With the world getting back to normal after severe disruptions caused by the pandemic, most businesses are now asking their employees to return to the office, albeit with some offering the flexibility of a hybrid working model.
According to a recent survey by people supply chain company TeamLease, over 58% of organizations responding from industries ranging from technology to manufacturing to BFSI to FMCG to retail to healthcare to automobiles believe That 2022 is the year when the offices will become fully-offices. Only 5% of respondents said that they intend to remain a virtual organization only for the foreseeable future.
“For most companies, the journey from 100% to 100% virtual in the office was reasonably smooth. The fact that it lasted a long time and led many to believe that this model could last forever. However, what is underestimated by most is that coming to work is not just about getting to work,” said Nitin Sethi, chief executive officer, Human Capital Solutions at global professional services firm AON (India and South Asia). Hindu,
Mr Sethi said that human beings need a social infrastructure, and given that a major part of the time is spent at work, the office fulfills that need. The best companies are making sure they retain some of the benefits of virtual working (flexibility for employees, saving travel time, increased talent, etc.) as well as keeping people engaged (engagement, productivity, culture) , teamwork etc.). ), They said.
“As companies make this transition, some employees, some roles, some teams will certainly move more hybrid than others and some may be completely. At the same time, some employees – both current and future – feel They may be better off choosing one model over another… Talent capture areas have increased and this shift will lead to a better and more diverse (not just gender) talent pool and we know that the better the talent pool Diversity gives better business results,” he said.
The TeamLease survey found that although 43.46% of HR leaders admitted that their employees want to return to work, 76.78% of organizations want their employees to prioritize choosing their work model.
Additionally, 36.61% of the respondents claimed that they had office space on lease pre-pandemic, but later moved to co-working spaces.
“The flexible workspace segment was already on a steep growth curve before the pandemic; Covid-19 further disrupted the office market and accelerated this migration. As a result, small to large businesses are actively looking to transform their work environment and make it more flexible and flexible,” said Harsh Lamba, Country Manager India, Vice President Sales – South Asia at IWG (International Workspace Group) he said.
That said, IWG has signed over 1,000 venture deals in the first quarter of 2022 and has seen a monthly growth of about 35% across its centers over the past three months.
“What we are seeing is demand growth in smaller, regional markets, with the highest demand growth of all being within tertiary markets. Since the pandemic, suburban office spaces began to win out at the expense of attractive city centers. It is largely down to adopting a hub-and-spoke model, whereby companies have a small corporate office and multiple satellite offices that are geographically distributed,” he said.
Mr Lamba said that large corporates and enterprises continue to look for flexible options for their workforce and this trend is visible and strengthening across the industry as companies are recalling their employees to offices. “The pandemic has given employees a greater voice than ever before – they are demanding more flexibility and the ability to work from home. Companies are taking note, realizing that it can help them save costs while helping them meet ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) commitments.
“As all organizations evaluate what their version of the future of work will be, we at Ericsson are exploring our future workplace from physical, virtual and cultural perspectives to offer greater flexibility and new ways of working. We are confident that the future of our work will be a technology-based ‘hybrid’ that will be a game changer as well as enabling,” said Priyanka Anand, VP and Head – HR, Southeast Asia, Oceania and India Ericsson.
Ms Anand said Ericsson is looking at work as an activity that is location agnostic, in short, ‘work from anywhere’. Through the hybrid work model, its line managers are empowered to approve when their teams can work from home and working remotely is voluntary as it believes that our offices at Ericsson help build a strong culture and belonging. play an important role. “We envision that our employees will work at least 50% of their time in an office base business and individuals need to ensure a fair balance.”
Similarly, Tech Mahindra said that its employees continue to have the flexibility to work from anywhere and expects this trend of hybrid working to accelerate. Harshvendra Soin, Global Chief People Officer and Head-Marketing, Tech Mahindra, said, “Having said that, we see many Tech Mahindra associates recharging their routes back-to-office and asking their teams individually. Looking forward to meeting you.”
Anil Chawla, Managing Director, Customer Engagement Solutions at Verint India said that the pandemic has given contact centers as well as enterprises the option to continue with the model that is best suited for their growth along with retaining employees . It will remain with the hybrid model almost in the medium term and digital first and cloud-based solutions will play a very important role in making this model efficient and adaptable to business needs, he said. According to Chawla, Nasdaq-listed Verint provides customer engagement solutions providers to nearly 80% of India’s top-tier contact centers.
“There are many companies that have shifted from the declared status of 100% virtual to a mix of office and virtual. Absolute normalcy will be restored in the coming days and most probably will move in this direction. This phenomenon is not just Indian but is being experienced across the world,” Mr Sethi said.