What Is the New Hushed Hybrid Work Trend?

Return-to-office trends are a polarizing topic, and the latest to join the list of controversies is the hushed hybrid work trend. The popularity of jobs that strictly offer remote work, or at least a hybrid schedule, has not faded in the slightest and employees still appear to be on the lookout for jobs that will let them work from home. The need for such work is so overwhelming that employees are now convincing their managers to let them work from home without notifying the employer about the decision. The new career trend of hushed hybrid work is going to rustle a few feathers and make many bosses upset, even as it finds a place for itself in the work culture we have today.

Image: Freepik

The Hushed Hybrid Work Trend Is The Latest Way To Avoid Returning to Work

The new career trend of hushed hybrid work refers to the rise of employees convincing their immediate bosses and managers to allow them to adopt flexible working arrangements without the strict consent of the company itself. In many cases, local offices work far from their headquarters, which gives them more room to customize the company policy to fit them better. 

As a result, managers and bosses who see and agree with the benefit of work-from-home opportunities are making independent decisions on letting their subordinates use a hybrid model and take on remote work occasionally or on a fixed schedule. Some employees are allowed to pick their in-office workdays, while others report to the office on fixed days so they are in the building when it is necessary. 

While company-wide policies may not make room for any flexibility, these hushed work trends suggest that employees and their direct supervisors are not particularly concerned about doing things by the book. 

Every manager has their own reason for allowing this trend but they appear united in their desire to provide employees with a system that works for them. Managers can often see the benefits of allowing employees to work from home every once in a while, and have a better chance to see the difference it makes in an employee’s performance. With that in mind, it does make sense that some of them have taken to this trend of flexible work arrangements. 

Is the Hushed Hybrid Work Trend a Good Idea?

This might be the first time you’re hearing about what the hushed hybrid trend is, and on the surface, it might seem like a good idea to try it out at work. Hybrid work schedules have a fan following for a reason—they cut down on time wasted traveling to and from work, they help employees feel more relaxed about their other responsibilities, they eliminate the unnecessary chatter and formality of the workplace so employees can focus on getting work done quickly, and the list goes on. There are many benefits to working from home and a hybrid model supports the best of both worlds, providing both the in-office advantages as well as the comforts of being at home.

Many employers are still resistant to the hybrid schedule for their own reasons, most of which have to do with the fear of impaired productivity and the struggle with the lack of supervision. Until an organization can be convinced to adopt the flexible work arrangement trend itself, the hushed hybrid work trend can feel like a safe middle ground. However, there are many risks of acting without the employer’s strict instructions to allow employees to work from home. 

Benefits of Hushed Hybrid Work 

Apart from all the traditional benefits of adopting a hybrid schedule, the hushed hybrid work trend has a few benefits that have motivated managers to be more flexible.

• Employees can come into work feeling more relaxed and ready to work
• The relationship between employees and the manager improves due to the new understanding between them
• The goodwill felt towards the manager can extend to the organization as employees no longer have to work under conditions that don’t suit them
• Employees are more willing to listen and accommodate the manager’s instructions in exchange for their own work-from-home accommodations 
• Employees are less likely to use up leaves when they can rely on remote work on sick days or in other situations when their presence is required at home
• It reduces the workplace conflicts that come up when people are constantly cooped together with the pressures of their own deadlines

Drawbacks of Hushed Hybrid Work

While it seems like a fun new trend meant for managers and subordinates to bond over their mutual dislike or disregard for the higher authorities in their organization, the trend can be very damaging to the work culture and to the employees caught engaging in these practices. Trends like coffee badgering and quiet quitting reflect badly on employees who engage in them, and this can have very immediate consequences if found out. 

• The manager and employees can face serious consequences like losing their jobs if the subterfuge is ever discovered by management
• Managers and employees will be under constant stress to ensure they do not get caught and punished
• Employees might start to disregard the rules of the organization in other ways that the manager won’t be able to control or report 
• Employees might seek exceptions from other company-wide policies that are not within the manager’s control
• When the Return-to-work mandates are enforced more seriously across the organization, the manager will become the bad guy for suddenly putting an end to the freedom the employees enjoyed
• If one employee is allowed to engage in the hushed hybrid trend, others will also expect some leniency which isn’t possible with every role
• Those who do not get to take advantage of the new flexible work arrangement trend will start to resent those who do, leading to conflicts within the organization

Is the New Trend of Flexible Work Arrangements Likely to Grow?

Considering the extensive list of consequences, it is impossible for the hushed hybrid work trend to become more widespread. Once employers start to hear word of such strategies, they will begin establishing additional measures to prevent the same trends within their organization. 

This trend also puts managers in a very delicate position and there is trouble for them whether they listen to the company mandates or the employees. There is no right solution for them when they are caught in between. Instead of engaging in this trend, it is best for employees to talk to management and push for more hybrid setups so everyone in the organization can be on the same page.

Employers, for their part, also need to look at the lengths workers are willing to go to get a flexible work set-up. They must realize that their own return-to-office trends are going to be met with resistance at every step. Tech company Dell’s policies to force employees to work from the office backfired to a degree when employees stated they would be okay with skipping out on promotions and other perks as long as they were allowed to work from home. 

It is much better to find the middle ground between remote work and in-person work and create a system where the employee doesn’t have to invest time and energy in acquiring the basic work schedule that suits them best. As we mentioned earlier, managers are in the best position to determine how an employee’s performance is altered depending on where they work. Taking into account what they have to say, their insights can be fed back into the system to determine what is best for the organization and its workforce.

The post What Is the New Hushed Hybrid Work Trend? appeared first on The HR Digest.

Source: New feed