In a year of unusual firsts and uncharted change, for all its disruption, the global pandemic has presented organizations with a unique opportunity to reimagine the workplace and the employee experience.
But rather than a nice-to-have as we head into the new year, it’s now increasingly clear that organizations cannot simply carry on as before – addressing the employee experience and creating a safe, productive and happy environment will be vital to success in 2021. This was a key theme explored during Fujitsu ActivateNow, our flagship thought leadership event for 2020.
Of course, the journey to reimagining the employee experience won’t be without its challenges. But Fujitsu can help you make this change a reality with a few simple changes to the way your business operates, which we’ll explore in this article.
By reimagining your employee experience today, you can inspire the happier, more productive workforce of tomorrow. In the process enabling you to attract and retain the brightest minds, from a diverse pool of talent.
Barriers (and solutions) to a positive employee experience
Since the start of the pandemic, one of the main challenges facing employees has been a lack of motivation – arising as the by-product of individual frictions, like the fragmentation of technology, trust and purpose.
At Fujitsu ActivateNow we heard from Fujitsu’s Carla Hall about how improving employee experience is one way to support successful transformation.
We heard how trust in particular has presented a problem, with increased remote working resulting in the removal of workflow visibility and a rise in micromanagement. This will always be counterproductive, as the trust between employee and employer is therefore broken – sometimes beyond repair.
But trust works both ways and to overcome this, employers must have faith in their workforce to let them work in whichever way they feel most comfortable. If the work has been completed and completed well, does it matter how you got there?
This leads us nicely on to flexibility and how businesses must be open and willing to cater for flexible working. Traditionally, workforces and the workplace have been conventionally constructed around boundaries.
But we now know just how acute the appetite for flexible working is, with 87% of employees expressing a strong desire for flexibility – especially among women (91%) and younger workers (92%).
In light of this, it will be essential for teams to be able to work anywhere, anyhow, with work no longer a place we go, but a thing we do. Doing so will also bring no end of benefits, with the borderless office opening up the workplace to underrepresented groups who have historically been restricted by the shackles of the 9 to 5.
Inspiring a purpose-driven culture
Underpinning the reimagining of the employee experience is the need to inspire engagement and job satisfaction. At Fujitsu ActivateNow we heard from Dave Wright, Chief Innovation Officer at ServiceNow, and Tim White, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Delivery at Fujitsu, on how reshaping employee experience will help businesses prepare for the ‘next normal’ in 2021 and beyond.
During the session they discussed purpose-driven driven culture, whichcan be described as the reason your company exists, besides to make money.
Employees must feel like the tasks they’re carrying out on a day-to-day basis bring value to your organization and are contributing to its wider purpose – be it helping communities, benefitting society or striving to achieve personal or company goals.
If the purpose speaks to people on a personal level and aligns with their own values, this is a sure-fire recipe to instill a positive purpose-driven culture, which will go a long way to inspiring satisfaction, engagement and ultimately employee wellbeing.
To help you reimagine the employee experience, it will be vital to listen to your workforce. But more than this, you must also act on their feedback and enforce change. By listening and learning at every opportunity, you’ll equip yourself with a well of knowledge that can help to formulate training and team-building exercises, tailored to the individual needs of employees.
Reimagining the employee experience with Fujitsu
Ultimately, the future of your workforce is in your own hands. But every organization is different, with unique cultures and changeable needs, so there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for reimagining the employee experience.
Fortunately, Fujitsu understands this and our breadth of services and expertise can be tailored to the exact requirements of your business. But there are a number of technologies, tools and processes that can be deemed as non-negotiable.
One major must-have is security. In order for workforces to do their best work, they must be able to do so securely and smartly. By simply sourcing the right security, you can enhance resiliency and give you and your employees peace of mind, so you can focus on the day-to-day running of your business and wellbeing of your workforce.
Of course, employee wellbeing is another necessity – and we can help with anxiety monitoring and automated processes, to ensure employees aren’t bogged down in back-to-back meetings. In turn, this frees up more time for staff to recharge and refresh, so they have the mental capacity for more business-vital tasks.
To help you reimagine the employee experience, visit our website today to see how we can guide you on your journey to creating a safe, productive and happy environment for sustained success in the next year and beyond.
