FINAL WORD
Business owners across the UK are facing lease renewals this year and weighing up the value of their current office space . However , the choice to either keep or give up a working location has become much harder to make in recent years , with hybrid working forcing business leaders to make a tough decision .
Businesses are trying to surmise the total return on having employees at home or in the office . The dilemma they face is whether to revive the in-office mandate . By abandoning flexible and anywhere working policies , organisations can better justify the expense of their real estate and leases but run the risk of employee dissatisfaction . The other option is to keep pursuing hybrid or anywhere work policies and reducing office space but possibly compromising on collaboration , innovation and , controversially , productivity .
The UK government ' s new legislation to protect a ‘ diverse workforce ’, complemented with new data indicating that a four-day work week may become the new norm , demonstrates how flexible working is found to be beneficial . However , the hybrid working movement is being hampered by announcements of strict returnto-office mandates enforced by the likes of Twitter and Starbucks , compounded by new hybrid work conflicts like remote surveillance and workplace innovation .
Even with salaries and benefits comparable to those working for companies without officeonly policies , employees are not willing to budge . With empty office space in London doubling in the last three years , executives find themselves at a crossroad : to renew or terminate their big city leases .
Many organisations have already begun to commit , with their support for hybrid working at the centre of their decision . According to VMWare ’ s recent study , The Distributed Work Dilemma , one in ten businesses in EMEA have totally abandoned their physical offices since the pandemic , and more than half have reduced office space . But what about the rest ? What should business leaders consider before making their lease renewal decision ?
An office or physical workplace-based solution with employees , who now expect – or even demand – a freeing work / life balance . However , this doesn ’ t come without its shortfalls .
VMware ’ s research suggests that flexible working arrangements have a detrimental effect on an organisation ’ s capacity for effective innovation . Nearly two-thirds of employees surveyed state that their work is more creative if they are in their employer ' s office , supporting the motion to renew real estate leases .
Although home workers may not want to hear it , these results point out a harsh reality that companies must deal with . Innovation is crucial for business growth ; teams that are having trouble innovating virtually threaten the longevity of their organisation . The successful rise of remote work will not materialise if workers are not given the freedom to be innovative and generate ideas .
A balancing act
It would be wrong to label flexible working a failure in relation to the decline in innovation . Distributed teams are the new reality , with the majority of the EMEA workforce ( 81 %) reporting a better level of job satisfaction if they can work from anywhere . Naturally , this depends on the employee ’ s job function .
Post-pandemic anywhere work policies have indeed had a good overall effect , with half of EMEA experiencing improvements in collaboration , morale and manager communication . The days when employees would tolerate gruelling long days at their desks or expect to be under the watchful eye of their manager as ‘ part of the job ’ are long gone . In fact , while over a third of employees in the UK , France and Germany are now back at work in the office full time , more than half of those employees aren ’ t there on their own accord and would prefer more flexible plans .
BY ABANDONING FLEXIBLE AND ANYWHERE WORKING POLICIES , ORGANISATIONS CAN BETTER JUSTIFY THE EXPENSE OF THEIR REAL ESTATE AND LEASES BUT RUN THE RISK OF EMPLOYEE DISSATISFACTION .
Spencer Pitts , Digital Workspace Chief Technologist , VMware
Designed as a compromise to support the distributed workforce , the hybrid model still recognises the value of face-to-face interactions . Hybrid working has proved immensely popular
Business leaders cannot afford to doubt the importance of flexible working because doing so will hamper employee engagement and impact recruitment efforts . We all witnessed
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