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The pandemic completely disrupted the workplace as we know it. And it’s made understanding what employees think, feel, and want more important than ever.
As companies everywhere announce hybrid work and remote-first environments, it’s critical for IT and HR teams to work together and holistically empower employees to be successful and satisfied.
See what UK employees want from the workplace.
What employees will expect from their technology experiences in the future
The workplace of the future will be about creating experiences that make your people feel connected. Here are a few of the key areas IT will need to focus on to drive a better experience in the digital hybrid workplace:
People-centred technology. People-centered digital workspace experiences will be a differentiator in a post-COVID world. Employee tech will no longer just be about saving time and increasing efficiency for the organisation.
Inclusion, no matter where employees are. For those workplaces that decide to still offer physical locations, there is likely to be a hybrid mix of teams – with some in-office spaces and others working remotely. Your people will expect to have an equivalent experience to the employees that are on site.
A work experience that suits employee lifestyle. Employees have been able to prove to themselves and their employers that they can be as effective at home as they are at work. As such, the future of the workplace will be highly personalised to individuals.
Working together to improve the hybrid employee experience
CIOs and CHROs are now both responsible for the employee experience — and their levels of collaboration and partnership have the power and ability to drive tangible business outcomes.
Here are two ways for HR and IT to get started improving the employee experience together:
1. Evolve the IT experience for a stronger employee experience
Technology is crucial to organisations’ ability to attract, develop, and retain talent.
In our survey of more than 200 CIOs:
94% of respondents believe that the IT experience is important when it comes to attracting new talent, with 51% believing it’s extremely important.
90% also believe the IT experience is important when it comes to retaining talent, with 53% of respondents believing IT experience is extremely important.
In the future of work, workplace technology will need to ensure every employee – wherever they’re working – feels safe, productive, engaged, and included. This means using employee feedback to design the experiences they’ll need, not just the experiences IT and HR leaders think they need.
2. Listen, understand, and take action on experience data
To improve the employee experience, IT and HR leaders must work together to simplify the employee feedback process – and take better, more clear action on the experience data they collect.
IT and workplace leaders should look to the channels employees are already working in – and with the end-users audiences that matter. This is about IT gaining the "complete picture" via experience data – and combining traditional O-Data (operational metrics) most often associated with IT/tech experiences.
This is what most digital and IT teams don't have today. Without seeing the full picture, they'll never really know how their end-users feel about the digital workspace/tech experience and how to design and improve those experiences.
However, with streamlined, timely, insights, IT and HR will better understand employees’ needs and preferences around workplace technology – and ultimately, gain a more complete picture of how to empower employees to be successful, satisfied, and productive.
62% of UK employees say they’d be comfortable working in the office. See what else employees are saying.
