The hybrid model is likely to be the way of working in the long term, post-COVID-19, even as employees return to the office following the “honeymoon” period of emergency remote operation.

This time last year, after the semi-lockdown, employees had started a slow move back to the office in a new reality of staggered entries and division of the workforce for safety reasons.

Meanwhile, a rise in satellite workstations was also experienced as some office headquarters were replaced by social meeting spaces.

But an anticipated post-pandemic work-from-home revolution has not necessarily kicked off. Companies are, instead, taking the “window of opportunity” to bring their staff back to the office to restore team spirit, according to Chamber of Commerce president Marisa Xuereb.

That sense of community has been lost over the last year and it was now safe to “call staff back to realign as a team”, she said, pointing out that some employees had disengaged.

The idea was to renew relationships and address the communication shortfall that developed along the course of the coronavirus, Xuereb said.

Companies had lots of adjusting to go through, she said, describing the situation as a “stock take”, bringing everyone together to feel part of business strategies and decisions.

The current return to the office was also important to address “fatigue” on the part of middle management, who have found it hard to manage their teams remotely, especially those employees recruited in the last year.

Even though it was not the right time to dive into the hybrid model straightaway – as existing communication deficits risked becoming permanent – it “makes most sense”, Xuereb insisted.

The move would be made when all employees were back on the same page and not when some did not even know who they were working with, she outlined. The difference was that it would not be a forced, overnight move but would be well planned and structured this time.

A hybrid arrangement, whereby employees worked both at the office and remotely, was considered the “solution” primarily because of the “terrible” congestion, she maintained. She was convinced traffic could reach a point where people will not be able to take it anymore.

The stressful commute to work in the rush hour was now being experienced and people who had forgotten the feeling were arriving at the office already tired, Xuereb said.

Even though it is not the right time, the hybrid model makes most sense

There was a critical point now when the lack of school traffic would open a small window of fewer cars on the road.

This model would also lead to a higher engagement of the female population, while contributing to quality of life.

The fact that offices had downsized their physical space over the last year was also pointing in the hybrid direction.

Nevertheless, Xuereb said, for now, everyone was feeling the need to regroup first so that employees could see the vision of the company and regain that sense of belonging.

Working habits will gradually return to pre-COVID-19 times over the next couple of years but an element of remote working is likely to remain in place, according to the president of the Foundation for Human Resources Deve-lopment, Matthew Naudi.

Some flexibility, family-friendly measures and hybrid opportunities would remain post-COVID.

Some flexibility, family-friendly measures and hybrid opportunities would always remain, he believes, pointing out that “the more companies promote these, the more they can attract a good workforce and the larger the talent pool is”.

However, following the “honeymoon” period at the beginning of the virus pandemic, which saw both employer and employees happy to work from home, Naudi maintained things will slowly return to normal.

Although not based on concrete studies, he said that, over the prolonged period of teleworking, it appeared employees wanted to have some time in the office, with “cutting off and the right to disconnect becoming a big issue”.

Other major concerns resulting from remote working were the preservation of company culture, which was one of the biggest and most unique advantages of an organisation, employee cohesion and communication, onboarding of new employees in empty offices, technological shortfalls and trust issues, Naudi said.

He also mentioned the effects on the mental well-being of employees who had to work for prolonged periods alone at home.

Win-win situation

Malta Employers Association director general Joe Farrugia also believes that, although teleworking could decline initially, it will still “settle” at a significantly higher level than what it was pre-COVID-19.

He cited many instances where it has been a win-win situation for both employers and employees.

What may also change is the number of hours that are teleworked, Farrugia maintained.

He envisaged that various companies would try to find a balance, using hybrid systems that allowed for a distribution of time between on-premises and teleworking.

Each enterprise would determine for itself the ideal solution but they were likely to adjust to a post-COVID-19 work organisation that was not necessarily the same as 2019.

Many businesses were more receptive to the teleworking concept than they were before the pandemic, aware that it could also be a means of attracting the best people to work for them, Farrugia concurred.