TECHNOLOGY
Before the pandemic, only 30% of UK employees had ever experienced working from home. Despite this fact, it is not a new concept. For years psychologists, behavioural economists and forward-thinking business leaders have championed the practice, touting the numerous mental and physical health benefits it can bring.
For most businesses before March 2020, it wasn’t that simple, especially from a technological point of view. The events of late have rapidly accelerated the need for shared workspaces in the cloud, face-to-face video calls and a raft of other work from home tools that could have enabled this style of work sooner. Despite historic concerns, office workers have transitioned to working from home and for the most part, the system didn’t break. However, remote working through lockdown has resulted in a wide spectrum of experience in technology, covering both remote work and those who have been able to transition back into the office. Again, we see differing views from both managers and employees, but for good reason.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN PROGRESS
Regardless of whether people are working from home or returning to the office, a high percentage of both employees and managers are struggling with technology.
Looking specifically at remote workers, almost 4/5 (78%) of managers have experienced technical concerns, whilst more than half (53%) of remote employees cite that they have had technical concerns working from home.
Like much of the data captured in the survey, issues are escalated and felt more often by those at the management level. When looking at survey responses from those who moved back into the physical office, we saw similar responses with 3/4 (72%) of returned managers grappling with technical concerns. In contrast, almost half of employees (48%) have had technical concerns back in the workplace. Our findings suggest that while remote working environments are far from ideal with regards to technical support and tools available, employees are typically quicker to adapt and are more comfortable overcoming the challenges posed by it. Although the office provides the technical security and stability we’re used to, there is no question that an unreliable boardroom camera will no longer suit the needs of the majority of businesses.
COMPLACENT SECURITY
The difference in employee vs manager mindsets is also reflected in the concern around network security in remote working environments, with 1/10 (10%) employees worried about cybersecurity compared to 1/5 (20%) of managers. Again, we see that this pressure and responsibility sits primarily with management level, which is a finding that is reflected time and time again in our research. As the workforce moves to a more blended approach of both remote and office-based working, there are concerns about the migration of technology from one location to the next.
The survey identified that more than 1/4 (25%) of managers are struggling to synchronise platforms when moving from one environment to another, which is a key concern for leadership teams who are considering a full move back to the office when the time is right. Technology has been a lynchpin keeping businesses together through this experience. But as we evolve through this changing world of work understanding the role of technology and having an active consideration for the way our employees use it will be vital.
BEHAVIOURAL PSYCHOLOGIST EMMA KENNY, ANALYSIS
Human beings tend to adapt quickly and many employees will have formed a bias towards working from home. After being told that the workplace is dangerous, and that their behaviour could lead to the death of loved ones, it makes sense that many employees will have consciously decided that remaining at home is a feature that they would like to experience permanently.
Technology is now at a point where remote working is possible, and keeping up with managers, employees and work output is possible. Understandably, staff are unlikely to spend too much time worrying about potential data breaches, or technology going wrong, as they don’t feel a level of personal responsibility, or accountability to these systems. This is why managers and employers need to explore safe and secure systems within which they can operate.
There is definitely positivity to be drawn from the almost instant adaptability that occurred within the workspace and the remote working landscape early on in the pandemic, but now it is essential that an ongoing period of refinement, in both the physical and remote office, is carried out to grow and evolve into this new normal.
