Hybrid work is set to disrupt the remote working landscape at an unprecedented pace. And businesses with the flexibility to integrate a hybrid work model into everyday operations will have a competitive advantage over others.
To make the most out of hybrid work, businesses need to dive deep into improving their existing management systems, make changes to the current employee policies, and above all, leverage disruptive technologies that are here to stay.
Here are some of the ways how businesses can lead the competition with hybrid work:
1. Early adopters of the hybrid work model will lead
It goes without saying that early adopters of any technology or trend are the ones that gain a competitive advantage over others. Similarly, businesses that adopt a hybrid work model from early on will have a distinct competitive advantage with improved resiliency and flexibility.
What’s most interesting to know is that many businesses have already started to implement a hybrid work model to set a good pace for undisrupted workflow in the post-pandemic new normal. Regardless of the industry or domain, businesses need to prepare for the next wave of disruption, hybrid work.
2. Collaboration tools will play a pivotal role
Collaboration tools will undoubtedly be the key driver to a fast-paced growth with hybrid work. Disruptive cloud-based collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams will play a vital role in helping businesses with operations continuity despite the level of flexibility with the hybrid work model.
In fact, many businesses are already making the switch from traditional cloud storage services such as Box to OneDrive and SharePoint to leverage the disruptive collaboration tools that the Microsoft 365 suite offers.
3. Automation will help improve operational efficiency
Since 2020, many businesses worldwide have put their workflow systems into the cloud to leverage remote work fully. Fast forward to now, companies are finding ways to automate operational processes to improve efficiency and employee productivity.
Cloud-based automation platforms such as Microsoft Power Automate are already gaining traction as hybrid work becomes more significant and feasible. The increasing popularity of Microsoft Power Automate is also driving many businesses to migrate from Dropbox and Google Drive to OneDrive and SharePoint Online.
4. Preparing for the metaverse will result in big wins
Hybrid work and metaverse will grow hand in hand. Therefore, it is crucial for businesses to equally prepare for the metaverse by improving operation systems with mixed reality capabilities. Metaverse will play a key role in bridging the gap between working from the office and home.
Leading cloud collaboration service providers, including Microsoft, are already embracing the rise of the metaverse. Microsoft is now revamping its popular Microsoft Teams collaboration app to integrate mixed reality capabilities and prepare it for metaverse-based work transformation.
5. Hiring a global team will build resiliency
If the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown taught us anything, it’s that businesses that have uncompromised resiliency are the only ones that can navigate through the disruptions and ensure operations continuity.
Therefore, businesses need to have a significant focus on building resiliency. And one of the best ways to do this with a hybrid work model is to hire a global team. With a worldwide team, businesses can segregate operations worldwide and build a high level of resiliency.
6. Adding versatility in HR management will reap benefits
Businesses looking forward to building a global team need to change their HR management policies. And one of the critical areas to improve is versatility. It’s essential to have an HR team that is versatile enough to manage employees and groups from different cultural backgrounds, time zones, and thought processes.
One of the best ways for businesses to add versatility to human resource management is to use disruptive cloud-based tools discreetly designed for remote and hybrid work. These types of tools make hiring and managing a global team less cumbersome for the HR team
7. Better healthcare facilities will help improve employee retention
Apart from making changes in business operations, it’s also crucial for companies to offer better healthcare facilities to improve employee retention. This is especially true for businesses looking to hire and build a global team to embrace the hybrid work culture shift.
This mainly has got to do with the fact that more employees prioritize better health care facilities, given that there can be uncertainty at all times. Better healthcare facilities, flexible working hours, result-driven work culture, and skill growth initiatives such as training and promotions will help businesses tap into more decadent knowledge pools and attract better employees.
8. Evaluating employee performance with results
Due to the significant culture shift in the remote work landscape since 2020, the way companies evaluate employee performance with KPIs is changing. Instead of assessing employee performance with the hours logged in, businesses that set achievement KPIs will have a competitive advantage over others in employee retention and building a better work culture.
As the hybrid work landscape grows and matures, the way employees work from home or from the office will drastically change. And businesses of all sizes need to adapt to the changing trends to have a competitive edge over others to achieve better growth and higher returns.