TOI Survey Finds 86% Of Cos Will Stick To Hybrid Model

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TOI Survey Finds 86% Of Cos Will Stick To Hybrid Model

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

27.12.2021

If you were looking forward to going to office regularly in the coming year, you may be disappointed. Most organisations (86%) will continue to follow a hybrid work model in 2022, according to a poll by TOI, which surveyed companies across sectors.

Some companies, who are in minority, have expressed hope of returning to the pre-pandemic normalcy. This, however, would depend on the Covid situation easing. All FMCG & IT companies in the poll have adopted the hybrid way of working. Among automobile manufacturers, four out of the six surveyed said they have adopted the hybrid way, reflecting the current realities.

Once PepsiCo India decides to resume office, it will follow a hybrid work model for its office-based staff. “A large majority of our employees find resonance in this model of work and, with employee centricity and flexibility at the core of the business, we shall adhere to work that works for our employees,” said PepsiCo India CHRO Pavitra Singh.

Maruti Suzuki India executive board’s member Rajesh Uppal said, “This hybrid model is way more productive and effective and we’ve learnt this structure through the pandemic which we will sustain.”

Hyundai Motor India’s current model is a mix of workfrom-home and a staggered work (with differentiated work time). The company said it aims to keep work-from-office at an optimum 50:50. It has been working on a futuristic model, which is being done in a cocreated way, with workgroups (such as its ‘millennial board’) involving employees and managers reimagining ‘work, workplace & people at work’.

To ease employees into the change, L’Oreal India has initiated an internal campaign called ‘Reconnection’, so teams learn, and contribute to the new ways of working. Marico has adopted the hybrid work model under ‘ways of work’ design for the long term, with currently 20-25% of its corporate office employees coming in on an alternate week roster model, which the company expects to continue.

“At GSK, we believe that availing flexibility does not trade off business delivery, rather it acts as a catalyst for enhanced business performance,” GSK Pharma EVP (HR) Chinmay Sharma said.

TVS Motor uses flexible attendance rosters where some functions are categorised under alternate week patterns, while others have alternate days. The company said its investments in building robust digital infrastructure have helped find a suitable long-term operating model for a more balanced hybrid approach for the future.

A Hero MotoCorp spokesperson, however, said the company, which regularly monitors the dynamic situation, will take a call on future work models towards the end of January 2022.

Mahindra & Mahindra said it will evaluate the situation and return to office fully only when it is safe to do so. On whether the company hopes to return to the pre-pandemic work style of 100% attendance in office, a spokesperson said, “We hope that will be the case.”

TCS said it is committed to the 25x25 model — no more than 25% of the employees will need to work from the office at any given point, and an employee will not need to spend more than 25% of their time in office — by 2025. At present, less than 10% of its associates are working from offices.