Hybrid working can create a very unequal playing field post-pandemic

There is emerging evidence that women are being disadvantaged by hybrid working

The debate about the pros and cons of hybrid and remote working is far from over. Many employers are still struggling to manage people at arm’s length and most were not prepared for other challenges they now face, such as handling performance evaluations at a distance and ensuring equity in promotions where one candidate is working remotely and the other is a familiar face in the office.

While advocates of flexible working argue that everyone muddled through just fine during the pandemic, this overlooks one important point. When businesses were adhering to lockdown protocols and everyone was working from home, the playing field was level. Now with some people in the office, some working hybrid and some fully remote, it’s not.

This has changed the workplace dynamic and left managers dealing with the fallout, particularly where on-site employees resent colleagues who have not returned to the office.

Flexible working has undoubtedly been good for people’s work-life balance but there is more at stake

Asked how line managers are coping with the new arrangements, Dr Tatiana Andreeva, associate professor in management and organisational behaviour at Maynooth University and an expert in hybrid working, raises a flag. “I see a lot of organisations making ‘big’ policy statements about their working arrangements but these are often coming from the top,” she says. “In reality, however, it’s not these senior managers who are dealing with employees day to day. It’s their line managers and they are feeling the pressure.

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“There seems to be an assumption that because we all survived Covid, we’re kind of prepared for it,” Prof Andreeva adds. “I firmly believe this is a misconception because then everyone was remote. Now they’re not and I don’t see managers being trained enough to deal with the new situation or how to ensure that everyone is included, gets fair treatment and equal access to resources and attention.”

As an example, Prof Andreeva cites one company where there was such a marked difference between performance evaluations for those in the office versus those working remotely that the company scrapped them.

From an organisational perspective, Prof Andreeva says one of the things being missed in the drive for flexible working is the wider impact on business. “Up to now, it’s been all about the employee and what they want but there needs to be a realisation that it’s about more than individual working arrangements because employees rarely work in a vacuum,” she says.

I think in the future we have to think about flexible working not as an individual arrangement, but as something that affects a wider group

“Workers have colleagues and managers, and previous research suggests that it really matters where they are too. Is your manager also remote or back in the office? What about your team members? Because if you’re part of a team but you’re the only one who is fully remote, what’s the impact?

“It’s difficult not to exclude people even unintentionally if they’re not there and having coffee or lunch together. I think in the future we have to think about flexible working not as an individual arrangement, but as something that affects a wider group.”

What may precipitate more collective thinking is the anticipated economic slump with the IMF predicting a broadly based slowdown likely to affect one-third of the world economy next year. In a tight labour market, employees have leverage. If employers start shedding jobs, managers who want people back in the office may get their way and this will change working patterns again.

What we’re seeing now is that these challenges may become even stronger when women work remotely or hybrid

Also in the mix is emerging evidence that women are being disadvantaged by hybrid working. Deloitte’s global Women @ Work 2022 survey may make uncomfortable reading for those wedded to flexible working as, apparently, it comes at a price.

In the survey sample of 5,000 women, Deloitte found that 60 per cent of those working in hybrid environments felt they had been excluded from important meetings while half said they do not have adequate exposure to leaders, a critical factor in career progression. A lack of clear expectations on the part of employers as to how and where they should work is also causing problems for women with caregiving responsibilities who need predictability in their schedules.

“While remote or hybrid work may bring benefits for family-work balance, it may also bring other hidden challenges for women,” Prof Andreeva says. “Women often face challenges at work such as being excluded from important networks, having less access to resources, getting less credit for their ideas, fewer opportunities for promotion and doing more ‘invisible’ work.

“What we’re seeing now is that these challenges may become even stronger when women work remotely or hybrid. We know, for example, that women are more often interrupted or silenced in virtual meetings.”

Prof Andreeva adds that there are also broader issues affecting all remote/hybrid workers, including a perception that line managers don’t have good visibility of remote worker activity levels or achievements and that they carry a higher workload than those in the office.

“The working arrangements of the line manager and other team members also influence the experiences of the hybrid worker,” she says. “If there are gender differentials – for example all male colleagues are back to the office, but all female colleagues are hybrid/remote – then this may make the challenges even stronger.

“Flexible working has undoubtedly been good for people’s work-life balance but there is more at stake,” she adds. “Depending on age and where you are in your career, you also need professional development as well as opportunities for learning from colleagues and the chance to be creative with others.”

Olive Keogh

Olive Keogh

Olive Keogh is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in business