BDO expert Joe Occhino on how to get the most from hybrid WFH

Firms have to decide now how to tackle the work from home future because it’s not going away anytime soon, says BDO expert Joe Occhino.

BDO associate director Joe Occhino.

There’s been a lot of press coverage in recent months about the new normal, post-COVID working conditions.

Many employers have struggled to entice their workers back into the city and you only have to walk around the CBD during the week to see that there a definitely more people working from home these days.

That’s fine. We know hybrid-working, a combination of in office and from home, is here to stay and whilst some employers have been less accepting, most employers when pressed on the subject, are adapting and becoming more accommodating of the flexible working arrangement idea.

Of those that are accepting and getting on board with the idea of flexible working, many employers really do not know how to action it successfully for their company interests as well as their people.

Some employers just don’t know where to start, others haven’t modelled the numbers or have any idea of the cost benefit ratio to their organisation and others are still struggling to overcome their deeply held perception of ‘if they’re not at their desk, they’re not working’ mentality. All valid speedbumps to success.

What happens if companies don’t make a start to accommodate hybrid working?

Well, costs go up as you have extra office space that is not being used efficiently, claims from unhappy employees go up and valued staff members and talent will simply move on; bring forward a talent drain in your organisation. Interestingly, online recruitment websites now have a filter that users can tick to highlight jobs that advertise flexible working conditions and guess what, everyone is using it!

Organisations have to decide now how they’re going to tackle this issue.

It is not going away.

Run the numbers and get an understanding of the dollar cost that unused space is costing you, agree strategies for your Human Resources team to share with staff and develop policies around how you would like your people to engage with office and home working arrangements, look at your retention and hiring strategies and most importantly, reflect on the perceptions and identify any bias your leaders may hold and change up where necessary.

Dr Joe Occhino is an expert in cultural change, transformation, operating models and strategic workforce planning. He works as an associate director in BDO’s Brisbane office.