NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – As companies announce their return to office plans, the hybrid model seems to be a popular choice. Some days in-office, some days remote.
Three days a week, Shawnelle Jones works from home. The donor relations specialist says at home, she gets to avoid traffic.
“I have more time with my family and I feel like I have more productivity,” she said. “At the office, just the face to face that you get with people. If you have questions you get more of an immediate response versus working from home.”
Jones said her company plans to stick with this model for the foreseeable future, a route more and more companies seem to be taking.
“In my opinion I believe that the hybrid work model is actually extremely beneficial,” Frank Danna said.
Danna is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal best seller “Love As A Business Strategy: Resilience, Belonging & Success.”
“For employees the hybrid work models are a great way to have better work-life balance,” he said. “To have lower stress and anxiety and actually, a lot of different polls have showcased that you can get more work done.”
A recently published Harvard Business School study surveyed more than 100 employees, randomizing the number of days they worked in the office for nine weeks. It found that that an intermediate number of days in the office resulted in the highest productivity.
Danna said one thing is vital if companies are going to go this route.
“You need to understand that there may be an ‘us vs. them’ mentality,” he said. “If more people are coming into the office, are you more likely to grant those individuals raises or promotions? If you’re going to be offering a hybrid model, you also have to make sure that you understand that the people who are choosing to work from home are still excellent employees.”
He said considering them for opportunities in the future needs to be paramount.