Why companies should go for the new hybrid models

The world of work is changing at a speed never seen before. The pandemic has been a catalyst that has only accelerated a change that had been underway for years. And it is doing so in a far more radical way than anyone could have expected.

The term "Great Resignation" that was coined in the USA during the pandemic reflected the feelings of many people who were not willing to work anyway, with the previous models, models that did not harmonize work and personal life. This led millions of people (more than 4 million according to various news reports) to leave their jobs and consider a more humane way of living their working lives.

This same effect has already reached Europe and Spain. And it manifests itself in different ways, from the impossibility of filling the labor supply, to the criteria that people use to choose between different job offers.

The search for new ways of working

Various studies affirm that in sectors such as technology, although not only, where non-face-to-face work is feasible, if the labor supply does not change, between 41% and 54% of professionals will leave their current positions to look for other work models more in line with this new way of living and working.

The salary aspect is still the most important, with many people preferring a slightly lower salary if they are allowed to work in a work anywhere model.

Why should companies offer the hybrid model?

There are many different use cases and many reasons why companies will benefit from offering hybrid models to their employees.

All surveys conducted in the last two years point to the following:

• The higher the degree of face-to-face, the lower the degree of people satisfaction.
• Lack of telecommuting options leads to lower productivity.
• Retention and attraction of talent decreases with face-to-face work.

Moreover, attracting talent is much more expensive than retaining it. According to GNA partners, replacing the departure of a junior profile involves an additional cost of between 30% and 50% of the cost of the profile, while if we are talking about a senior, the range rises to 100%-150%. Although other studies, such as this one by Huffington Post, put it much higher.

Likewise, these surveys of people point to a model in which they can have the autonomy to decide the work environment between their own offices, home and flexible spaces, coworkings or others.

No one doubts the need for direct human contact, wherever it may be. Socialization and team engagement are essential. But it doesn't necessarily have to take place in the office - there are many more options.

Why not just Home Office?

Teleworking from home is undoubtedly a good option. It allows to reconcile work and personal life and saves time and money for people. But it also has drawbacks:

• Burnout syndrome
• Long working hours due to the difficulty of disconnection and the separation of both worlds.
• The adaptation of the domestic space to be able to work.
• The intrusion of the domestic world into the work world and vice versa.
• Health and Safety conditions
• Aspects related to Occupational Risk Prevention.
• The control of the hours worked

All this problematic one induces to think that the Home Office, being a very good option, must not be considered as the exclusive option of telework.

Telework and the Telework Law

Additional attention should be paid to the Royal Decree-Law 28/2020, which includes the regulation and regulation of teleworking when it involves a minimum of 30% of the working day. In this situation, of more than 30% of the working day developed outside the work centers of the company, a series of labor and economic conditions regulated by a teleworking agreement between the worker and the company must be fulfilled.

These conditions include from compensation to the worker, to the assurance of compliance with the rules of Occupational Risk Prevention in the place where the activity is developed.

Work Anywhere. The eekox proposal.

Flexibility in deciding where people work as a tool to increase employee satisfaction and company productivity is one of the key tools in the hands of companies to achieve these objectives. eekox offers a collaboration model with companies in which they have credits for the use of flexible spaces that their employees can use.

For example, a company can purchase a package of 100 credits that its employees can use in flexible workstations or meeting rooms, allowing them to work both individually and in teams. Continuing with the example, employees could use 1 credit to reserve a table. Or 3 credits to reserve a room for 4 people, or 6 credits for a room for a meeting of 10 people.

• Who uses it? Everyone the company decides.

• How often? As often as the company decides, from once a week to every day. The model is absolutely flexible.

• How do you use it? Through an immediate reservation of any of the existing spaces in the eekox platform.

• How does the company control consumption and spending? Because it has a backend where it can see in real time which employees are using which resources. In addition to having the confirmation of the use of these spaces and not just the mere reservation.

In addition, the company can carry out a pilot in which a satisfaction survey is conducted before and after the use of the spaces to verify in an objective way the goodness of the model.

Benefits of the hybrid model.

Companies, using the model described above, obtain a number of advantages that can be specified as:

1. reducing employee turnover, retaining and attracting talent.
2. Increasing employee productivity, guaranteeing their wellbeing.
3. Ensuring safe spaces by minimizing occupational hazards in suitable working environments.
4. Working in spaces provided by eekox does not necessarily count as teleworking. It is possible to define the existing workspaces in eekox.com as "own" work centers of the company, so that only work at home would count as telework.
5. Reduce the variable costs derived from renting and managing your own offices, and derive part of the savings to flexible work options.
6. Cost control and flexibility.
7. Publish and market unused space on and through the eekox platform, generating a benefit where there was a cost.

But it is a win-win model, because for people, there are also multiple benefits:

1. Accessible and easy, through the employee App for immediate search and booking.
2. Perfect match between their preferences and the spaces.
3. Generation of synergies, promotion of team building and socialization in professional environments that nurture their growth.
4. Access to a community that generates mutual value and enriches employees and their companies.
5. Schedule control that favors disconnection,
6. Availability of adequate physical space, which also complies with labor and occupational health and safety regulations.

eekox. A future platform for hybrid work.

eekox is a productivity tool for companies. A simple way to make available to people and companies a wide range of work environments to facilitate a new way of working more flexible and human that enhances productivity and well-being of people as well as having a positive impact on organizations, the environment and society.