Advertorial for IWG
By Fleur Morrison
The way most of us work has changed dramatically over the past five years. Now, fewer businesses adhere to the traditional nine-to-five office-based commuter model. And, to put it bluntly, that’s probably a good thing.
The benefits of hybrid working are numerous.
Depending on our location and proximity to the office, we can typically waste an hour or even two on the daily commute. Time that could be better spent working or on a million other things, including the school run.
Now, with the slow, creeping pressure for things to revert to the way they were, perhaps it’s time to recognise that, actually, the normalisation of “hybrid working” has been a massive win for everyone.
The positives of this model for businesses and for employees are clear — it gives everyone what they want. Employers get a happier, more focused workforce and employees get more flexibility to manage their life outside of work.
This isn’t just opinion, new research from IWG, the world’s largest provider of hybrid-working solutions, has revealed why the model should stick around.
A win-win for employees and employers alike
With around 4000 locations across 120 countries, IWG (which includes leading workspace brands Regus, Spaces, HQ & Signature) is well-placed to gauge the temperature of how attitudes have evolved over time.
Over two surveys — one among Australian workers and the other among CEOs in the US — it has found that having employees divide their time between a local flexible workspace, a central headquarters and home benefits both employees and employers.
“Businesses that embrace this evolution will not only draw in top talent but also maximise the potential of their teams, all while streamlining their own bottom line,” says IWG Australia country head Damien Sheehan. “This momentum is set to prevail in 2024 as a growing number of businesses and employees grasp the evident advantages — financial, cultural and sustainable — that flexible working models can offer.”
The work-life model that works for everyone
The hybrid model is key to optimising the triple bottom line of people, profits and planet.
“With cost-of-living pressures, a tight labour market and economic uncertainty continuing into 2024, retaining valued employees is more critical than ever,” explains Sheehan. “This latest research reaffirms the importance of prioritising your team’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, and the significance of supporting employee benefits and training.”
IWG’s Australian Hybrid Workers Survey revealed that Australians value the hybrid work model more than ever, often carefully assessing companies’ hybrid-workplace policies before accepting a job offer, with 76 per cent of workers saying hybrid working had decreased their stress levels and made them happier.
Hybrid working brings multiple benefits, the main one being that it fosters a healthier work-life balance. By reducing commute times and offering the convenience of working from home, hybrid workers can allocate more time to family, hobbies, or simply recharging.
Obvious business benefits
IWG’s US CEO State of Hybrid Working Survey shows that business leaders believe the hybrid model is key to optimising the triple bottom line of people, profits and planet.
In addition to the findings among Australian workers, the US study revealed that almost 60 per cent of CEOs reported that offering improved work-life balance for employees resulted in higher employee attraction and retention.
And this has knock-on benefits for the business, with 63 per cent of the CEOs reporting greater employee productivity as a direct result of the switch to the hybrid model.
Hybrid models have also been proven to be a cost-saver — 89 per cent of CEOs say they have reduced costs by adopting hybrid working, thanks to savings in expenditure on real estate, overhead costs like cleaning and office maintenance and reduced energy usage.
Stanford University Professor Nicholas Bloom, a leading expert on flexible working, says a company’s bottom line can be boosted by up to 20 per cent because of adopting a hybrid-working policy. Research firm Global Workplace Analytics sets the savings resulting from hybrid working at around $16,500 per employee every year.
And given hybrid-working sites are based in local hubs that are closer to home, the environmental impact of shorter commutes also provides environmental benefits, which are important to CEOs and employees who are increasingly concerned about their carbon footprint.
An established model
Hybrid working has been around for longer than you might think. In fact, it began more than 30 years ago in Belgium, when British entrepreneur Mark Dixon was living in Brussels and noticed the rise in workers conducting meetings in cafes.
This keenly observed insight inspired Mark to launch IWG hybrid workspaces, which now has more than 8 million individuals using IWG facilties across the globe.
Under the Regus brand, 20 of those sites can be found in Sydney, from the CBD to Parramatta and Chatswood, providing local businesses with solutions to their hybrid-working needs.
Discover how Regus’ hybrid work solutions can help you improve your work-life balance by visiting regus.com/success.