COVID 19 has paved the way for a new work culture across the globe. Back in 2020, work from home seemed to be the only feasible option for MNCs to cope up with rising infections.
This continued for almost 2 years until in September 2022, TCS, India’s largest IT house decided to call its employees back. Days after this similar announcement was made by another tech giant Wipro. Recently Bangaluru based IT giant Infosys too joined this league and decided to call its employees back to office.
However the companies are working on a hybrid model which is aimed at maximizing the employee productivity as well as maintaining a work life balance.
WHAT IS A HYBRID MODEL?
Working from home has its own sets of pros and cons. A large chunk of employees who have found comfort working from sofas and drawing rooms are now reluctant to come out of their comfort zones.
Companies have understood that a sudden shift to on site working is not a very wise thing to do. So Hybrid work-shifts allow a gradual transition and helps employees to adapt to the changing scenario. It gives the employees the flexibility to maintain a fine balance between personal and professional life.
WHY HYBRID MODEL?
Young employees who have just started their career need to be in touch with their team mates and seniors to gain better exposure. Work from home restricts an employee’s growth, feels Debolina Sarma Roy, PV and Safety Analyst from Syneos Health. “On site working is definitely good in terms of exposure. In early stages of career you need to gain expertise, bond with people, build network and develop the skill of working in teams. These elements are missing in WFH“.
| Model | Pros | Cons |
| Work from office | The efforts put in by a employee is visible and appreciated duly A proper timetable and schedule is maintained for employees. A bonding is created in the team which facilitates smooth working. | Family time is totally cut off. No vacations as workspace flexibility isn’t there. Commute time especially in big cities is more and tires the employees resulting in less productivity. |
| Work from home | Enough time for family Household activities can be managed along with work Micro Vacations and get-togethers are easy to plan | No office makes work invisible to higher management. The extra efforts put in by the employees are neglected. There is no particular log in and log out time which dismantles the work life. Freshers out from college miss out on the office atmosphere. Data breach is more common when employees use unsecured network. Hardware and software issues take time to be solved. |
Employees now aspire flexible work shifts as well as in-person collaboration. And hybrid model caters to this need. Rishov Bhattacharjee, Senior Software Analyst of Accenture Technology stated that hybrid models create a balance between work and family life. He added “Although the flexibility to work from a remote location is indeed a good aspect of WFH, but from career point of view, physical meeting with team members and seniors at least twice or thrice a week is very essential for growth of an individual.”
A Harvard study of 1500 working professionals has revealed that around 68% of the respondents are happy to work in a hybrid mode. Sensing the importance of a balanced work model, experiments are being performed by various organizations to come up with a model that gives maximum productivity.
1) ‘At will’ model is a concept where employees are free to come to office whenever they feel is required. This model gives full authority to the employees to choose their work style.
2) In ‘Split week model’ employees are work
3) In “Work by week” employees work from home and offices in alternative week basis.
Over the last few months a number of big organizations like Microsoft, Intel, Ford, Spotify and many more has allowed their work force to adopt the hybrid work model.
