Since emerging back into a “normal life” after Covid-19, organisations have had to adapt into a “blended” work model and learn how to make this work amongst employees and clients. In this blog we will take a look into the benefits and challenges this has brought to working life, how blended events can accommodate everyone and further support available to you and your company.
Blended working
Whilst the transition into blended working has been pushed by the global pandemic, we have been heading towards a combination of working from home and from the workplace for a while now. In fact, over 70% of the current workforce is expected to continue with remote work in the coming years.
Now that society is adjusting to hybrid working, we are seeing certain benefits and challenges to this new way of life.
Benefits
- Increased staff flexibility
- Increased employee satisfaction and retention
- Easier to shift between branches or larger organisations when people need to relocate
- Lowered operating costs
Challenges
- No “On the Floor” communication so it is vital that staff are trained in how to access resources they need when working from home
- Harder to escalate and ask for help which can cause higher levels of stress and a lack of confidence in abilities
- Isolation as a result of limited communication when working from home
Blended Events
As well as blended working, organisations have adapted to making events blended as well, allowing people to attend either virtually or in-person. One of our key partners, the Heritage Trust Network have demonstrated how to achieve this by making their annual conference a blended event. This is the first time HTN have split their annual event between the real world and the virtual world. This has helped resolve certain problems for HTN members such as Zoom burnout during digital events. Alternatively, including a digital event solves the issue of members not being able to attend due to living in remote areas.
A blended event can help overcome issues that you’d typically come across in any in-person event. Here are some examples:
- Free of boundaries – having a digital event available means there are no limits on how many people can attend
- Ease of attending – some people may not be able to attend the in-person event due to their location, child care, physical and/or mental illness as well as being vulnerable to Covid-19 or simply feeling anxious to be in a large crowd
- No loss of information – blended events can easily be recorded so the target audience of the event can re-visit everything that’s been covered at any point
Further support
There are many options available to help support your employees if they are struggling with the transition of blended working. Some commercial insurance policies will include a free counselling helpline for your employees that will include advice and guidance on many topics including stress, financial worries and health issues. Speak to your current insurance provider to find out if you have access to any helplines or online advice.
At Hayes Parsons Insurance Brokers, we have partnered with health insurance experts, Equipsme, who can offer flexible and affordable health insurance plans for self-employed business owners and companies with two or more employees. This health insurance plan has many different cover options and additional extras including a 24/7 stress support helpline. In the new blended world, this is a great way to help your employees stay healthy and allows you to support your team as they transition into a new way of working. Find out more about Equipsme’s Health Insurance policy here.
