Hybrid Work Challenges to Avoid Remote Work Fatigue

Work from home has significantly seen a rise in productivity for many organizations. Still, it is also true that remote working has been nothing less than a challenge for many people. In addition, the hybrid work challenges make people frustrated and depressed in their own homes. Especially for those who cannot afford to set up a home office, the challenges of working remotely seem too tough.

If your organization has moved towards hybrid remote working, you must be well aware of its challenges for you and the employees. Even though the benefits of the hybrid work model outweigh the challenges, the initial implementation phases are tough.

What is A Hybrid Work Arrangement?

A hybrid work arrangement involves some employees working on-site while others are assigned to work remotely. The employees who need to be on-site depend on the job responsibility, or many organizations take turns for different employees in the office. This allows each employee to reap the benefits of both working in-house and remotely.

Though a hybrid work culture indeed provides great flexibility to the employees who don't have to commute for hours to reach the office, it also reduces the operational cost of workplaces with few employees in a workplace each day.

What Are the Hybrid Work Model Challenges?

We all started with loving work from home because there was no need to get up early in the morning, get all dressed, and head to the office, but the workplace fatigue is now starting to kick in since it has been more than a year now. Many organizations have reported observing workplace fatigue in their employees, which is a serious concern since it can affect employee productivity.

Embracing the new hybrid environment is quickly becoming a critical business decision for companies looking to attract and retain top talent. Preliminary research suggests that adopting a hybrid workforce model could result in higher returns in terms of innovation, productivity, and team collaboration.

But there is also a significant portion of employees who are not happy with this type of arrangement. It's not like they do not prefer flexibility, but some reasons cause a serious burnout for remote workers in a hybrid work arrangement. So here are the few key areas to focus on in order to prevent remote workers' fatigue as well as hybrid work challenges.

Digital Distractions

Digital distractions are considered one of the biggest factors affecting productivity and focus for hybrid employees. It is one of the most common hybrid work challenges. This could be due to many reasons. Since a workplace has a professional environment with everyone focusing on their work rather than other factors, digital distraction could be a serious issue.

Virtual Overload

Employees in the hybrid world are 1.12 times more likely than those in the on-site world to believe they are working too hard at their employment. In addition, virtualization at high levels is cognitively taxing for employees, with 75% of HR leaders believing that a rise in the number of virtual touchpoints employees encounter at work puts them at risk of burnout.

No work Life balance

This is a major concern and hybrid work challenge for remote workers as they constantly connect to their work desks throughout the day. Because there are no signs that tell us when to start and end work, such as a conventional drive to the office or a professional dress code, working remotely makes it more difficult to establish clear boundaries between work and life.

Employees are having trouble figuring out when and how to turn off at the end of the day, with 40% of hybrid or remote workers reporting an increase in the duration of their workday in the last year.

When HR directors use monitoring systems, this problem becomes even worse: employees who feel monitored, for example, are 94 percent more likely to appear to be working at times owing to the pressure to be constantly productive. Similarly, bosses don't understand the need for remote workers to switch off their devices and get back home since they practically consider the employees having free time when they are at home.

Hybrid Work Environment Challenges

The environment in a workplace has a huge role in productivity, and not everyone has a separate corner to place their laptops and get working from their homes. Some even share a room, or some have children to keep the whole house loud and cranky. Unfortunately, this absence of mental peace and focus results in employee burnout in most cases.

With constant distractions from family, kids, and others, employees find it hard to be more productive and active than in a workplace.

Dealing With Hybrid Work Challenges

Wise organizations know the value of the health and safety of employees in a workplace; hence they leave no chance to be smart about it. Therefore, before you introduce any modifications in the workplace, such as full-time working or even part-time visits in a hybrid work model, make sure to optimize the safety measures and health constraints.

Another good idea is to find a good balance with scheduling. Having a fixed number of work hours encourages employees to be more productive as they feel valued and praised for their efforts. To make the transition to a hybrid work environment easier, strive for a scheduling compromise that eases workers back into the office routine while prioritizing a strong, collaborative workplace culture.

One method to do this is to reintroduce your team members to the office in stages, using staggered shifts to restrict the amount of in-office workers at any given moment. You may also have employees sign up for a set number of on-site days each week or month. Consider hot-desking and other workplace sharing alternatives.

Implementing Hybrid Work Model

There are many hybrid work model challenges that you will encounter as soon as you head to implement the hybrid work policy. From facing employee satisfaction to having a hard time picking up with the technology, it all just takes some time to get onboard.

But with the proper planning, education, and motivation, organizations can head on to this journey smartly. Following the Autonomous hybrid work, the model is a wonderful solution since it entails all the basics of transitioning to a hybrid workplace. It also highlights the needed changes in your organization.