Since the shift to home working during the Covid-19 pandemic, the return to full-time office patterns has been interchangeable for many companies.
Around 8 in 10 people say they prefer working in a hybrid pattern, meaning businesses must assess their policies and understand the tax implications of the shifting work landscape.
So what’s next for hybrid working, and how can your business adapt? Here’s what you can expect.
Managing productivity
Many companies still expect working from home to be commonplace for the foreseeable future.
In a survey by news site Directors Club, two-thirds of respondents believe that 50% or more of their advisors will be working from home (at least part-time) by the end of the year.
As this is just a glimpse into the overall attitude towards hybrid working, it makes sense to prepare yourself (and your business) to put suitable measures in place to ensure productivity doesn’t drop.
Here are some main tips to keep an eye on your employees’ productivity levels.
Communication
Regular meetings and check-ins throughout the week can be a good way to ensure your team stays engaged with their work and peers.
At the start of the week, you could set up a regular “team stand-up” meeting, giving you an idea of your team’s work capacity and attendance throughout the coming days.
A group chat can also keep the team morale up while ensuring people are at their desks. This isn’t just for monitoring but also helping to create that team atmosphere, even though you aren’t all in the office.
Deadlines
Setting your team weekly deadlines for certain tasks will lessen the chances of them sitting on their workload until the last minute.
Productivity sites like Monday or Trello can be useful tools for tracking someone’s workload and tracking those deadlines.
Further measures
You could implement time-tracking software if you feel your team’s productivity is occasionally dipping.
Time Doctor or Hubstaff can help you monitor your team’s working time by tracking fixed time intervals. Although this sounds rather Orwellian, it’s always an option. Consider it a final step and focus on communication and engagement first.
Tax implications of hybrid working
Previously, most people working from home could apply for tax relief in the form of expenses. Now that all legal Covid restrictions have ended, these reliefs are no longer available to people who have the option of hybrid working patterns.
Workers who have no choice other than to work from home (if there’s no dedicated office or they’re required to live far from their workplace) still have until the end of the tax year to claim relief.
If you’re able to, you can claim for things to do with work, such as:
- business phone calls
- gas and electricity for your work area (e.g. home office).
You can either claim tax relief on:
- £6 a week from 6 April 2020 – you won’t need to keep evidence of extra costs
- the exact amount of extra costs you’ve incurred over the weekly amount – you’ll need receipts, bills or contracts
Future-proofing your workforce
Hybrid working patterns aren’t going anywhere soon, so the quicker you set yourself up to cope with the changing landscape, the better.
We understand the importance of efficiency for your business, so we’re always happy to offer practical advice to ensure you run at 100% capacity.
Get in touch to discuss your hybrid working model.
