Do hybrid schedules create the perfect work environment?

Balancing working from the dining room table with reporting to the office likely will be sticking around for many employees, their bosses say.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro recently announced that about 2,300 state government employees, many of whom had been working remotely, will be reporting to the office at least three days a week starting March 6.

The policy applies to all senior managers who work under the governor’s jurisdiction, the Governor’s Office staff and Cabinet members.

And while it’s a high-profile announcement, at least in Pennsylvania, the governor’s move is just one among many employers who have had to adapt as covid-19 upended workplaces over the past few years. For many workplaces, if the job can have some level of flexibility — even one day a week — it’s becoming expected.

Research by analytics firm Gallup published in September found that the advantages to hybrid models are “improved work-life balance, more efficient use of time, control over work hours and work location, burnout mitigation and higher productivity.”

But it’s not clear sailing.

Challenges include having the right tools to be effective at work, feeling less connected to the organization’s culture and impaired collaboration, Gallup found.

“Within our client base, we’re seeing a growing number of companies bringing workers back,” said Tacy Byham, CEO of DDI World, a global consulting company that works on leadership development for clients. “Part of it is the practical matter of having to justify large amounts of office space, especially if you can’t sell it off without taking a significant loss.”

Employers also are worried about corporate culture and learning among workers, she noted.

Shapiro’s office said: “While the administration acknowledges the potential benefits of remote work, they must be balanced with the many benefits of being in the office, including improved opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, informal learning and overall well-being, as well as the sense of connection and shared mission that comes with being in the workplace. This rebalancing of telework schedules will allow us to enjoy both.”

A June 2022 survey from global management consulting group McKinsey & Co. found that 58% of Americans reported having the opportunity to work from home at least one day a week. And 87% of workers who have the opportunity to do so, take it.

“This dynamic is widespread across demographics, occupations and geographies,” the survey stated.

Byham noted that having some kind of work-from-home option has become an important recruitment and retention tool.

Within its own company, Bridgeville-based DDI adopted a “work from where you want” policy, and “I think it’s greatly strengthened our culture as a global company,” Byham said.

She cited one employee who had to commute two and a half hours a day for his job, and now gets to spend more time with his family. “That’s about 650 hours per year of extra fatherhood.”

“I firmly believe that corporate culture is not created in the building. It’s set in the tone of the people who work there,” Byham said. “You get equal opportunity and equal visibility regardless of where you work. But it can’t be so remote that you never see anybody through your entire career.” She said the company makes a strong effort to hold meetings, ice breakers and other opportunities to work together.

Pittsburgh-based coatings company PPG was among the major employers in the region to bring office employees back on a flexible, hybrid basis in the first half of 2022.

“For most, this meant that employees are present in an office environment for at least two days a week. This was a positive step in embracing flexibility and hybrid work, while restoring a greater sense of normalcy in our offices,” spokesperson Mark Silvey said.

“As we moved to hybrid work, teams were encouraged to gather to create more regular in-person moments, especially where collaboration was important or where team building strengthened employee engagement.”

PPG has more than 50,000 employees, with about 15,000 employees in the U.S. and about 2,500 employees in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Patrick Gilchrist, regional director at human resources consulting company Robert Half, said the majority of Pittsburgh companies that the firm works with are heavily hybrid or fully remote.

“A lot of it has to do with having justifications around collaboration, workplace learning and learning by osmosis,” he said.

But it’s important to remain flexible.

“About 8 in 10 job seekers are interested in hybrid arrangements, so flexibility is very important,” he said. “As employers continue to make changes, allowing for a greater amount of flexibility will be a key to success, keeping attrition rates down.”

At Alcoa, about 78% of its salaried employees said they want to keep the flexibility introduced by necessity during the pandemic. The Pittsburgh-based global aluminum company, with a location in Upper Burrell, launched a Flexibility First initiative in early 2022 to give workers and candidates more options “to support work-life balance, personal well-being, job satisfaction and improved overall performance,” which includes in-person, fully remote and hybrid schedules. However, that might not be a fit for some jobs, such as manufacturing, which require workers to perform in person.

The company has more than 12,000 employees globally.

Excela Health in Westmoreland County also has had to juggle the requirements of having workers who need to be on hand to perform their duties with those who can work remotely.

“We’ve always had weekend RNs and part-time staff, and we’ve always tried to be flexible on the clinical side,” said Laurie English, vice president of human resources. “The back office functions, such as in IT, marketing, those went remote during the pandemic. IT is mostly completely remote. They can come in for meetings, but the majority are working from home.

“That’s remained, and I don’t see that changing.”

Having the option to be remote or in-person has become a recruiting tool for many employers.

“I think the industry has changed for these areas, and it would be difficult to go back,” English said.

And with the stress everyone is under, perks are important.

“They are productive, they feel satisfied and they can feel they can get caught up with their work,” English said. During the peak of the pandemic, we always felt like we were behind. It’s a work-life balance thing.”