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Your head of human resources wants to build a more connected culture … but your managers are struggling to get everyone on the same page.
Only half of your workforce wants to return to the office … but you’re staring at a multi-year rental agreement on a commercial property.
With budgets tightening, your teams are looking to get the most out of existing approaches, systems and technologies. But trying to solve 2023 problems with 2019 solutions doesn’t work.
And while everyone keeps talking about how hybrid work is here to stay, for many, the hybrid isn’t really working. Forty percent of companies will try to cancel work anywhere policies and instruct employees to come into the office more often, according to Forrester.
Creating an ideal workplace experience is the only way to stay ahead, whether employees are working hybrid, remote or on the front lines. But the stakes are high, so you can’t afford to make changes that aren’t ready.
Some companies are cutting back on meetings and even banning those involving more than two people.
Some have mandated that most employees work from the office – or else.
Others are focusing on fair flexibility for frontline workers.
If only a change of policy is enough to solve all the issues.
The State of Experience in the Workplace
While an organization can mandate a return to the office, its people don’t want to return to a physical space if they don’t feel connected to their workplace culture. And they don’t feel connected if they are cut off from the information that affects their company’s pulse – or if simple, essential tasks like finding a desk, booking a meeting room, or welcoming a visitor become simple. complicated
Our research into 2023 workplace trends and insights confirms that employees need their tools to be productive:
- 70% say they waste time switching between the office and remote locations.
- 35% who work hybrid struggle to feel connected and engaged.
- 29% report that it takes days or even longer to get important information.
With these challenges as a backdrop, it’s no wonder that 93% of respondents feel that their organizations could improve the in-office experience.
This is the workplace experience in 2023, and it’s not good enough. The workplace needs to feel alive, but for many, it is on life support. Organizations need innovative ways to support and engage with their employees—the nine-to-five office, the stay-at-home types, the critical front-runners, and everyone in between.
One retail giant we work for faced challenges in delivering employee engagement and consistent communication among nearly 300,000 employees, many without a desk. The retailer adopted digital signage as a cost-effective way to reach its teams, create a more connected experience for frontline workers, share important safety information, and promote career opportunities.
One Platform for All
Employees don’t want more tools – they want better ones.
While digital signage reinforces messages that must be seen in physical offices, workplaces need technology that connects the entire organization – its people, places and spaces – through the communication channels employees use every day.
An employee and intranet app keeps the latest information at everyone’s fingertips. Space reservation makes reserving rooms and desks a breeze. Touchless visitor management and intuitive wayfinding ensure people can get where they need to be. With all of these valuable solutions and more on one platform, employees don’t waste time managing disjointed point products. And as many companies seek to reduce costs and IT teams are forced to do more with less, technology consolidation is one way to achieve that result.
The reality today is that some of the workforce don’t want to go back to the office—ever. And so do others. The real winners in the future of work will be the organizations that can use technology to make tools and systems a thing of the past and unite the physical and digital workplaces to create a connected and engaging experience of work – wherever she happens. Because we all deserve a workplace experience we love.
Learn how Appspace can help your organization connect people, places and spaces.
