Mental health and managing less experienced employees are the main challenges for medium-sized businesses implementing hybrid working, suggests research.
Some 88% of mid-size businesses with turnover between £50m and £500m were using a hybrid working system at the start of December, according to research from professional services firm Grant Thornton UK LLP.
Only 5% of the businesses surveyed were working full time in an office and only 6% were spending all their time working remotely, found the analysis published as part of Grant Thornton’s business outlook tracker.
Of the 531 businesses adopting hybrid working, 64% believed that it was working well for their business and 19% that it wasn’t yet working.
The main challenges are managing the work of more junior staff (39%), mental wellbeing (37%), provision of training remotely (37%), and having efficient technology to enable hybrid working (37%).
Hybrid working is “here to stay” but needs commitment and time to be truly effective, as there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, said Dave Munton, head of UK markets and clients, Grant Thornton UK LLP.
He said: “The whole market is on a learning curve to experiment and find the best method that works for them and ensure their people continue to feel connected and supported by their business and their teams, wherever they work.
At Grant Thornton, while the office will remain the centre of gravity, there’s now a greater focus on activities that work less well in a remote setting such as onboarding, collaboration and networking, he said.