With the introduction of new employee apps, shared platforms and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) to work, technology is rapidly moving into the workplace. John Smythe, CEO of Engage for Change and Bonnie Carlo, CEO of Carlo Communications studied the impact of technology on key productivity and employee engagement factors. Their new report, Technology at Work, offers key insights to the pros and cons of employees in the digital age. John and Bonnie hope management teams carefully consider the type of workplace culture they want to foster by investing in digital communications platforms at work, explore relevant technology and find the right tools to improve their company’s performance and sustainability. The Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence is pleased to offer select insights to their work.
Technology at Work was inspired by unprecedented generational shifts in the current workplace. Today’s workforce is more diverse than at any other time in history, spanning the generation that remembers a time before television existed, to the generation that grew up in the Google and social media age. From Baby Boomers and Generation X to the Millennials (Gen Y) and Generation Z, do different generations have different views on the impact of online communications on their workplace?
It’s estimated that by 2025, 75 percent of the workforce will be technology-native millennials (2015 Deloitte Millennial Survey). In the US by 2020, it’s predicted that 46 percent of workers will be self-employed – a pattern that is repeated in the UK and globally, enabled by remote working tech and lifestyle preferences. The physical architecture of work is changing from city offices and business parks, to home desks and remote working.
Key themes emerged from the focus groups:
Challenges in managing multi-generational teams
All generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen Z, are now in the workplace together, but increasingly they’re not at a common place of work. Managing people takes on a different dimension as people need and expect managers to be digitally fluent. Managers may also be leading staff who work remotely, and therefore need to utilise digital tools for briefing but also build relationships without the usual face-to-face interaction. Usually everyone in the team needs digital influencing skills to engage with others in collaborative ventures.
“While working from home may increase productivity, it also causes around one in three to communicate less.”
A new spin on employee engagement
It could be time to re-evaluate the founding presumptions of employee engagement. In the emerging tech workspace, there may only be ‘us’ trading in a ‘market of ideas’, rather than ‘them’ (managers) trying to engage the team. The message becomes more inclusive, with the final glory shared with everyone. Online communication allows people to reach down and up, across, inside and outside the hierarchy; power and influence is defusing and constantly re-arranging new spheres of influence.
The end of the traditional workplace
Remote and flexible working in many organisations can render a physical office unnecessary, with many employers realising the negatives as well as the positives of this development.
Strategy and change moves online
With the high volumes of online communication in action, change and strategy origination and execution in companies is now beginning to be run online. This is significant as change and strategy used to be the preserve of elites. Those elites must learn to govern change and strategy digitally to capture the wisdom of the many.
Move over Boomers and Gen X.
- Most people are online 3-4 hours per day
- 1 in 4 Millennials are online 7+ hours per day
- 52% of Gen X are online for 4 hours or less per day.
Research showed it’s easy for employees to spend time in digital bubbles, only interacting with similar people (often referred to as the echo chamber).
- Gen X possess more than 40% of all company-owned laptops, tablets and smartphones and dominates in terms of private smartphone and tablet ownership
- Boomers lag in all categories, except for private ownership of older device types – desktops, Blackberries and standard mobile phones.
- One in four Baby Boomers and Gen X are working from home at least one day per week – more than twice the amount of Millennials
- All generations claimed they are significantly more productive when they work from home
- While working from home may increase productivity, it also causes around one in three to communicate less with their colleagues. This raises a red flag around companies potentially sacrificing engagement in return for productivity.
- Email remains the dominant channel in terms of impact – though many participants had negative experiences
- Email also remains the dominant channel in terms of usefulness
- A significant proportion of Baby Boomers record no impact from ESNs and collaboration platforms, whilst, perhaps surprisingly, many Gen X and Millennials feel their impact is negative
- While a significant proportion of all generations aren’t using ESNs or collaboration platforms at all.
