In an age dominated by uncertainty and cost reduction, many companies seem willing to invest in technology. But depending on how they cut or adjust spending, productivity and morale among their employees can improve dramatically, or decline and worsen. This is revealed by studies that reveal that companies that invest in technology they get increase the productivity of your employees. same thing happens with companies that have flexibility between their policies.
All this means that workers also consider these companies as more innovative, and therefore increase their attractiveness as employers. Therefore, they typically have fewer IT skills shortages, and their employee experience is improved to such an extent that they’re not just more productive. They also have more ability to focus, sense of belonging and overall satisfaction.
According to a Future Forum survey of 10,243 workers in the United States, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom in November and December 2022, flexibility is also important. With it, strong business cultures are developed, the level of employee burnout is reduced and it contributes to increasing productivity.
Workers who have flexibility—conceived of as the ability to adjust where they work from, not just their hours—are just as likely, or more likely, to feel as connected to their immediate teams as are those who always work in person. In addition, they are more likely to feel connected to their line managers and their company values.
As for burnout, or “burn”, it is increasing worldwide. 42% of workers feel burned out2% more than in the previous quarter. Flexibility causes these levels to decrease. However, flexibility remains the second biggest concern for managers when it comes to flexible working. But flexible work is still associated with greater productivity, and those who manage to improve it the most are those who also have flexible hours.
Investing in technology eliminates the productivity slump
According to this study, people who work in companies they consider innovative, and who prefer to invest in technology, achieve better productivity scores compared to those their employees describe as technology laggards. They get scores 1.6 times higher in productivity, 2 times higher in ability to concentrate, 2.2 times higher in sense of belonging and 2.8 times higher in overall satisfaction.
Technology also impacts burnout levels. Workers who rate their company as least innovative, who only use technologies after they have become popular across the board, are 31% more likely to feel burned out at work than those who say they work in companies that are committed to investing in technology
Flexible hours improve results
The workers who have a fully flexible schedule They are a 39% more productive than those who do not have the ability to choose their schedules. In addition, it has a 64% greater capacity for concentration. The lack of flexibility in schedules impacts both talent retention and the company’s score by employees. Workers with rigid schedules are 2.5 times more likely to look for another job this year than employees who can adjust their schedules.
Compared with those with moderate scheduling flexibility, IT and office workers who say they are unable to adjust their schedule have 4.6 times more work-related stress and anxiety, and a more balanced work-life balance. life 2.6 times worse.
56% of workers with office tasks say that they hardly have the ability to adjust their schedules compared to a pre-established schedule. In addition, survey data shows that flexible hours are seen primarily as an advantage by senior levels of employees. In fact, managers tend to have more schedule flexibility than those who are not.
75% of managers have practically no work to adjust their schedule, compared to 41% of non-managers. In addition, managers are 3 times more likely than middle managers, and four times more than employees without managerial responsibilities, to have no restrictions on their schedules.
After teleworking in many cases during the pandemic, 85% of office workers have the flexibility to decide where they work from. Among them, 56% of employees who work only in person. 59% of the employees who have answered the survey are open to looking for a job in 2023, an increase of 4% since the summer.
Among those who say they are not satisfied with their level of flexibility, 75% say they plan to pursue new opportunities this year. In addition, 93% of workers want flexibility to choose where they work from.
Workers prefer hybrid work
A 67% of workers prefer a hybrid work format, with the option of accessing a physical space. The top two reasons people want to work in the office are collaboration (33%) and building camaraderie (23%).
At the work level, the motivation to return to the office is radically different between managers and non-managers. Managers value the face-to-face relationship with management 1.6 times more than non-managers. These, for their part, value the development of camaraderie 2 times more than managers.
Not giving workers the tools they need wastes money
In addition to lower productivity, companies that don’t give their employees the tools they say they need routinely lose money. So much so that not doing this would be costing companies in the United States alone 6.5 billion dollars every week. This is clear from a study by the cloud computing company Domo on productivity and strategic interaction carried out among more than 3,000 workers.
According to their results, many companies have left their employees unable to perform at their full potential due to a lack of technology and strategic data. 62% of those surveyed have indicated that they could do more work if they had better technological tools. And 58% say that their technological needs have increased in the last five years, probably due to the effects of the pandemic and the increase in hybrid work.
Business underinvestment in the right tools doesn’t just mean companies get fewer tasks done. It is also costing them in terms of staff. Close to a quarter of workers have reported a high level of employee turnover in 2022. On the other hand, when companies do not focus on the need to invest in better tools, the employee turnover rate rises to 71 %.
