Disadvantages of The Hybrid Work Model

As a self-made entrepreneur and CEO of my own business, most of my work can be done anywhere. I can work on the go, in an office, and even at home. But that doesn’t mean I’ve disconnected from my employees. There are times when I need to connect with them directly, to inspire them or learn from them. As such, hybrid working has been my go-to workplace structure.

However, as my team and many others have observed, the hybrid work model also has disadvantages. The hybrid work model is not applicable to all business types, office layout renovation and restructuring change are required, increased dependence on technology, increased costs, the distinction between onsite and remote workers, poor team relationships, the tendency for micromanagement, and risks of workplace burnout

Like many, I’m drawn to the flexibility, efficiency, and autonomy the hybrid work model provides. I also find this workplace structure as a good compromise between full remote work or full onsite labor. The level of autonomy and schedule flexibility I feel helps me utilize my time more effectively. My employees also report increased morale. The hybrid model, therefore, helps me retain my most skilled and valuable people.

This article details the drawbacks you may encounter as you consider a hybrid work model. These disadvantages include reexamining work processes and employee workflow. Logistics concerns include increased reliance on technology and redesigning the office.

Read on if you want to know more about how the hybrid work model may or may not work for you and your organization!

An Overview of the Disadvantages

First, the hybrid work model can create a barrier between those who lean toward working at an office and those who prefer working at home. This rift can even lead to burnout or loss of employment opportunities. It can also result in poor relations within the team.

You have teams working in separate homes and an office, so online communications are a necessity. As such, cybersecurity and access to technology can also be an issue.

Additionally, this work model may not be applicable for all types of settings and industries.

And should the hybrid work model work for your business, you’d still need to adjust various aspects of your operations. You’ll need software and hardware upgrades, as well as renovations and schedule changes. These changes may temporarily disrupt your operations while improving and renovating your office will also take a bite out of your finances.

But simply knowing of these disadvantages won’t give you enough idea on how to solve them. As Danielle Guzman shares on LinkedIn, “With so many professionals choosing to work hybrid or remote, it’s important that organizations and leaders learn about and understand all the struggles that come with it.”

If you want to utilize the hybrid work model as efficiently as possible, you need to understand its drawbacks. Let’s go through each disadvantage in more detail in the succeeding sections.

Not Applicable To All Business Types

Not all industries can utilize the hybrid working model as effectively as others. For instance, construction, engineering, and agriculture companies require their workers to be onsite. Power plants and manufacturing plants that need real-time supervision will certainly need onsite workers. The safety of the plant and its surroundings will rely on the people on site. Employees can’t provide the required labor if they’re not physically present.

Likewise, other industries and businesses that offer face-to-face customer services need their people to be there in person — although video conferencing may help to a degree.

When you shift to a hybrid work model, you’re more likely to decrease the number of staff and employees at your location. And sometimes, you may also need one-on-one meetings with clients, which hinders schedule flexibility for some employees.

Some clients may experience a downgrade in customer service due to a lack of face-to-face interaction with company representatives. This disadvantage is particularly felt by the sales and retail industries.

Here are other industries and their potential of working remotely. This graph is from a McKinsey & Company study on the effectiveness of remote work.

So, while the hybrid work model may seem like the future for many other companies, it isn’t even an option for some.

Office Layout Renovation and Restructuring

Industries that can apply the hybrid workplace model may also face problems during the transition. According to the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts, Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, “Some, especially the more intense collaborative tasks are better done in the office, and your individual tasks are way better done at home.” He shares this insightful thought on LinkedIn.

Shifting to a hybrid model requires spaces for collaboration and individual tasks alike. Thus, you’ll need meeting rooms and coworking spaces for collaborative tasks. You may also need individual offices for solo tasks and places where your employees can relax. These areas can be break rooms, quiet spaces, or comfortable lounges.

These requirements then require restructuring, reorganization, and even renovations in your workplace. You’ll also need additional amenities and appliances for these changes. Since you’ll also have team members working remotely at times, online communications are necessary. So, a hybrid work setup will also require you to improve your Internet services.

For older buildings, all these changes and upgrades can lead to expensive renovations. Getting funding for these services may prove to be a challenging, even tedious process. In addition, you’ll also need to put effort into finding the best contractors and service providers for these office upgrades.

Increased Dependence on Technologies

While the use of technology often leads to improved efficiency, heavy reliance on them also carries disadvantages.

With a hybrid work model, your team will need both hardware and software upgrades. Let’s discuss these additional needs in greater detail.

Digital Tools

You and your team need digital tools for almost all types of work in a hybrid setup. You would need document and file management software to arrange your outputs. Work management tools and communication and collaboration platforms would drive the process for creating these outputs.

Meanwhile, virtual assistants may also be necessary to improve the productivity of higher-ranking employees.

Remember, reliance on technology is driven not only by what your employees and organization need. It also depends on the type of service your organization wants to deliver to your clients. So, you may also need tools for data analytics, AI, and even the Internet of Things (IoT), among others.

Here are just some of the digital tools perfect for remote and hybrid work models:

Slack
Trello
Microsoft Teams
Virgin Pulse
Fellow
Asana
Charlie
Culture IQ
Headspace
Interact
Miro
Zoom

Now, these digital tools already have security protocols on their own. However, trading files and communicating via the Internet can still be risky, exposing your valuable data to cyberattacks, hacking, and data loss. Your IT department needs to prepare for data security and management. Additionally, your IT department should also be ready to support and guide employees with poor or unreliable Internet connections.

Want to know what you can do about your cybersecurity systems? If so, then you can benefit from our article, 9 Cyber Security Tips for Remote Workers.

Hardware Needs and Other Tangible Items

With hybrid work models, productivity becomes highly dependent on available gadgets and tech equipment. In your office, all your computers may have the latest updates and upgrades. However, individual employees working at home may not have such luxuries.

As an employer, you’d need to provide the necessary gadgets and physical tools to optimize productivity for remote workers. Here are just some gadgets you may need:

Laptop/computer: for completing tasks
Business tablet: for on-the-go productivity
Multi-monitor setup: for easy multitasking
Webcam: for effective video conferencing meetings
Headphones: to minimize noise and distractions
Wi-Fi extender: for an improved Internet connection

All of these items need to be at least midline in terms of specs. Additionally, these gadgets need to be durable. Remember, your employees will be using them constantly to deliver quality output. While your employees won’t need top-of-the-line gear, you don’t want them struggling on sluggish, unresponsive devices either.

Health and wellness are also essential. So, you also have to make sure that each employee has ergonomic workspaces. As such, you may feel inclined to provide:

Ergonomic chairs
Ergonomic tables
Laptop stands

You aren’t required to provide all these for your employees. But if you don’t, they may feel like the company doesn’t care for them. This could result in them looking elsewhere for work.

Increased Costs

All the software and hardware upgrades in the previous section are your responsibility. And these items already cost a lot.

You’ll still have employees working in the office. If your office uses desktop computers, you won’t be able to send office equipment to your employees working at home.

In addition to capital costs for additional technologies, you also need to consider maintenance costs. In a hybrid work model, you have employees working in the office and others working at home.

Your organization will be paying for the utility costs billed to your office. However, consider that your remote workers’ bills also increase due to their work-from-home setup. According to recent reports, working from home has resulted in around a 7%–20% rise in electricity bills.

While you aren’t obligated to pay for the additional costs, your employees may feel the need for a pay raise to cover their bills. They might be saving on transportation costs, but this offset — or even outweighed — by the bill increases. If you don’t provide sufficient funds to cover these costs, your employees may feel dissatisfied or demoralized.

A hybrid work model may therefore increase your company’s expenses.

Distinction Between Onsite and Remote Workers

The hybrid work model can take many forms. Some organizations give all their employees equal days for remote and onsite work. Then, they allow their employees to choose when to visit the office and when to work remotely.

However, some organizations follow a hybrid work model by assigning which employees can work onsite or remotely.

In this case, some may feel neglected. Some employees may want to be assigned for remote work but have roles that require onsite duty. Conversely, some employees may prefer to continue with office work but are better off as remote workers.

Justin Bedecarre, CEO of Raise Commercial Real Estate, even shared this: “The shift to a hybrid workplace will empower more people to choose to come into the office because they want to, because it fulfills an important need, rather than because it is an obligation.” The loss of choice can remove this feeling of fulfillment.

Those forced to stay onsite may feel like their needs aren’t a priority for the company. They may feel like they’re assigned heavier loads while their coworkers get better benefits. With the pandemic, onsite workers also place themselves at risk by going into the public.

On the other hand, remote workers may take their distance from their office figuratively. Remote employees may feel distanced from promotions and other work opportunities. People doing remote work may also feel as if office-goers can foster better connections with their managers.

If you don’t want these anxieties to become issues, you should consult with each employee before any significant transitions.

Poor Team Relationships

The distinction between onsite and remote workers can also result in the development of cliques within the organization. Employees reporting at the office tend to bond together, as they have shared experiences. Thus, team dynamics can be better than their remote worker counterparts. Don’t underestimate the power of proximity!

All the while, remote workers may feel isolated, even from their fellow distance employees. Because of this feeling of isolation, remote workers may not report much about their needs to their managers. This information gap then further fuels their isolation, perpetuating the cycle.

Luckily, you can solve this by introducing team members to each other beforehand. You can also incorporate routine group activities to foster camaraderie between onsite and remote workers.

Here are some activities you can do every week to break the ice and improve workplace relations:

Movie nights
Casual dinners
Game nights
Simple yet competitive group projects
Icebreaker emails
Charity or community work
Virtual water cooler

For the best results, you can also shuffle the teams once in a while. This way, each employee gets to interact with other employees from time to time.

You can also incorporate a short catch-up session before each team meeting. You’d be surprised just how you can improve your relationship with your colleagues with brief yet insightful life updates.

Content strategist Samantha Maclaren notes this in her LinkedIn talent blog: “By putting as much thought and effort into planning online activities as you would in-person ones, you can encourage all employees to participate, regardless of where they prefer to work.”

And to maintain and even improve relationships, make sure to incorporate team-building activities, even for your remote workers. We’ve written a more detailed article about this, titled Team Building Activities to Improve Your Remote Team Productivity.

Tendency for Micromanagement

Because of relationships within the team, managers and supervisors may tend to micromanage. Some higher-ups may not trust their employees to the point of dictating their every task.

The lack of real-time supervision may also increase the chances of micromanaging. Employers may feel like their remote employees are not as responsive as their office counterparts.

Micromanaging can then result in other disadvantages. It can further impair workplace relationships. Additionally, micromanagement stunts employee development. Micromanaged employees may lose the confidence they have in their skills. The lack of growth can stagnate your staff and concentrate the opportunities on a select number of people.

Risks of Workplace Burnout

For some, remote work may feel like a walk in the park. While this isn’t always the case, some remote workers may also think they need to work more to prove their productivity. Remote workers who want onsite work may think increased productivity will result in their reassignment to the office.

Working at home results also blurs the line between work and rest. As this barrier falls, remote workers tend to work more hours than is required of them. Recent statistics even imply that over 69% of employees are exhibiting burnout symptoms due to remote work.

You can manage this disadvantage by ensuring effective employee and team relations. So, before even applying the hybrid work model to your organization, ask your team about what they need. Their input and suggestions can be a significant help in the decision-making process and transition.

Incorporating wellness breaks and programs can also help prevent burnout.

Conclusion

The hybrid work model offers lots of benefits, especially during these changing times. However, it also has its disadvantages and setbacks.

So, if you’re to follow a hybrid work model, make sure you trust your employees enough to let them work on their own. You should also have an efficient update-and-tracking system to monitor your teams’ progress.

As global business executive Ryan Patel has said in his LinkedIn post: “Flipping the switch in returning to the office isn’t as easy as one thinks. More so even implementing a hybrid model in the workplace is difficult as well… There are quite a bit more preparations and strategies to think through on multiple levels… from logistics to the culture to designing of office spaces and more.”

These disadvantages aren’t insurmountable. If you utilize proper planning and employee consultation, they become nothing more than nuances.

Think you’re ready to switch to a hybrid work model? If you believe you need more resources to get through with such a major structural change, it will help you to read some more of our articles. We’ve written a detailed piece, Help Your Business Achieve a Successful Hybrid Working Balance, for your reference.