2021 Global Workplace Report 

Discrepancies in executive, operational and employee feedback indicate that EX needs to extend further into the enterprise to deliver what’s important to employees and enable business outcomes.

Employee experience (EX) - the way employees perceive and feel about the organization, based on their individual and cumulative interactions with customers, leaders, colleagues and the overall work environment – is not yet a strategic differentiator for many. Those that have advanced and optimized their workplace strategies are far more satisfied with their current EX capability. A focus on EX and wellbeing is delivering tangible results, particularly in improving work-life balance, employee wellness, overall productivity and business growth.

Wellbeing replaces productivity as the top factor driving change to workplace strategies. Our findings show close on two-thirds of CHROs say employee wellbeing levels have deteriorated since the start of the pandemic, and many organizations are struggling to prevent employee burnout and manage maximum working hours. Organizations believe the working environment and workplace support systems have improved since before the pandemic – but employee sentiment tells a different story. Only 23.1% of employees say they’re very happy working for their current employer.

Most organizations need to ramp up efforts in the areas of technology enablement, employee engagement and wellbeing. Analyzing data across the ‘three Ws’ – work, workforce and workspaces – will provide insight into where changes and improvements are needed to create moments that matter to employees.

Our research indicates leading organizations are accelerating their digitization strategies to augment EX and CX capabilities, and drive business outcomes.

Cloud and cybersecurity are the top technology tools underpinning workplace strategy. However, organizations optimizing their cloud technologies are in the minority and many are facing business risk as a result.

Limited in-house skills are a barrier to maximizing technology investments in order to enhance EX, CX and overall performance. The vast majority of organizations agree they’ve had to completely rethink their IT security to accommodate hybrid and remote working and considerations of managed services are on the rise.

Deployment of key technology enablers is still relatively low. Technology and the digitization of employee support are among the top five enablers of workplace strategies, yet deployment rates are low. Leading organizations are much further ahead in their uptake of workplace analytics, workflow management software and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) support.

For technology to enable optimized working, organizations need to consider the technology itself, the network and infrastructure which supports it, and perhaps most crucially, the needs and profiles of employees who are using it.

No longer a fixed location, the modern workspace can be anywhere. Rapid changes to workplace practices in the last year have shown that remote-working is viable across most industries and regions. But working from home is actually the least preferred option among employees – most want the option to work from company premises at least some of the time.

This year’s data shows a more gradual trend of moving away from office-based or factory-based working to remote-only or hybrid models than many have suggested. This means organizations will need to enable a more diverse workforce to connect, collaborate and be productive across different environments – and deliver an equal experience for all employees – while remaining agile to pivot future workplace models for evolving needs.

Face-to-face engagement is still important, however. It’s valuable for building a sense of teamwork, strengthening client relationships and building social connections at work. To support this, around two-thirds of organizations are incorporating videoconferencing, video collaboration spaces and more teamwork spaces at company premises.

Understanding the dynamics behind where, when and how people want to work will help organizations create workspaces that give employees the flexibility to work from anywhere, and ensure an equal user experience for all workstyles.