Before the pandemic, the future of work seemed clear. Many companies are moving forward with digital transformation by investing in new ways to collaborate, using AI to improve sales and marketing, and determining the most effective channels to reach. their customers.
Fast forward a few years and the future of work looks completely different. An office is a home. The conference room was empty. Different working hours. The entire concept of work has turned upside down, and it’s unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon – if at all. Couple that with today’s economic changes and you have a recipe for an uncertain future.
How do employers measure the future of work?
The past few years have been tumultuous in the workplace, so employers are clarifying their priorities. According to the Microsoft 2022 Work Trends Index, 53% of employees can prioritize health and wellness at work. 47% can put their family and personal life first.
High turnover is a clear indication that employees are willing to find a workplace that fits their needs and the organization and where they want to work. Between 2022, Futurum Research and Microsoft collaborated on a global study to better understand the current state of the workplace. The soon-to-be-released study focused on 500 global business leaders, technologists, marketers and IT decision-makers to help organizations they help to shape the cooperation plan.
What we found is that the future of work depends on the contribution of employees. The more companies measure the experience of their employees, the better they will be. Employees have more say than ever. About 85% feel that the decision-making process has become more widespread. And almost 80% feel they are doing things together now as well as before.
Collaboration in the hybrid workplace
But what does “collaboration” really mean in the hybrid/remote work world? More than 40% of respondents said that real-time collaboration has been replaced by asynchronous or synchronous tools. At the same time, more than 85% of respondents said they were satisfied or satisfied with the effectiveness of their employee relations. For workers, change works.
What does this mean for the traditional “desktop” worker?
This means that many companies can reduce their workload if they support hybrid and remote workplaces. Research shows that nearly 80% of respondents could physically reorganize their offices to make better use of unused conference space, and 75% said they could reorganize their rent or vacancy. It’s a win-win for all involved.
Where technology can help
While collaboration platforms can make life easier for users, that’s only part of the conversation. According to an Asana survey, users say that 42% of users report feeling burned out. This makes sense, since most users jump from platform to platform, discussing jobs, looking for information, and looking for updates.
Employees report that they spend about 33% of their day on the job they are hired to do. But there is a solution. According to the Automation Now & Next report, conducted in conjunction with Automation Anywhere, 61% of companies are turning to automation to help reduce the burden of employee-related problems. But it didn’t stop there.
In the next year, 94% of the respondents say that changing the employees to work effectively is important. And 70% of our respondents believe that at least 30% of regular work in customer service, marketing, sales, finance, human resources and IT can be automated. That’s 30% of the employee’s day that could be spent doing work that is more valuable, strategic, or important to the success of the business.
We can also be sure that automation will be accompanied by greater use of AI, immersive technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and the metaverse, and of course, this will increase the need to invest more in cybersecurity. We will see these trends take shape immediately and continue to gain momentum as businesses turn everywhere to technology to keep pace with change.
The point is: the future of work is hybrid
The future of work is driven by employees. To be successful in future work, the company must follow it. That means finding technology that makes their lives easier and finding better ways for employees to work. This will require planning and listening to the unique needs of your employees. And if you do it right, your business will be easy to succeed in the future of work.