The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work out of necessity, leading many organizations to reevaluate their traditional office-centric work models. As a result, businesses and employees alike became more comfortable with remote work arrangements, paving the way for the widespread acceptance of the hybrid work model even after the pandemic subsides. While the hybrid model offers numerous advantages by blending both office and remote work, its drawbacks and challenges remain largelyunexplored.Especially managers are facing challenges as their traditional approaches to lead and influence their employees may prove less effective in this new dynamic environment. Consequently, there is a pressing new for managers to comprehend these challenges, equipping themselves with new skills sets to thrive. Additionally, they must innovate new methods to inspire and motivate employees within their team, ensuring the organizations attains its objectives in this evolving environment. The purpose of this thesis is to gain insights on how leader behavior affects employees in the hybrid work environment as well as contributing to the limited existing research in this field. To fulfil the purpose, the following research question has been developed: What impact do different leadership styles have on the motivation of employees in a hybrid work environment? By investigating this research question, we will delve into the impacts of autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leadership on employee motivation in the hybrid model. To explore the relationships between leadership styles and employee motivation in this work environment a survey has been conducted that aims to provide data required to answer the stated research question. Through the analysis of collected data, we have been able to conclude that leadership styles indeed do have an impact on employee motivation in a hybrid work environment. Furthermore, the empirical findings indicate that some leadership styles correlate with positive motivational outcomes while others exhibit negative motivational outcomes. These findings offer valuable practical implications for managers operating within hybrid work environments as well as for the broader organizational context.

In the light of a post-pandemic world, the concept of hybrid work environments has become significantly more important since the way of working has changed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not being dependent upon a set office spot to conduct one´s work-related tasks has created both positive and negative consequences for both the individuals and the organizations. In conjunctions with the increased importance of hybrid workplaces, we have seen an improved academic attention towards the area since scholars claim that the hybrid way of working is the future. Even though there has been an abundance of research conducted investigating the post-pandemic hybrid work environments, this thesis contributes to an area that according to us have been sparsely investigated through focusing on the effects on remote and/or hybrid workplaces and its employees due to the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic through the following research question:  “How has the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic affected remote and/or hybrid workplaces and employees?”  The research purpose of this study is to investigate how the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected hybrid and/or remote workplace solutions and its employees. We deem to broaden the existing research whilst concurrently develop new theoretical knowledge and expand the overall understanding of the investigated area. The purpose of this study was fulfilled through conducting a qualitative study with seven semi-structured interviews with people that have worked within the same organization before, during, and after the pandemic to obtain their own personal experience regarding the effects of the implementation of hybrid work environments. Through applying a qualitative thematic analysis, the empirical findings were categorized into three overarching themes with following sub-themes that were identified as adequate and relevant to highlight.  The result of this thesis indicates that the abruptness of the Covid-19 pandemic affected the organizations and the employees in both a positive and negative way since the changes were perceived to be needed and appreciated but at the same time implemented in an abrupt fashion which worked as an epiphanic force for several cultural and psychosocial related issues for the employees. Lastly, our findings indicates that there is a need for further research within the investigated area to hopefully facilitate and aid the future organizations, managers, and employees who are planning of or are currently in the process of implementing hybrid work environments.

Problembakgrund: Digitaliseringen har lett till att medarbetare i en organisation inte alltid längre befinner sig på kontoret samtidigt. Det har lett till att både hybridledare och medarbetare behöver anpassa sig till detta. En avsaknad av ansikte-mot-ansikte interaktioner riskerar att påverka tilliten och dialoger negativt. Gemenskap och sociala aktiviteter blir också svårare att genomföra och förbättra. Detta blir en utmaning för medarbetarskapet och organisationen. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att öka förståelsen för hur hybridledare och medarbetare upplever fyra faktorer som återfinns i medarbetarskap fungerar. Genom att undersöka faktorerna kommer studien kunna bidra till en ökad förståelse över hur det fungerar att arbeta hybrid. Metod: En fallstudie med triangulering. Kvalitativ data har samlats in via fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer med hybridledare. Den kvantitativa datan har samlats in via en enkätundersökning på medarbetarna med 22 svar. Analys: Analysen visar att dialogen är en viktig faktor för att skapa möjlighet till förtroende och öppenhet, den är öppen och ärlig trots en hybrid arbetsmiljö. Studien indikerar att hybridledarna och medarbetarna har tillit till varandra men att den hybrida arbetsmiljön haft sin påverkan. Sociala aktiviteter kan anordnas, men blir svårare när samtliga ej är på kontoret. Studien påvisar att gemenskapen och samarbetet blir utmanat vid en hybrid arbetsmiljö men att trots det fungerar det. Slutsats: Denna studie fastställer att det finns goda förutsättningar för att medarbetarskapet ska rotera. Samtliga vill att den hybrida arbetsmiljön ska fungera, det är därför de också får det att fungera bra trots utmaningarna. Hybridledare och medarbetare är överens om att den hybrida arbetsmiljön har påverkat förtroendet för varandra, det gör det svårare att samarbeta. Trots det indikerar studien på att både förtroendet och gemenskapen är bra och att en öppen och ärlig dialog förs. Sociala aktiviteter blir svårare att anordna, men genomförs ändå, hybridledarna vill dock bli bättre på detta. Det föreligger en bra grund för ett etablerat medarbetarskap. / Background: Digitalization has led to employees in an organization not always being present in the office at the same time. This has required both hybrid leaders and employees to adapt. The absence of face-to-face interactions negatively affects trust and dialogues. Building collaboration and connection and engaging in social activities also becomes more challenging. This poses challenges to employee engagement and the organization. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to enhance understanding of how hybrid leaders and employees perceive four factors that are present in employee engagement. By examining these factors, the study will contribute to a greater understanding of how hybrid work functions. Method: A case study with triangulation of qualitative and quantitative research. Empirical data has been collected through 4 semi-structured interviews and a survey with 22 answers. Analysis: Analyses reveal that dialogue is an important factor in fostering trust and openness, even in a hybrid work environment. The study also indicates that there is trust among team members, but the hybrid work environment has had its impact. Social activities can be organized but become more difficult when not everyone is in the office. The study also shows that connection and collaboration are challenged in a hybrid work environment, but overall, they function well. Conclusion: The present study establishes that there are favourable conditions for employee engagement to thrive. All participants want the hybrid work environment to work, and they manage to make it work despite the challenges. All the participants agree that the hybrid work environment has affected trust among team members and made collaboration more difficult. However, the study indicates that both trust and connection are strong, and an open and honest dialogue is maintained. While social activities are more challenging to organize, they are still carried out, although hybrid leaders express a desire to improve in this area. There is a solid foundation for established employeeship.