Hybrid working puts employees and their needs first while also helping businesses to improve productivity and profitability. We look at the transformative impact that this way of working has had on businesses and their operations in recent years.

It’s easy to see why 83% of workers see hybrid as the future of working. As well as the greater freedom, flexibility, and autonomy it offers employees, it can also help to make business operations more profitable and sustainable by reducing overhead costs and the time people spend commuting.

As well as boosting the bottom line and aiding sustainability, hybrid working tangibly benefits the employee experience. When done correctly, it empowers businesses to put their people first, giving workers more of what they want and need.

We look at human-centric hybrid and the transformative effect that it can have on business operations. 

What is human-centric hybrid?

When discussing flexible working, it goes without saying that location is important. But human-centric hybrid working is as much about ‘who’ as it is about ‘where’. Research by Gartner suggests that a well-executed hybrid system should allow for greater malleability in terms of where employees spend their time. However, it also identifies intentional collaboration and a different type of management as key to the hybrid experience.

“Human-centric work design goes even further than hybrid-flexible to include opportunities for intentional collaboration and empathy-based management [...] increased employee performance, intent to stay and reduced fatigue — widely correlate to greater levels of location flexibility, intentional collaboration and empathy-based management.”

Human-centric hybrid combines the philosophies of people-first business with hybrid working. It is an approach that is designed to elevate the employee experience, giving them the autonomy to decide where, when, and how they work, depending on their needs.

Three facets define this approach:

• A flexible employee experience
• Collaboration with intention
• Managing with empathy

It is rooted in employee wellbeing, giving them more of what they want from their employers, and enabling them to properly address their work-life balance.

While this is its own reward, it also has a transformative effect on business operations, bringing a host of benefits to the company.

How does this approach to hybrid benefit businesses?

It goes without saying that a human-centric hybrid approach can be highly beneficial for a company’s workforce. There’s a growing body of evidence that the approach is highly conducive to employee wellbeing, team cohesion, and retention. Thus, by prioritising people, companies ensure that productivity and performance virtually take care of themselves.

Here are just a few of the ways in which businesses benefit from a human-oriented approach to hybrid:

Improved employee performance

It’s a universally acknowledged truth that happier, healthier employees perform better than their overworked, over-stressed and burnt-out counterparts. Gartner’s latest study backs this up, stating that companies that offer flexibility, empathetic management, and intentional collaboration are 3.8 times more likely to enjoy higher employee performance, and 3.1 times more likely to experience lower levels of employee fatigue. Research from IWG found that 31% of employees reported being more productive under the hybrid working model.

Furthermore, this approach to working can drastically reduce ‘productivity theatre’, where employees feel the need to look busy rather than focusing on doing their job in the way that suits them best. Employees are allowed to work asynchronously, approaching tasks in their preferred hours using the methodologies that suit them best.

Increased employee retention

High levels of employee turnover can be both disruptive and expensive for companies. Gartner’s study reveals that businesses with a human-centric approach to hybrid working are 3.2 times more likely to enjoy higher levels of employee retention. This backs up findings from Regus itself, with hybrid work helping to retain the best talent in an increasingly competitive employee market.

Improved recruitment

Data from IWG’s HR Leaders & Hybrid Working Report suggests that adopting a people-first approach to hybrid working not only aids retention, but makes it easier for companies to recruit top-tier talent. 95% of HR leaders surveyed believed that hybrid work is an effective recruitment tool, 60% claimed that it increases employee retention, and 80% agreed that it boosts employee satisfaction.

Happier and more harmonious teams

Human-centric hybrid working necessitates a new approach to management. One that is rooted in empathy and focuses on keeping dispersed teams happy, healthy, united, and motivated. Aided by the right technology and robust automation, managers can expend less effort on time-consuming admin and more on developing the soft skills that ensure teams feel cared for, nurtured, stimulated, and challenged.

Regus facilities are designed to help businesses and their workforce optimise their hybrid working experience. With 3,500 locations across over 120 countries, your team is never far away from a business-class workspace. Get in touch to see how we help you adapt to human-centric hybrid in a way that’s frictionless and affordable.