According to the Hybrid Workplace Whiplash survey from Lucid Software, UK firms are struggling to enable hybrid work, with 54% of organisations reporting challenges around balancing employee productivity and 47% encountering resistance to change.
Overcoming these challenges require businesses to take intentional steps to equip their staff with the tools and processes to collaborate effectively. Despite this need, only 38% of UK businesses have implemented digital collaboration tools and just 29% provide collaboration training to employees. Consequently, a fifth (20%) of workers are considering quitting their jobs because of their work’s hybrid work policy.
Impact of four years of hybrid workplace whiplash
Despite widespread adoption over the last four years, UK firms are still feeling the effects of poor hybrid work. For instance, 27% of employees feel brainstorming and kick off sessions fail to provide a clear understanding of next steps, and 37% don’t think the ownership of tasks in teams is clear. Concerningly, just over two fifths (41%) report that some projects fail to meet their objectives as a result.
But UK workers still aren’t being given the tools they need to operate as hybrid teams. Although 71% believe that visuals are either extremely or very important for collaboration, only a third (27%) are provided with a visualisation tool, and only 30% are given whiteboarding applications to use.
Setting employees up for success
With worldwide IT spending expected to grow by 6.8% this year, companies need to ensure they are not wasting money on technology that employees aren’t using. However, there is considerable appetite from business leaders to invest in technology to boost productivity, often resulting in employees becoming stretched across several applications to complete work. For instance, 38% of entry level workers in the UK use between 3-4 productivity applications, increasing to 44% for managers and 47% for the C-Suite. Combined with the fact only 29% are provided with hybrid collaboration training, it is no surprise significant gaps are appearing between what software companies buy and what is providing a benefit. And these gaps lead to nearly a quarter (23%) of UK workers believing that they don’t have access to the right applications to be successful.
This lack of adoption by employees is likely driven by the fact many report being consistently overwhelmed by the number of different applications they use at work. In fact, 26% of UK knowledge workers are either extremely overwhelmed or very overwhelmed by the number of different productivity applications they use, and 35% experience frustration as a result.
Commenting on the findings, Jarom Chung, VP of Product Management at Lucid Software said, “Despite the fact that companies have been practicing hybrid work for years now, leaders continue to fall short in adequately equipping and training their employees with the essential digital tools and processes needed for success. Organisations need to intentionally evaluate the effectiveness of their tech stack, and focus on enabling their teams to work better together, no matter where they’re located. Specifically, the data demonstrates that effective visual collaboration is not just a luxury but a necessity in hybrid work, empowering employees to streamline vital information, collaborate seamlessly, and maximise their productivity.”