For a moment, I thought we'd gone back in time after reading this article. The CEO of a smartphone startup making the accusation that flexible, or even hybrid working, isn't conducive with ambition or going “the full mile” for the company.

What a load of BS!

The approach to working patterns must be treated with care and consideration. If you don't offer a flexible compromised solution, you will risk losing staff, including some of your best! I thought leaders had moved past this old school iron fist ruling, particularly in startups, but it seems not. I find it surprising that such archaic attitudes still exist. 

Am I saying that full-time remote working is the right method, no, but a mandatory, rigid 5 days a week policy for office working is not right either. Most clients I work with adopt a midway solution, with 1-2 days per week onsite or in the office (and the same here at Hyperion). Of course there are exceptions to consider - for example, in engineering or R&D where you need onsite facilities, your teams will potentially do most days onsite, whereas functions like sales or IT they may do less than 2 days. You need to find the balance that suits each team best.  

Some argue that we were all used to full-time onsite working before the Covid pandemic, but does that really mean it was the best policy? We used to rely on coal to power our industry at one point, should we go back to that too?

Ultimately you need to ask why you want your teams in - is this because it aligns with your own personal preference or do you have tangible data to suggest why it's more effective? Think about the value you're looking to achieve from having everyone together - social cohesion? creativity sessions? training? 

Once you've established this, consider does this need to be daily or would it be more beneficial to try and select anchor days that you ask people to come in for, taking into consideration that each job function in your business has different demands.

If you do return to a hybrid arrangement, then make sure that the time spent together in person has real value, whether it be creativity sessions, team building over lunch, or brainstorming how to solve an ongoing issue… Don't just have it as a set rule and then have people come in and sit behind their screen on video calls all day. I met a client recently who outlined this issue when one of their teams went to hold a video meeting together, despite all of them being sat together in the same physical office!

We're now in a society where flexibility is key and if you revert back to the old ways, you'll inevitably pay the price when your team engagement drops and you'll start to lose people as time goes on!

Hyperion Executive Search supports startups and scaleups to recruit and build the best teams, aligned with their cultural values. We advise our clients on best ways to help this talent flourish over the long-term