Authors: Maria Papanastasiou, Evangelia Markaki

Title: Is the implementation of hybrid working models the new working paradigm? A case study using qualitative research, assessing their impact on employees’ loyalty and productivity.

Abstract

This study’s overall aim was to identify how the flexibility that remote/hybrid working models promote seems to affect employees’ loyalty and productivity. The research took place during early 2023, at a time when all employees of the case study’s organisation were trying to find their footfalls between remote and onsite working settings, following the post-covid-19 and Great Resignation eras.

Remote work made its appearance at the commencement of the 21st century as an investigational practice in a few corporations of specific industries. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, working from home has become a basic condition and the most common type of remote work.

Although remote working existed before the Covid-19 outbreak, the pandemic hastened the trend, mainly turning remote work into a mandatory and long-term requirement. Greece, though, was one of the EU countries with the lowest incidence of employed individuals working remotely in the pre-Covid 19 era, with the percentage being only 5,3% compared to 37% observed in the leading countries of Sweden and Netherlands (Eurostat, 2020). In 2020, the percentage of people working remotely in Greece rose to 7%, while the EU average was 12% (Eurostat LFS, 2021).

According to the latest research, the increased tendency of working from home will continue to the post-pandemic period, and to a much greater level than before, but rarely in a fully remote mode.

This highlights hybrid models, as a form of flexible employment where employees spend some time working remotely (usually, but not necessarily, from home) and some in the office, gaining the desired flexibility while still preserving some control and stability for the employer.

Hybrid working can benefit employers and employees in those organizations that can accommodate staff who can work flexibly between locations. With employees' growing interest in combined modes of work, offering hybrid working could be a critical factor in attracting new talent, reducing commuting costs, providing autonomy, increasing engagement, motivation, and productivity, and lowering turnover rates.

However, organizations must pay attention to what workers have to say and what types of work are advantageous to them while keeping in mind that hybrid working may only be a good fit for some. Different home environments and personal preferences exist among employees. For example, while some people enjoy working from home and can do so successfully, others might need more support because of isolation or a lack of guidance or concentration.

Nowadays, remote work persists, and the implementation of hybrid working models, as a new working paradigm seems crucial for both employees and employers.

This paper will discuss the negative and positive outcomes faced by employees when leaving the office and beginning to work from home, together with the faced impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation phenomenon. The key factors that influence employees’ loyalty and productivity in conjunction with remote working settings will be evaluated, together with the technological advancements and how these have led to the growing awareness of alternative approaches toward the hybrid working models. Furthermore, the need to change companies’ perception about managing their most valuable resource, human capital, will be analyzed.