This is Part 2 of 4 in the series “Hybrid Work in the EHS Industry.”
With hybrid work, an employee can do part of their work on-site and part of their work in a place of their choosing: a coffee shop, by the pool, or even in their PJs from home. Some wonder if hybrid work is a temporary worker’s desire or the new normal. No matter what the answer is, the fact remains that the pandemic changed the way employees see work. In an interview with Fast Company, Microsoft’s Vice President of Modern Work, Jared Spataro, stated: “[T]he data tells us there’s just no erasing the lived experience of the past two years.”
Today, employees are embracing a reality that most work does not have to be done on-site. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, 60 million workers (half of U.S. workers) believe their current job can be done remotely on at least a part-time basis. The job stats support this. CareerBuilder reports that there are seven times as many applicants applying for a job that offers hybrid or remote work.
Currently, most companies are ready to meet that demand: Six out of 10 companies reported they planned to offer hybrid work to some degree in 2022.
How the Hybrid Work Model Benefits Employees, Employers, and the EHS Industry
- Employees Who Have Gone Hybrid Are More Productive Employees
- Companies See Benefits in the Hybrid Model
- The Hybrid Model Is Making Inroads in the EHS Industry
Employees Who Have Gone Hybrid Are More Productive
As stated in Part 1 of this four-part series, employees see hybrid work as a way to have more flexibility, increase happiness, and even improve finances. However, there is one more benefit that directly impacts the bottom line: productivity.
In a survey by McKinsey, organizations reported large increases in productivity. In fact, from an executive standpoint, high individual productivity correlated with high team productivity.
This may be because of increased coaching, mentoring, and openness to employee ideas. According to McKinsey, this might be a result of the increase in microtransactions between colleagues. Microtransactions included discussing projects and networking.
CareerBuilder also reported benefits in productivity. Hybrid work led to employees having more time to think and work off-site without co-workers interrupting them. Additionally, employees experienced shorter meetings due to less small talk.
Organizations that reported increased productivity during hybrid work plan to keep the momentum going by:
- Training managers to build their remote leadership skills.
- Asking managers to reimagine processes that better utilize a hybrid workforce.
- Having managers rethink how an employee can do their best in a hybrid role.
According to Christy Pambianchi, executive vice president and chief people officer at Intel Corp., “Our employees have been delivering amazing results over the past two years, so let’s embrace flexibility. By doing that, we can attract and retain the best and brightest talent.”
Companies See Benefits in the Hybrid Model
In 2020, after the pandemic had forced companies to pivot the way they did business, large and small companies alike embraced hybrid and remote work.
In October 2021, one such company was manufacturer 3M. The company instated “Work Your Way,” which allows employees to work in a way that works best for them: remotely, hybrid, or on-site. The program puts trust in employees knowing how to get their work done and delivering results, not about where they are or what time they log in. Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Zoe Dickson explained, “Creating a workplace that makes people feel valued, creatively challenged, and appreciated is a mission we strive to achieve every day.”
Employers are also experiencing the unexpected opportunity to hire employees who couldn’t otherwise come into an office 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. According to the Co-founder of Merit America Connor Diemand-Yauman, “For those who can’t afford to relocate to expensive cities, remote work is a powerful equalizer, creating an unprecedented opportunity for equity in the workplace. Businesses that bake a remote-first mindset into hiring, training, and employee development are poised to succeed in the future of hybrid work.”
The Hybrid Model is Making Inroads in the EHS Industry
FlexJobs reports that the top seven industries for hybrid work are:
- Sales
- Project Management
- Computer and Information Technology
- Medical and Health
- Accounting and Finance
- Marketing
- Education and Training
With this list in mind, where does the EHS industry fit in? There are hundreds of open hybrid positions in the EHS industry, including construction health and safety professional, EHS administrator, and principal auditor for environmental health safety. However, the industry still lags behind as a whole in offering hybrid work. As reported in our first part of this series, only 29% of EHS companies stated that more than half of their workforce will most likely work from home permanently.
Health and wellness are at the forefront of employees’ minds as they choose to work on-site or remotely. As EHS Today reported, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted employee mindset. “Employees are no longer satisfied with the traditional benefits (i.e., sick days, PTO) and expect employers to take a more active approach to support their growth and well-being.”
In fact, a Microsoft study of 31,000 employees found that 53% prioritize their health and overall well-being over work.
With this in mind, most managers feel like they don’t know how to make a hybrid environment happen. McKinsey reported that 68% of the executives surveyed have no formal plan in place to best support their hybrid workers. Stay tuned for how to do that as Aarcher Talent continues to share insights on the state of the hybrid job market in the coming months.
- Part 1: The Current State of Hybrid Jobs in the EHS Industry
- Part 3: Making the Case Against Hybrid Work in the EHS Industry
- Part 4: How to Create an Optimum Hybrid Model in the EHS Industry
Resources:
According to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, This is the Thing About Hybrid Work Most Companies are Missing, Jason Aten, Inc.com.
Gone for Now or Gone for Good? How to Play the New Talent Game and Win Back Workers, Aaron De Smet, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Bill Schaninger, McKinsey.com.
New Trust-Based Approach Allows 3Mers Around the World to Work Their Way, 3M.com.
Reigniting Company Culture in a Hybrid Office Model through Total Worker Health, EHSToday.com.
Remote and Hybrid Jobs are Attracting 7 Times More Applicants Than In-Person Roles, Morgan Smith, CNBC.com.
The Future of Hybrid Work, Gallup.org.
Top 75 Companies to Watch for Hybrid Jobs in 2022, Rachel Pelta, FlexJobs.com.
What Employees Think About Work from Home, CareerBuilder.com.
What Executives Are Saying about the Future of Hybrid Work, Andrea Alexander, Mihir Mysore, Rich Cracknell, Aaron De Smet, Meredith Langstaff, and Dan Ravid, McKinsey.com.
What the Future of Hybrid Work Will (and Won’t) Look Like, According to 27 Business Leaders, Mark Sullivan and Grace Buono, FastCompany.com.
Why the ‘Stay Interview’ is the Next Big Trend of the Great Resignation, Jennifer Liu, CNBC.com.
Workforce Trends Leaders Need to Understand, EHSToday.com.