THE concept of the hybrid office is here to stay, according to a number of global small and medium sized practices (SMPs) on their take on the post-pandemic environment for accounting practices.
What is a hybrid office?
It consists of employees working in the office while others work from home, and allows for more flexibility over when and where work is completed. A flexible workplace means that some workers have to remain in the office to do their jobs, some prefer to work in the office and others still might be required to go into the office on occasion.
Google CEO Sundar Pichal recently said the future of work involves a “hybrid model”. He offered Google as an example: the company is reconfiguring its workplace for the majority of its employees to work from home most of the time and occasionally meet in person at the office (as of December 2019, it has 114,000 employees in the US alone).
Implication to the profession
As with other trends in technology in the workplace, firms will thoroughly understand the benefits and challenges of a hybrid office model only after it has become a common practice. But the profession – and SMPs, especially – can see many things coming:
> Because firms with a hybrid office will need less physical space – or the same amount of space less often – they can find savings on rent. Forming satellite offices (small, dispersed offices that reach outside a city center) can provide flexibility to staff. In addition, there is less need to own or rent a space in an expensive area within the central business district. A robust management system to monitor the availability of space at any given time (managed capacity) will reduce the hassle of booking spaces in advance for teams sitting together in a hot-desking environment.
> New office arrangements might affect staff compensation packages. For example, firms might reconsider offering transit benefits that far exceed the frequency with which an employee will commute to a hybrid office. Other incentives might make more sense, such as free catered meals for staff on their days in the office.
> Building a positive firm culture may be difficult in a hybrid office environment. There will be a need for more regular team communication and potentially more training on interpersonal skills. Leadership will need to consider specific initiatives to ensure appropriate coordination and collaboration exists, possibly through the use of suitable IT platforms.
Hot-desking is a system of multiple workers using a single physical workstation during different time periods. It is an attractive option in a hybrid office environment, but there are some concerns about less privacy among staff, especially for certain service lines. Giving staff lockers in which to store sensitive information, along with the use of conversation booths or meeting rooms when discussing confidential matters with clients, are feasible solutions.
Challenges of a hybrid office environment
As firms start planning to open the office and bring staff back while allowing them to continue to work remotely, many are having challenges adjusting to this new normal. Some of these possible challenges are:
Equipment hygiene & maintenance
Hot-desking is usually a feature rendered possible in an audit firm environment as audit staff will mostly be at the clients’ premises. With a hybrid office model, hot-desking can be an attractive option. However, the issue of hygiene under the current pandemic situation is real as everyone uses the same workstation. Thus, there may be a need for a more robust cleaning and sanitisation regime to keep everyone safe and able to work comfortably. There is also a tendency that equipment set up for common use will not be taken care of properly due to the issue of accountability (or the lack of it). It is not uncommon that the cost of maintaining common property in a hot-desking environment is usually higher and they are also more prone to breakdown.
Scheduling issues
Without a doubt, a hybrid office will redefine the traditional “expectations, rules and permission”. Many offices’ operational manuals and the present HR departments have not fully planned for or thought through the implications. In the US, the problem of a crowded mid-week is starting to be noticed as staff choose to stay at home on Mondays and Fridays. In a hot-desking environment where seating is obviously limited, this issue can also be a major drawback. Who then, should be the referee of scheduling conflicts?
Productivity and promotion
There is this perception that remote colleagues are not working as hard because they can’t be “seen”. On the other hand, colleagues who are mostly remote may feel that they don’t get the same opportunity for advancement as managers don’t get to “see” their work in person on a more regular basis.
Maintaining & encouraging collaboration
With a hybrid team, calling for an impromptu meeting can be downright difficult. Even with a pre-planned meeting, a manager will be working with all sorts of crazy algorithms, trying to accommodate everyone’s schedule to arrive at the most convenient time for the majority (as if there is one). Hence, encouraging a more collaborative team effort can be stressful. There is also the tendency that remote employees will end up feeling left out. Communication and set limits may be the way forward to a collaborative firm culture over the long term. But will staff buy into this rationale, and in a timely basis?
In a hybrid office environment, training is also more challenging. With younger employees, getting them to learn anything will mean that they need to be around more experienced people – at least at the initial stages.
(More) Investment into the future
Like most initiatives, firms will need to set aside budgets for investment into gadgets (staff will need equipment when working at home too), IT platforms for collaboration and scheduling as a start. Training and teambuilding activities need to be built into the firm’s annual calendar to foster better firm culture and trust among staff. Seniors and managers need to be trained to be better at people management while eliminating biases as part of the firm’s performance assessment program, at least annually. All these will need to be funded – apart from the usual “keeping up with changes in rules and regulations affecting the profession”. The question for the firms is how much they are willing to invest into this future trend or do they prefer to stay in their status quo?
Conclusion
The trend of the hybrid office as the future of work for this profession (and many others) is slowly becoming a reality. For this to work, everyone within the firm needs to feel included. As a leader in your firm, getting your senior staff involved in the process as the firm evolves into a hybrid work model is important. If it is done correctly, it can lead to better staff attraction and retention. By continuously asking questions and being curious about your team’s challenges and emotional state, you will be able to recognise hurdles earlier and get everyone to overcome them more easily.
This article was contributed by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) member Johnny Yong.
Source: The Sun Daily
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