the modern workplace advantage

in association with

The Modern Workplace AdvantageHow higher maturity drives superior results

Copyright 2020, Freeform Dynamics Ltd

Following the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with organizations scrambling to implement home working and new ways of doing business as quickly as possible, it’s hard to remember a time when change was planned and executed in a more measured manner. As we entered the year 2020, for example, a majority of the 1,500 senior business and IT participants in a global research study declared initiatives within which they were steadily transforming the workplace.

When conducting the research, it was clear that some had made more progress on workplace transformation than others. These are the kinds of organizations that fared well during the pandemic as they already had infrastructure, systems and processes in place to support remote working.

As we look to get back to a sense of normality, can we continue to learn from the same group? The short answer is “yes”, and in the remainder of this eBook we will examine the attributes and behavior of organizations that exhibit a high level of ‘workplace maturity’, and the business advantages they gain from their efforts in this space. While debates continue about the nature of the post-pandemic ‘new normal’, in reality the outcome is likely to be that businesses in general will simply emulate what highly mature leaders have already been doing for some time.

Back to the Future

Back to the future

Workplace transformation requires a holistic approach

Leadership and Culture

Workstyle Flexibility

Working Environment

Technology Solutions

Security & Assurance

Visibility & Insight

Workplace Maturity Assessment

Validating the Model

Driving Tangible Business Benefit

The Modern Workplace Advantage

Key takeaway The majority of organizations were active with workplace transformation before the Covid-19 pandemic. As the world begins to get back to normal, providing a modern and flexible working environment will be more critical than ever.

34%38%

12%16%

No, but we areactive in this area

Yes, but part of abroader initiative

Yes, explicitlydefined

No, this has notbeen a priority

Does your organisation have a workplace transformation initiative


Even though we mentioned infrastructure, systems and processes at the outset, success with workplace transformation is about more than technology and operations. Sure, these are important, but they fall into the category of ‘necessary but insufficient’.

Effective workplace transformation needs to start at the top, with the right leadership instilling the right kind of culture. Enabling the flexibility necessary to support different work styles, including various forms of home working is also key, as is creating a working environment that encourages productivity, creativity and employee well-being.

As you implement the technology solutions required, you also need to have an eye on risk management, not least security and compliance. Finally, you need visibility and insight so you can drive continuous improvement.

Investments need to be made intelligently and coherently because there is no technology silver bullet that improves everything on its own. Let’s drill further into these areas and see how well our study participants were doing in each.

To find out your workplace transformation maturity index score click here.

(Click on a puzzle piece to see more information)

Workplace Transformation Requires a Holistic Approach

Focus on the Workplace Transformation Jigsaw

Key Takeaways: The increased level of home-working has frequently required additional attention to be paid to security. Despite the complexity and time pressure, most have risen to the challenge effectively.

Key takeaway The right solutions are essential for effective workplace transformation, but it’s not good enough to just throw technology at the problem. You need to take a more holistic approach that addresses all elements of the above jigsaw.

Workstyle Flexibility Working EnvironmentLeadership & Culture

Technology Solutions Security & Assurance Visibility & Insight

Back to the future




Working Environment








https://futureofwork.webex.com/maturity-calculator/


Workplace transformation is not something that can imposed on employees in a dictatorial or prescriptive manner. The right spirit, mindset and culture are critical. Transformation therefore needs to be inclusive, driven from the top, with execs leading by example.

In this research, participants rated themselves on relevant indicators using a numeric scale. For ease of visualization we have consolidated the scores so they can be understood at a glance.

Key takeaway Some of the highest scorecard ratings gathered during the research were in this ‘Leadership and Culture’ category, but a reluctance to embrace change, exploit technology and take risks will hold some organizations back.

Objective: to create a progressive, people-centric culture that trusts and empowers employees to drive towards both company and personal goals.


STRATEGIC MISSION & VALUES

Fully applies Partially applies

52% 44%

47% 48%

We have a clear visionand set of values

We have a customer-centric culture

EMPLOYEES AS PEOPLE, NOT JUST RESOURCES

We empower, trust andvalue our people

We have a strong focuson employee engagement

We take steps to ensure well-being and work/life balance

We prioritise employeetraining and development


44% 52%

40% 55%

39% 55%

40% 56%

We have a strong focuson innovation

We embrace changeenthusiastically

We are willing to takerisks to gain advantage

We proactively exploittechnology to gain advantage


45% 50%

37% 58%

38% 55%

26% 63%

APPETITE FOR DISRUPTION

How much are the following embraced and supported?

Back to the future




Working Environment









Objective: to enable employees and teams to work and collaborate freely in the ways they find most comfortable and effective.


Employees, teams and activities vary, so trying to enforce strict, regimented ways of working will undermine productivity, innovation and employee motivation. The imperative is therefore to enable and encourage different workstyles, including modern ways of meeting and running teams. Remote and flexible working are integral to this. In practice you need to strike the right balance between freedom and anarchy, so you gain the benefits while maximizing business harmony and minimizing costs and risks.

Key takeaway Scores in this category are noticeably lower, and while real-time collaboration is gaining some momentum, many had (and probably still have) more work to do to fully implement progressive working practices.

Fully embraced& Supported

Partiallyembraced

Hot-desking and hotelingon your premises

Use of co-working spaces(e.g. rented desk space)

Nomadic working, e.g. from home, on client sites, etc

Working while mobileor in transit

24% 54%

27% 48%

31% 55%

27% 54%

Working in a more permanent home o�ice setup 24% 56%

THE RIGHT TEAM FORMAT

Scheduled face-to-face meetings

Ad hoc face-to-face huddling

Real-time collaboration (video/web conferencing, etc)


Partiallyembraced

40% 55%

31% 61%

41% 52%

THE RIGHT LOCATION


Partiallyembraced

31% 57%

27% 61%

Virtual teams working acrosslocations and departments

Agile teams that form/disbandaround specific activities

THE RIGHT COMMUNICATION STYLE

How much are the following embraced and supported?

Back to the future




Working Environment









Objective: to create a working environment that is highly conducive to communication, creativity and employee wellbeing.

Working Environment

Fully acrossthe board

Partiallyapplies

Meeting rooms are well-connected and video-enabled

Employees have full unifiedcomms facilities at their desk

Managers have connected meeting spaces in their o�ices

Connected huddle spaces are provided for ad hoc gatherings

45% 47%

40% 52%

34% 57%

36% 53%

Visitors receive a goodconnectivity experience 39% 54%

PERVASIVE CONNECTIVITY

The o�ice layout caters forprivacy needs where necessary

Contractors and temporarysta� are well catered for

Inclusion measures have been prioritised


Partiallyapplies

44% 58%

40% 59%

39% 58%

MEETING DIVERSE NEEDS


Partiallyapplies

52% 56%

47% 62%

Spaces are provided for employees to relax and socialise

Employee comfort andergonomics have been prioritised

EMPLOYEE WELLBEINGEnabling employees to work from home and other remote locations is an important part of any modern workplace strategy. This was the case even before the Covid-19 pandemic; it just so happens that the recent crisis accentuated the remote-working need in a particularly urgent manner. As staff return to the office with higher expectations of flexibility, comfort and convenience, the nature of working environment will come into sharp focus.

Key takeaway At first sight, our research sample were not doing badly in this category, though we need to be aware that staff returning to the working environment following the pandemic may have elevated expectations in some of the areas shown.

How much do the following apply?

Back to the future




Working Environment









Objective: to empower employees through modern productivity, communication and collaboration technology.


Meeting the objectives we have highlighted around workstyle flexibility and the modern working environment can only be achieved if the right technology is in place. It’s not that technology is a magic bullet, it is an essential enabler.

While the research suggests that many have gaps in this area, a combination of automation and cloud delivery means it’s far easier to plug most of them today compared to a few years ago. But cloud usage needs firm boundaries.

Key takeaway What’s notable here is that basic collaboration and communication functionality is reasonably well-established, but uptake of more advanced technology options capabilities is still relatively limited.

Video conferencing

Virtual meeting recording

Virtual meeting transcription

Broadly andcomprehensively

Limitedimplementation

44% 47%

33% 52%

28% 52%

VIRTUAL MEETING EVOLUTION



WORKING WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

Real-time collaboration 37% 53%

Mobile business apps 33% 52%

Employee location tracking 18% 47%

Virtual contact-centre 22% 51%



Voice control or dictation

AI-driven automationor assistance

Solutions based onVR or AR

21% 55%

20% 53%

19% 49%

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

To what degree have these been implemented?

Back to the future




Working Environment









How would you rate your end user computing infrastructure in the following ways?

Objective: to implement adequate risk management measures to protect the business, people and data.


Convenience, choice and flexibility are important workplace transformation watchwords, but these cannot come at the at expense of security and compliance. The key to dealing what might seem like two opposing pulls is to embed controls and protection measures into the infrastructure. If you think in terms of a ‘hard core’ that takes care of policy enforcement accessed via a ‘flexible edge’, it will help you figure out what you need and where it should sit in your network. Aim to keep things invisible to the user where you can. Where this isn’t possible, ensure that risk management measures are user friendly so staff are not tempted to bypass them.

Key takeaway Not surprisingly, organizations are reporting good capability in this area as a basic level of security and assurance is required to operate safely and legally. Risk-management around flexible working, however, is less well advanced.

Excellentcapabilities

Room forimprovement

46% 48%44% 51%

Protection of data (e.g. backup & recovery)

Business continuity

RESLIENCE & RECOVERY

Security user-friendliness

Compliance user-friendliness

Support for BYODin particular

Support for anywhere,any-device access

43% 52%

38% 57%

34% 58%

26% 56%

EMPATHETIC APPROACH


Room forimprovement

Security e�ectiveness

Compliance e�ectiveness

Protection of customer privacy

Protection ofemployee privacy

45% 52%

39% 57%

49% 47%

56% 41%

CORE RISK MITIGATION

RISK


Room forimprovement

Back to the future




Working Environment









Objective: to enable continuous performance improvement at an individual and business level through smart measurement and analytics.


How well are the following measured and analyzed in your workplace environment?

Monitoring and measurement are critical from beginning to end in workplace transformation. You you initially need to capture a baseline set of data before implementing a change, otherwise it will be impossible to set tangible goals and later assess whether they have been met. When introducing new technologies and practices, monitoring of adoption and usage rates to identify gaps, mismatches, training requirements, etc is vital. And, of course, continuous measurement allows continuous improvement over the longer term.

Key takeaway This is one of the areas in which organizations are most likely in need of improvement. Effective measurement and tracking is essential if you are going to achieve success with your workplace transformation initiative.

Rigorouslytracked

Somemeasurement

27% 61%

27% 62%

Energy consumption ofbuildings and facilities

Total working and workspaceoverheads per employee

COST MANAGEMENT

New technology adoption rates

Desk, oice building utilisation

Utilisaton of virtualmeeting facilities

31% 58%

28% 57%Protection of Meeting/conferenceroom utilisation 33% 55%

26% 59%

Rigorouslytracked

Somemeasurement

USAGE TRACKING

Employee satisfaction withthe working environment

Employee satisfaction withworkplace technology

Customer satisfaction (e.g. via Net Promotor Score)

Customer response andresolution times

31% 61%

31% 59%

36% 57%

38% 55%

Rigorouslytracked

Somemeasurement

EMPLOYEE/CUSTOMER OUTCOMES

Back to the future




Working Environment









The capability data gathered during the research in each of six key workplace transformation areas was used as the foundation for a ‘workplace maturity model’. In order to build this, survey responses were translated into numeric scores then combined to form a ‘workplace maturity index’. Study participants were then segmented according to their index scores to form three groups - ‘Leaders’ (top 25% of sample), ‘Mainstream’ and ‘Followers’ (bottom 25% of sample).

Grouping respondents in this way provides a view of how workplace maturity varies considerably from those with very limited capabilities to more advanced organizations. True leaders need to be mature across all pieces of the jigsaw. This kind of segmentation also allows us to look at how the level maturity correlates with various business performance measures and outcomes, which in turn provides a perspective on why workplace maturity matters.


Key takeaway When assessing workplace related capability it’s important to take a holistic view. High aspirations and management level are not good enough, neither is throwing technology at the problem. You need to move forward in a balanced way.

Overallaverage

Workplace maturityindex

Mainstream50% of sample

Leaders25% of sample

Followers25% of sample

Index6.5 to 8.5 Index less

than 6.5Index 8.5or greater

Convert to0-10 scale

Workstyle Flexibility Working EnvironmentLeadership & Culture

Technology Solutions Security & Assurance Visibility & Insight

Assessment against the jigsaw

Back to the future




Working Environment









During the research we asked participants to rate how well their organization was doing in relation to a range of performance indicators. Responses were captured on a scale of 1 to 5, where a score of 5 equated to “Very well”. The graphic below shows the percentage of organizations rating themselves at this highest level in each maturity category. As you can see, whether it’s business responsiveness, people and culture, cost optimization, or fundamental business outcomes, ‘Leaders’ are performing significantly better than the ‘Mainstream’, while ‘Followers’ are doing significantly worse.

These results serve to both validate the the maturity model, and underline the business case, at least at the quantitative level, for investing in workplace transformation. Those who have done so are clearly enjoying significant business advantage compared to their counterparts.


Key takeaway Securing budget and resource to drive change and transformation can be challenging, making data like this invaluable in helping make the business case and secure the senior management commitment and support that so important.

Business Responsiveness

Optimal workflow andprocess cycle times

72%

21%7%

Organisational flexibility and agility

71%

26%7%

Innovation andideas development

76%

32%

9%

Cost Optimisation

55%

19%7%

59%

25%11%

66%

23%5%

Real-estate cost optimization

Management of employee travel costs

Management of workforce-related overheads

Business Outcomes

Market competitiveness

Customer experienceand satisfaction

Workforceproductivity

78%

35%

9%

81%

31%10%

81%

40%

14%

People and Culture

79%

35%10%

72%

25%5%

73%

27%10%

Employee experienceand satisfaction

Fast and e�ectivedecision-making

E�ective talentrecruitment and retention

FollowersMainstreamLeaders

Back to the future




Working Environment









As a final corroboration of the value of workplace transformation, it’s noteworthy that maturity in this space appears to be aligned with superior growth. This applies to both the top line and bottom line from a financial perspective, and while there will always be other factors at play, it makes sense that superior innovation, decision-making and execution that stems from a modern workplace environment would naturally lead to such outcomes.

Higher growth in customer satisfaction then reflects the fact that motivated and empowered employees who work well together are much more likely to drive and/or deliver a better customer experience.

The overarching conclusion from this research is that workplace maturity really matters, and we hope the data we have presented helps you shape your own workplace transformation journey.

Terms of useThis document is Copyright 2020 Freeform Dynamics Ltd. It may be shared without modification on a one to one basis but hosting for download and/or mass distribution is prohibited without the explicit permission of Freeform Dynamics Ltd or Cisco. This document is intended for general interest only and no warranty is provided as to its suitability for any particular purpose.


FollowersMainstreamLeaders

Average overall customersatisfaction growth for last year

26% 21%12%

Average overall profitgrowth for last year

19%12%

5%

Average overall revenuegrowth for last year

21%14%

6%

Further Reading:• For more information read our

report: ‘A new perspective on the modern workplace’ at: https://futureofwork.webex.com

Executive InsightReport in association with

A new perspective on the modern workplaceForward-looking lessons from real-life pandemic experiences

Freeform Dynamics Ltd, 2020

Back to the future




Working Environment








https://futureofwork.webex.com

the modern workplace advantage

Documents