb wrote the first book on returning to the office and leading hybrid teams after the pandemic, his best-seller Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage (Intentional Insights, 2021). He authored seven books in total, and is best know for his global bestseller, Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters (Career Press, 2019). His cutting-edge thought leadership was featured in over 650 articles and 550 interviews in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, Time, Business Insider, Fortune, and elsewhere. His writing was translated into Chinese, Korean, German, Russian, Polish, Spanish, French, and other languages. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training for Fortune 500 companies from Aflac to Xerox. It also comes from over 15 years in academia as a behavioral scientist, with 8 years as a lecturer at UNC-Chapel Hill and 7 years as a professor at Ohio State. A proud Ukrainian American, Dr. Gleb lives in Columbus, Ohio. In his free time, he makes sure to spend abundant quality time with his wife to avoid his personal life turning into a disaster. Contact him at Gleb[at]DisasterAvoidanceExperts[dot]com, follow him on LinkedIn @dr-gleb-tsipursky, Twitter @gleb_tsipursky, Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky, Facebook @DrGlebTsipursky, Medium @dr_gleb_tsipursky, YouTube, and RSS, and get a free copy of the Assessment on Dangerous Judgment Errors in the Workplace by signing up for the free Wise Decision Maker Course at https://disasteravoidanceexperts.com/newsletter/.