A majority of organisations have witnessed strong productivity gains in Q3 2020 by allowing employees to work remotely; however, employees are being impacted by the feeling of being “always-on”, according to a new report by the Capgemini Research Institute titled, “The future of work: from remote to hybrid.”

In order to continue realising remote working benefits and manage employee expectations, organisations need to find the right operating model for a more balanced hybrid approach. To do this, leaders need to question and rethink the effectiveness of existing structures and break down organisational silos and barriers between teams, cites the report.

Employee productivity grew at 63 per cent of organisations during the third quarter of 2020 thanks to less commuting time, flexible work schedules and the adoption of effective virtual collaboration tools. IT and digital functions (68 per cent) lead the way in productivity, followed by customer service (60 per cent) and sales and marketing (59 per cent). Digitization and the use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) have helped organisations see improved productivity in these areas. 

Organisations project an overall productivity rise of 17 per cent in the next two to three years. Furthermore, 88% have realized real estate cost savings thanks to remote working in the last three to four months, and 92% expect savings in the next two to three years.

While employee productivity has gone up recently, employees have expressed concerns about remote working in the long-term. Some 56 per cent feel apprehensive of the expectations of being ‘always on’, and younger workers need more support to deal with the stress associated with uncertainty as this statistic rises to 60 per cent of employees between the ages of 26-35. These concerns raise questions about whether productivity gains can be sustained in the long-term for a successful hybrid working model.

Capgemini also found that new joiners feel disengaged in a remote set-up and limited support left 54 per cent of new joiners feeling confused and lost during their initial days with their company; 52 per cent weren’t even aware of their organisation’s values and benefits. These difficulties extended to existing employees were 38 per cent found it harder to collaborate virtually with new joiners.