Hybrid work options help cities recruit, survey finds

Embracing hybrid work will lead to a happier workforce and improve the operational resilience of US local governments, according to new research published by the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University.

The study also found that city executives see hybrid work options as key to their ability to hire new talent, particularly in high-demand fields such as data and IT.

The research was carried out by Jeremy Goldberg, Worldwide Public Sector Director of Critical Infrastructure at Microsoft and Senior Innovation Fellow – Data-Smart City Solutions at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, and Doug Priest, Business Program Manager for Critical Infrastructure at Microsoft.

They defined ‘hybrid work’ as systems where some people work from a central office and some work from other locations. For example, some staff may work permanently from home or the office and some may split their time between the two, or another location altogether.

The study is based on a survey of 227 public servants, primarily working at the city level of government, to better understand the impacts of hybrid work in the public sector since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.

Goldberg and Priest, who are both former public servants and worked for the state of New York during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, write: “Several very clear themes emerged in their responses: trust, leadership, technology, and wellness. Perhaps most of all, the increased flexibility that came with working from home was tremendously beneficial for many of our respondents. The impact on workers’ personal lives extends far beyond the work itself.”

Politics

Almost all respondents (225 out of 226) said offering hybrid work improves their ability to recruit new employees into public service. However, 37 percent said they don’t think recruitment is a factor when policies on hybrid and remote work are being set.

One unnamed Chief Data Officer is quoted as saying: “The lack of a remote work option is costing us talent through attrition and decreased competitiveness in hiring.”

An IT manager is quoted as saying it is “increasingly hard to recruit and retain staff with little flexibility for remote work. Potential employees regularly turn down job offers when they learn there’s no flexibility. This issue is on top of low pay and worse benefits than most similar private sector jobs.”

These challenges were echoed by US city IT leaders at the recent Cities Today Institute City Leadership Forum in Dallas, who highlighted difficulties with drawing applicants for open positions, retaining talented team members, and managing surges in staffing requirements. Several said flexible working options were a key way to attract employees.

Over a third (37 percent) of the survey respondents said the ‘political environment’ is the biggest barrier to hybrid working. Other barriers include policy issues and process/organisational challenges. Only two percent said technology is an obstacle and a quarter said there are no barriers to implementing hybrid working.

Ninety-six percent said hybrid working had either had no impact on their organisation or agency’s ability to meet its obligations, or made it easier to meet them.

Goldberg and Priest said: “Our respondents indicate that at the core of hybrid work challenges is a lingering distrust of the model of work and of employees themselves. While most of our respondents reported no change in their work as a result of working outside of the office, they also reported that leaders were not making decisions based on that operational reality. An effective, thoughtful hybrid work policy will help build and rebuild trust within government organisations.”

Benefits

Those who have worked remotely at some point since March 2020 cited benefits such as work-life balance (47 percent), no commute (39 percent) and health advantages (21 percent). Some said certain aspects have not worked so well, such as social interaction (17 percent), technology (12 percent) and work-life balance (nine percent). Forty percent said there are no downsides.

The authors urge cities to treat hybrid work as an opportunity, not a concession; create hybrid work policies and involve staff in planning; and make technology choices that facilitate hybrid work by default.

The report includes a hybrid work maturity and development model, which outlines four stages of adoption for public sector organisations.