It turns out that having workers in the office, at home, or anywhere for too long can be a hindrance to a company’s growth.
The Goldilocks approach of spending a little time here and a little time there may be the best way to increase sales.
In one survey by McKinseycompanies whose workers stayed in the same place for most of the week, regardless of where it was, reported lower revenue growth than employers who used hybrid models.
The consultancy surveyed nearly 4,000 executives at companies whose clients are other businesses. Respondents included chief sales officers, chief marketing officers and chief financial officers.
Among respondents at companies that embraced hybrid work, 35% said their top line had grown by more than 10% from last year. Twenty-eight percent of respondents at companies that did not use or allow hybrid configurations reported an increase of over 10%.
Jennifer Stanley, a McKinsey partner, told Business Insider that the difference in growth rates between hybrid and less flexible arrangements was “very meaningful.” That’s because making huge sales gains year over year is often difficult for many so-called B2B companies.
“If you’re in a sector that’s struggling for two or three points of growth,” she said, hybrid work “can actually be a really meaningful lever.”
Stanley also said the results suggest that much of the back-to-office discussion is binary — and that workers spending most of their time either in one room or elsewhere isn’t necessarily best for growth.
“It’s certainly not that black and white and the data shows that,” she said.
Respondents who worked from the same location four or more times per week were considered to work from a single location. Any setup with more variety—perhaps two days here, three somewhere else—was considered a hybrid.
The findings are good news for workers who have settled into a hybrid system years after pandemic lockdowns forced a grand experiment in remote work. It’s also a welcome bite for bosses who have admitted, perhaps grudgingly, that remote work it’s as much a part of office work as email and team calls.
Stanley said hybrid work arrangements may represent a trend for flexibility that can spread to other ways to address work imperatives, including how companies serve their customers.
“It’s just versatility coming full circle,” Stanley said.
Many workers want a choice
It’s also possible that some of the growth will come from workers being better able to balance the demands of their work and life. some Gen Z workers value flexibility in their jobs almost as much as a good salary.
Experienced workers often value having autonomy over when and how they do their work. In a survey by research firm Gartner, about one in three people seeking senior positions said the mandate of returning to the office was part of what drove them to look for a new job — even when they had reason to return to the office.
Caroline Ogawa, a director in Gartner’s human resources practice, previously told BI that the firm’s snapshot of executive sentiment made it clear that having a rationale for returning to the office wasn’t always enough to sway some workers.
“They overwhelmingly felt like the organization provided a compelling reason” to return to the office, she said. “But they would still leave if they were asked” to return.
McKinsey’s Stanley argued that businesses seeking a less flexible working style risk being out of step with the adaptability many of their customers demand.
“It makes it very difficult to be customer first and operate in a way that customers themselves want to behave,” she said.