Working from home isn’t as much of a necessity as it once was just a short time ago. There was a time when nearly everyone at our firm was telecommuting due to the pandemic and given our talented team, we got really good at it. It made sense that going back to the way it was didn’t seem completely necessary. So, we didn’t.
Things have changed and it appears the hybrid workplace is here to stay. Gone are the times when every day our offices were buzzing with activity and most desks had someone working at them. The quiet that descended on our offices during the pandemic has lingered. There are days where many people are in our offices and others when they are nearly empty. We have team members who venture into the office each day, some who mix it up by splitting their time between the office and home, and even some that are fully remote. Flexibility is important and providing choices is working!
Being successful with a hybrid work model involves many aspects of the business including operations, information technology, and human resources – and maybe most importantly – our culture. Hoyle Tanner’s vision and mission are heavily-focused on improving our communities, and in many ways, we have been able to improve many communities with a hybrid work model. The reduction in commuting time has allowed many to be more present in their families, provide more time to volunteer at a variety of organizations, invest in their personal physical and mental health, and reduce our carbon footprint.
Some interesting data from Gallup this year indicated that for all remote-capable jobs across all industries, 59% of employees overwhelmingly prefer a hybrid work option with exclusively remote coming in a distant second. Further, looking at professional services firms, according to Forbes by the end of 2022, 25% of all professional jobs in North America will be fully remote. That seems to trend with Gallup’s findings. So where does Hoyle Tanner fall?
A recent survey of our team showed, of those responding, 17% work in the office or field full-time or work one day or less per week from home. A similar percentage of our team are working nearly full-time (more than 90% of their time) from home. When it comes to those who choose to work a hybrid schedule a whopping 65% of our employees work from home two to four days per week and more than 85% overall are happy with the frequency of their interaction with coworkers. So, hybrid wins hands down.
Yes, people like to work from home but we also know that the in-person part of our jobs is pretty great, and we’ve missed it. We like being able to experience people in 3D, getting together for an impromptu meeting or just to chat about our lives and catch up around the water cooler. That is something we didn’t have during the lock down, and it is so welcome now. We want to make the most of our time in the office both for work and the casual get-togethers that somehow got lost.
So, the new normal is here and the always-resilient Hoyle Tanner team has made the transition seamlessly, and we are embracing the new opportunities that come with it! The team has proven, through our great success over the last couple of years, that we can truly have success from anywhere and everywhere!
