A recent survey has shown that more workers are likely to quit if their demands are not met. For example, they want more flexibility, training and pay; if not, they will resign.

However, are companies ready or willing to accept such demands?

Only 1 in 5 believe that their companies are prepared for a hybrid work future.
Based on a Cisco study, only 19 percent of Singapore employees believed their company is “very prepared” for a hybrid work future. This is even though hybrid work has proven beneficial to workers, and it shows that companies are not yet ready to transition to this setup fully. Two major hindrances to the transition include poor cybersecurity and a lack of networking infrastructure for a seamless work from home experience.

Much has also been said about the benefits of hybrid working. According to this report, it saves commuting expenses and reduces carbon footprint, but it also promotes better work-life balance overall. Workers also refuse to choose daily work travel and instead prefer to work remotely in their communities.

Moreover, with the tight labour market, employers are making an effort to provide training to top up the skills of their employees to meet their manpower needs. There is growing recognition of the need to shift toward a skills-based approach to looking at competencies and job fit due to rapid job transformation.

Transformation in leadership and management

Other than the above mentioned, employees are also concerned about how different work styles might affect inclusion and engagement in a permanent hybrid workplace since 50 percent already saw an increase in micromanaging behaviours during the past two years.

“Trust has become a core tenet in our hybrid work normal, alongside flexibility and empathetic leadership. However, our latest research indicates that more needs to be done to fully integrate hybrid work arrangements for employees, especially when building an inclusive culture powered by efficient technology infrastructure in this new world of hybrid working that employees prefer,” said a senior director of Cisco.“Leaders and companies must commit to actions that go a long way in retaining their people – listening, building trust, and leading with empathy, flexibility, and fairness.” 

How can companies and workers reach a better compromise in the future of work?