How to Propose Hybrid Work to Your Employer

There are many benefits of hybrid working for both employers and employees. These include lower stress levels, higher job satisfaction, more time for actual work and work-life balance for employees.

For employers, some of the benefits are lower operational costs, a reduction in staff turnover, an increase in productivity and a lower carbon footprint for the company.

However, even with these great advantages of hybrid work arrangements, there are still companies that are uncertain about their long-term merits despite having experienced remote work during the pandemic.

If your employer has yet to appreciate the virtues of a hybrid work setup or seems somewhat hesitant to adopt it as a permanent work option, there are steps you can take to ease them into it.

Pitching hybrid work to your manager

Some people really enjoy and thrive on working from home — whether full-time or part-time.

If you want to continue or switch to hybrid working permanently, the first thing you need to do is to pitch the idea to your manager.

Think carefully about what you want and how it will actually be implemented, so it’ll be easier to convince management that a hybrid work setup will help both the company and its employees.

• Consider the different posts or roles in the company and how they can be performed remotely. For example, how will reception and accounting work be managed?
• Emphasise and specify how a hybrid work arrangement can benefit the company and its employees. Discuss its beneficial impact on operations or productivity, employee wellbeing and engagement, talent acquisition, etc.
• Suggest a hybrid work structure that specifies when you will work remotely and when you’ll be working on-site. Be ready to answer questions about how you can remain productive while at home or outside the office.
• Clarify modes of communication that will be used to ensure everyone’s engagement and responsiveness.
• Conduct a survey in collaboration with management when they become receptive to your proposal (and even when not — just so you can show employee sentiment). The most accurate way to determine how employees feel about hybrid work is through a survey. Offer examples or provide scenarios when posing questions regarding the type of work setup they prefer or think they would flourish in.
• Work out a dry run schedule or trial period to see how a hybrid work setup can actually affect the company and the employees.

Deciding to shift to a hybrid work structure completely makes sense with the many benefits that come with its adoption.

However, it’s crucial for management to know what those advantages are, the long-term impact of hybrid work, how it can be implemented and how employees feel, to make the right decision. Interested in more on hybrid working? Read our earlier article where we touched on how hybrid working is rewriting the rulebook when it comes to the professional workplace.