As the pandemic has eased, it’s become clear that hybrid working is here to stay. Companies that are still insisting on full-time office attendance are finding it increasingly difficult to attract talented staff, and hold on to the employees they already have. This means that developing a hybrid working strategy that enables employees to seamlessly move from one place of work to another is now an essential part of business.
That strategy should ideally incorporate many different elements, some of which are human and some of which are technological. Exactly what success looks like will vary from company to company and from industry to industry, but in general terms, these five pointers show the right way forwards:
Enabling flexibility
Employees want to be able to work where they feel that they’re most productive. For some, that may be a lively, open-plan office with lots of conversations and exchanges of ideas. For others, it may be a quiet office where they can get some peace and space alone to concentrate. What’s important is to develop many different types of workspaces, so that all types of preferences can be catered for, and so that working from the office remains just as appealing as working from home.
Giving employees choice
Connected to the previous point, employees don’t want to feel that they’re being forced into a hybrid working model that doesn’t work for them. For example, younger employees that live in small or shared accommodation probably don’t have the right environment to work from home, and would rather work from the office as much as possible. This is why autonomy and independence are vital parts of a good hybrid working strategy: allowing each employee to choose where they work from and when, and having the right technologies in place to make this possible.
Making tech accessible everywhere
Ultimately, employees working from home need to be able to access all the data and applications they need as easily as they could in the office. This requires some significant changes in the IT infrastructure of a business, incorporating cloud, SD-WAN, virtual desktops and other innovations that can help perfectly replicate the digital experience in the office anywhere.
Extending security protection
A big part of that digital experience is keeping data and applications secure, especially as hybrid workers often use their own household internet connections which aren’t under the remit of business IT teams. Solutions like virtual desktops and SD-WAN allow employees to gain virtual access to a system that stays under the IT team’s control, instead of accessing applications and data directly with all the inherent security risk that brings.
Monitoring and reviewing regularly
The business world doesn’t stand still, so a good hybrid working strategy shouldn’t stand still, either. It’s important to regularly review all of the human and technology processes in place, to make sure that they’re still serving their intended purposes and making it easy for employees to work from anywhere and at any time.
Which technologies are important for hybrid working?
It’s clear that tech has a big part to play in making hybrid working possible. Some of the solutions required are very much employee-facing, and some relate to the underlying infrastructure that makes everything run smoothly and securely, but all have an important part to play.
Tech you should consider includes:
- Virtual desktop infrastructures: high-performance, secure working made possible anywhere, on almost every type of device
- SD-WAN: enable remote workers to securely access network resources wherever they are from an all-in-one, software-defined solution
- Multi-cloud: a fully integrated platform that combines streamlined operations and a consistent management experience
- PC-as-a-Service: cost-effective procurement of business computing that brings hardware, software, financing and lifecycle management together in one package
- Technologies on Demand: explore flexible consumption and as-a-service solutions across entire tech portfolios
At Dell, we can help your business get set up with all of these technologies, as well as the light, ergonomic, high-performance devices that your employees can use every day, wherever they’re working. Completing your hybrid working strategy, all our services and solutions can make your business perfectly equipped to reap the advantages of flexible operations, and a productive, satisfied workforce.
Take a look at how our technologies have already been applied in the business space here, then explore all of our workforce innovations in more detail.