A refocus on the hybrid working technology experience is now critical to employee satisfaction and retention
Flexibility
and
lifestyle
are
critical
concerns
for
the
modern
employee.
While
the
“Great
Resignation”
–
a
trend
that
has
caused
unprecedented
rates
of
employees
quitting
and
churn
over
the
past
few
years
–
looks
like
it
is
finally
starting
to
ease,
the
changes
it
drove
in
how
business
is
done
will
persist.
Companies
were
incentivised
to
invest
in
employee
welfare
and
development,
and
those
that
do
that
best
are
now
seeing
massive
improvements
in
retention.
Going
forward,
IT
and
the
CIO
will
play
a
critical
role
in
facilitating
that.
The
Human-Centered
Insights
To
Fuel
IT’s
Vision
2022
report,
conducted
by
Reach3
for
Lenovo,
highlights
the
importance
of
IT
in
delivering
employee
satisfaction.
According
to
the
report:
-
85
per
cent
of
employees
believe
technology
delivers
greater
flexibility
and
control
over
work. -
84
per
cent
say
that
flexibility
has
made
them
more
satisfied
with
their
jobs. -
75
per
cent
say
they
are
more
productive
when
working
from
home.
CIOs,
meanwhile,
also
want
to
deploy
technology
that
will
do
more
than
boost
productivity
and
operational
efficiency.
A
full
83
per
cent
of
IT
leaders
want
to
deliver
digital
transformation
that
is
focused
on
contributing
to
the
greater
good.
Delivering
hybrid
work
environments
that
work
As
the
Reach3
and
Lenovo
report
notes,
driving
a
hybrid
working
environment
across
the
organisation
is
key
to
meeting
employee
expectations
around
flexibility
and
work/life
balance.
Employees
want
to
access
the
office
one
time
per
week,
and
for
CIOs,
the
challenge
then
is
to
continue
to
find
ways
to
enhance
the
remote
working
experience
so
that
it
can
continue
to
deliver
seamless
and
stress-free
working
conditions.
Currently,
while
most
organisations
allow
some
form
of
hybrid
work,
29
per
cent
of
employees
say
that
difficulty
reaching
co-workers
is
more
of
a
work-from-home
issue.
Meanwhile,
only
47
per
cent
of
IT
leaders
say
that
collaboration
tools
have
improved
overall
productivity
and
efficiency.
There
is
a
gap
between
the
expectation
and
experience
with
hybrid
work
that
technology
can
address.
As
cited
in
a
report
on
CIO
from
earlier
this
year,
this
means
that
CIOs
need
to
proactively
invest
in
transformative
technologies:
“In
its Future
of
Work
predictions
for
2023,
IDC
called
hybrid
work
“a
mainstay
for
our
global
future
work
landscape,”
adding
that
“hybrid
work
will
drive
new
technology
solutions
across
functions
and
industries
alike.”
Technologies
cited
by
IDC
include
intelligent
space
and
capacity
planning
tools,
which
the
firm
predicts
55
per
cent
of
global
enterprises
will
use
to
reinvent
office
locations
by
2024.
IDC
also
predicts
65
per
cent
of
G2000
companies
will
consider
online
presence
to
be
at
parity
to
real
life
across
their
engaged
workforce
by
2025,
with
30
per
cent
of
those
same
organisations
adopting
immersive
metaverse
conferencing
tech
by
2027.”
With
IT
budgets
being
increased
by
around
50
per
cent
across
the
board
towards
these
transformative
goals,
CIOs
have
some
runway
to
make
these
investments.
Some
of
the
areas
that
they
should
be
looking
at
include:
-
5G.
As
5G
rolls
out
to
more
locations
across
Australia,
it
will
become
a
more
viable
tool
for
working.
With
speeds
that
are
greater
than
what
the
typical
home
Internet
connection
can
provide,
as
well
as
better
latency
and
mobility,
5G
is
set
to
underpin
a
new
wave
of
changing
work
styles
and
remote
capabilities. -
Secure
solutions.
The
kind
of
BYOD
that
tends
to
come
with
remote
working
environments
does
present
security
implications,
and
while
VPNs
and
zero-trust
security
solutions
can
help,
many
organisations
need
to
go
further
than
that.
Virtual
desktop
infrastructure
(VDI)
such
as
the
Lenovo
VDI
Hosted
Desktop
seeks
to
address
this
challenge
by
maintaining
secure
control
over
corporate
data
while
still
allowing
employees
to
access
it
remotely
as
they
need
to. -
Peripherals
and
accessories
that
promote
wellness.
CIOs
will
also
find
benefits
in
providing
employees
with
headsets
that
have
AI-powered
noise
cancelling
features,
as
well
as
standing
desks
and
computers
that
feature
eye
care
modes.
Additionally,
webcam
privacy
shutters
are
essential
–
people
want
to
be
able
to
use
their
webcams
for
meetings,
but
also
to
guarantee
their
privacy
outside
of
work
hours,
given
that
the
technology
is
in
their
homes.
A
good
example
of
technology
built
to
capitalise
on
these
trends
is
the
Lenovo
ThinkPad
X1
Carbon,
powered
by
Intel
vPro,
An
Intel
Evo
Design.
With
leading
connectivity,
security
and
built-in
capabilities,
it
has
been
built
for
what
IT
needs
and
users
want.
There
are
benefits
to
partnering
with
an
end-to-end
supplier
for
remote
work
One
of
the
challenges
that
many
CIOs
face
is
that
in
the
initial
rush
to
enable
remote
work,
a
few
years
ago,
many
organisations
adopted
technology
piecemeal.
This
has
consequently
resulted
in
a
large
portfolio
of
vendors
to
manage.
This
creates
inefficiencies
and
can
frustrate
employees
when
connections
don’t
work,
and
technology
incompatibilities
hinder
what
they
need
to
do.
Consolidating
the
number
of
vendors
down
to
a
single
end-to-end
provider,
and
delivering
technology
that
has
been
designed
to
be
seamlessly
interoperable
is
going
to
significantly
enhance
the
remote
working
experience
for
employees,
while
freeing
the
IT
team
up
to
shift
focus
from
support
to
further
transformation
and
innovation.
For
more
information
on
Lenovo’s
end-to-end
solutions
and
the
benefits
that
delivers
to
hybrid
work
environments
and
employee
satisfaction,
click
here.
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