Intelligent CIO North America Issue 31 | Page 37

TALKING

‘‘ business

As has already been widely reported , the pandemic caused a great shift in our working patterns and in the workplace – prompting organizations to reconsider the office space and the enterprise network in order to support employees ’ evolving expectations and needs . And over two years later , that shift shows no signs of slowing . In fact , as we look to 2023 , redesigning the workplace and the network that supports it has become pivotal for organizations that want to achieve better business operations and results , as well as improve employee satisfaction .

Yet , how exactly have employee expectations and needs changed ? And what should CIOs consider when creating the best hybrid workspace and experience for the future ?
We teamed up with Leesman , a leading global provider of original research on workplace quality and employee satisfaction , to create a report that utilizes their insights and large survey database of over 70,000 worker respondents and 125 corporate real estate respondents to answer these questions .
With 93 % of corporate real estate leaders surveyed indicating that their organizations plan to adopt hybrid work as standard practice going forward and 94 % revealing that they plan to make further physical changes in the workplace to support organizational and / or employees ’ needs , the results offer compelling information for CIOs as they map out their goals for next year .
It ’ s important to note that workers are satisfied with the effectiveness of home-based collaboration and are more satisfied with hybrid-based collaboration than office only . This may be due to the effectiveness of technologies such as online meetings and messaging for collaboration .
Maintaining support for ‘ individual focused , desk-based work ’
Both prior to and during the COVID disruption , ‘ individual focused , desk-based work ’ remained the
Alan Ni , Senior Director , Edge Marketing , Aruba
Considering the office as a hub of connection and collaboration
Despite many workplace specialists ’ beliefs that the main purpose of the future office is to be a hub of collaboration , Leeman ’ s findings indicate that the office is becoming more important as a hub of connection , with connection-based activities showing the highest increase in importance over any other work activity .
Redesigning the workplace and the network that supports it has become pivotal for organizations that want to achieve better business operations and results .
The office has become a centralized area to connect with colleagues and co-workers , not necessarily on specific tasks or problems in pre-arranged ( and large group ) formal meetings , but to engage in ‘ informal social interaction ’ and ‘ informal , unplanned meetings ’.
The office is a space where employees increasingly want to go to develop relationships and get a deeper sense of community , and more informal spaces to socialize would better support that . most important working activity according to Leesman ’ s survey results , regardless of respondent role , age and gender , with an 80 – 90 % importance rating .
So , for CIOs who want employees to spend more time working in the office , one of the most fundamental requirements is to support individually focused deskbased work – both in the office and wherever hybrid work gets done .
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