Find the right balance in the New Year

Nearly two-thirds of bosses believe that workers will return to the office five days a week within the next three years, while a majority of company leaders think pay and promotions could become linked to workplace attendance, according to a survey.

Despite the widespread adoption of hybrid working by most office-based employers since the pandemic, the KPMG CEO Outlook survey found 64% of leaders globally, and 63% of those in the UK, predicted a full return to in-office working by 2026.

The annual poll – which surveyed more than 1,300 chief executives of the world’s largest businesses, of whom 150 are in the UK – suggested many executives were increasingly supportive of returning to pre-Covid ways of working, more than three years after the pandemic forced office-based employees to carry out their roles from home.

In addition, the survey showed an overwhelming majority (87%) of global leaders, and 83% of UK executives, believed that financial rewards and promotion opportunities could be linked in future to office attendance.

Jon Holt, the chief executive of KPMG in the UK, said there was not a “one-size fits all approach” to back-to-office mandates, and that any such move could “create tensions between leaders and employers”.

In recent weeks, large corporates have started to call an end to the more flexible working patterns that followed the pandemic, led by the big tech firms including Amazon, Google and Meta, and banks including Citigroup and Lloyds. Senior bosses at those firms have said that bringing teams together increases creativity and collaboration, as well as fostering a corporate culture.

Holt said: “Issuing an ‘all hands on deck’ edict is a simple response to a complex issue – it won’t work for all businesses. Some sort of hybrid working is likely to remain a useful way to attract and retain the good people the CEOs know their business needs.

Holt added that spending at least some of the working week at their desks was particularly beneficial for younger employees, who may have begun their professional lives amid the pandemic and the ensuing cost of living squeeze.

Multiple employee surveys in recent years have shown that most workers have no desire to return to their desks full-time, with some saying they would quit their jobs if current workplace flexibility was taken away.

How Internet Videocommunications can bridge the divide.

As experts in collaborative technology with unrivalled experience, Internet videocoomunications can help to ensure that your business can achieve the best of both worlds, in and out of the office. Our consultative approach will address whatever mix of home / office communications you may need and put you on the path to a better way of doing the day-to-day. Many of today’s modern workforce expect flexibility in how they work and by achieving this balance, business owners not only see better staff morale but also gains in employee retention and attracting the best-in-class staff.

The best way to bridge the gap between the varied ways of working is by using the very best technology at your disposal, from ensuring that people working remotely can be heard and seen as if they were in the boardroom, to simplifying workflow through Microsoft Teams integration. With technology such as state-of-the-art whiteboarding solutions collaborating as a team has never been easier no matter where each member of the team chooses to work from

By arming your workforce with the tools necessary for hybrid working you allow a level of freedom and flexibility in day-to-day operations to unlock the true potential of your business, maximising productivity and the quality of work and communication in and out of the office. Let Internet Videocommunications help you to implement a way of working that addresses the needs of your whole organisation across the board - bringing a true win-win to the table, wherever that table may be located.