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How investing in your employees and technology can help your business become a magnetic workplace.
This trend of record numbers of employees voluntarily resigning from their jobs – the Great Resignation – continues to grab the news headlines. It’s clear that many workers are no longer willing to stay in a workplace that doesn’t take their needs into account.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused large-scale business disruption and provided employees with a long period of reflection to rethink their jobs and their lives. As a result, the post-pandemic workforce has emerged with a renewed vision of their ideal work environment. Today, workers are demanding more flexible work arrangements, a better work-life balance, and well-being support.
This phenomenon has highlighted the importance of understanding what’s important to today’s workforce. This is key to retaining and attracting top talent – and ultimately, the future growth of a business.
People or technology? Business leaders have been struggling with this question even before Covid-19 shook up the traditional workplace and accelerated digital transformation. With The Magnetic Workplace report from Economist Impact, we’re able to point your organisation in the right direction.
Supported by Kyocera, the study surveyed 250 business executives from the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, and the US to investigate which type of workplace helps employees produce their best work and makes them feel supported and satisfied. The report found that, while providing employees with the right technology is essential, the organisations that combine this with human-centric policies will be those that see the highest retention rates. Therefore, a truly magnetic workplace is the perfect blend of people and technology investments. In the hybrid work age, it’s no longer a debate of choosing one or the other.
A truly magnetic workplace is the perfect blend of people and technology.”
To determine the magnetism of a workplace, Economist Impact’s report investigated three different pillars: productivity and infrastructure, employee engagement, and culture. The study found that employee engagement is just as important as technology and culture when it comes to a workplace’s attractiveness. In fact, all three pillars need to be considered for the overall magnetism of a business to soar.
As highlighted by Darcy Marie Boles, Director of culture and innovation at Stripe, “workplaces that empower their employees with a sense of autonomy and belonging are actually investing in their ability to scale up their value proposition.” Most employees desire the ability to craft their responsibilities and shape their own development, thus creating the type of workplace they can thrive in.
Furthermore, employees want to be mentored by skilled managers that have undergone sufficient leadership training, so that they can be given constructive feedback that supports their whole team’s progression. Good leaders are key contributors to maintaining employee satisfaction – they’re part of the system that makes employees feel supported and motivated during their daily work. When direct policies are developed to increase employee engagement, workers are not only more content but efficient, contributing to the overall growth and success of a business. Your employees are your organisation’s most valuable asset.
The Magnetic Workplace report found that 88% of participants are motivated by workplaces that provide technology to learn new skills. This reinforces the idea that technology and people cannot be treated as separate investments since they mutually help boost the magnetism and productivity of a workplace. The success of one depends on the other.
In this new age of work, job candidates are searching for companies that allow them to enhance and develop their existing digital skills, making it a major consideration for choosing between job offers. As a result, organisations that invest in technology will not only be better equipped to attract top talent but will be able to retain it by offering professional growth opportunities through modern digital tools.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of surveyed organisations (74.8%) expressed confidence that they have successfully provided the technology infrastructure needed to facilitate productivity. With many employees working in a remote or hybrid work model, businesses must not only provide good internet connectivity, but secure systems and collaboration tools to ensure optimal levels of efficiency.
The Great Resignation has shown that people are unwilling to stick around workplaces where they cannot put their talent to full use. It is essential that organisations provide a strong technological infrastructure to empower employees with the choice for more flexible working and help upskill the existing workforce, not to mention the importance of implementing active employee engagement initiatives. The organisations that make these important investments will achieve higher productivity gains and more loyal and satisfied employees – it’s a win-win scenario.
If you’d like to learn more about this Economist Impact report and find out how Kyocera’s solutions can facilitate and help your organisation build sustainable business growth, visit our homepage.
Boost productivity and employee satisfaction by constructing the key pillars of a magnetic workplace:
