Nearly all CEOs now say they work across different locations

CEOs are leading by example when it comes to hybrid working, with nine in 10 (93 percent) saying they have personally adopted flexible working patterns according to a new poll. The survey of more than 500 CEOs by International Workplace Group suggests that the vast majority now split their working time between locations. Just 7 percent said they spend five days a week working from a central office.

Three in five (62 percent) business leaders said they are now splitting their time between a central office, local flexible workspace or office, and home, marking a notable rise in the use of workspaces outside of city centres and closer to where they live. Only 2 percent spend most of their time working from home.

The findings come from International Workplace Group’s latest poll of business leaders which looks at the attitudes and experiences of C-Suite leaders on hybrid working policies.

The research claims to highlight the range of benefits business leaders are experiencing due to hybrid working, particularly around company culture – which three quarters agreed had improved since its adoption. They also noted widespread improvement in employee engagement (77 percent) and more efficient collaboration between teams and colleagues (75 percent).

The study claims that three quarters of  CEOs (73 percent) agreed that hybrid work has enabled them to attract and hire the best talent. Furthermore, being able to offer employees greater autonomy over when and where they work has also allowed businesses to access a much broader pool of talent, with 71 percent of CEOs saying they have been able to consider and subsequently offer roles to a more diverse range of candidates.

Whilst a handful of companies are mandating employee presence in the office five days a week, this study suggests that most leaders (74 percent) say returning to the office full time is not a priority for their business moving forward, recognising that staff retention could be impacted by such policies, and that hybrid working positively impacts their productivity. In fact, nearly two thirds (65 percent) believe they would lose talented people if they insisted on their employees being present in a central office every day.

According to the poll, 94 percent had invested in new technology to improve their hybrid experience in the past year, with 43 percent saying this had been their top investment in the last 12 months.