Just lately printed information by the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) claims that the UK is in a productiveness disaster, lagging behind many different G7 nations in workforce output.
However the majority (85%) of enterprise leaders don’t really feel that distant and hybrid working is a trigger for this, in response to new analysis of greater than 500 enterprise leaders from Okta.
Greater than half (61%) state that their workers are extra productive whereas working remotely, 1 / 4 (24%) say that they’re equally so, and solely a minority (15%) really feel that productiveness has decreased. Nonetheless, enterprise leaders in Germany (94%) and France (91%) report increased ranges of productiveness, in tandem with the ONS findings that these areas surpass the UK. This implies that companies might achieve extra productiveness benefits from hybrid working.
Perceptions of productiveness ranges whereas working remotely have largely superior within the UK. In an Okta examine from 2020, greater than 1 / 4 (27%) felt that there was a definite notion that workers had been doing little work whereas at residence, however most (64%) felt that this improved in the course of the course of the pandemic.
Over a 3rd (37%) of enterprise leaders now see higher productiveness as one of many primary enterprise drivers in adopting a hybrid mannequin. Nonetheless, 1 / 4 (26%) really feel that that is nonetheless a problem, and a 3rd (32%) say that it is a prime precedence to enhance.
Hybrid on the rise, together with proximity bias
Over the previous few years, there was an growing need for workers to undertake hybrid working, rising from April 2020 (35%) to March 2021 (43%), with three-quarters (72%) now utilizing this mannequin in 2023. Okta’s 2020 analysis discovered that over half (55%) had been within the workplace on a regular basis previous to the primary nationwide lockdown, and in March 2021, nearly a 3rd (31%) believed that their employer would require them to return full-time. Nonetheless, the brand new examine finds that that is now the case for only a quarter (25%).
The rise of hybrid work has concurrently led to a progress in proximity bias, which is a bent to offer preferential remedy to these working onsite in comparison with these working remotely. That is considered an growing problem for a fifth (19%) of UK companies. Two-fifths (42%) of leaders are actively investing in methods to forestall this, whereas an analogous quantity (41%) would contemplate investments on this area.
Further priorities for companies in 2023 embody enhancing worker expertise (33%), sustaining a constructive office tradition (30%), and getting collaboration proper (27%). To do that, leaders plan to extend funding into video conferencing instruments (78%), productiveness and collaboration instruments (70%) and worker engagement instruments (68%) over the following three years.
Ian Lowe, head of business options EMEA at Okta, stated: “Many workers predicted that they might be required to return to pre-pandemic methods of working, however this hasn’t been the case.
“Enterprise leaders and governments alike have the truth is listened to worker calls for and most people sentiment, recognising the advantages of hybrid work, from improved productiveness and higher wellbeing, to decreased operational prices. In consequence, most companies have now adopted a hybrid mannequin, whereas varied laws has been applied within the UK and globally to introduce extra rights and protections for distant employees.
“However, consistent with this, points like proximity bias are rising. Going ahead, leaders should be sure that they’re creating environments which empower workers to work wherever is finest for them, with none worry of being left behind, by adopting options that permit them to adapt shortly, create equal alternatives and enhance resiliency.”
Safety a higher problem, regardless of elevated investments
Along with office points, the analysis finds that expertise and safety challenges are growing within the hybrid period. Though 4 in 5 (79%) have elevated investments in safety and privateness instruments over the previous three years, nearly half (46%) within the UK now see cybersecurity as their largest problem with hybrid work, a bigger quantity than every other nation surveyed. The bulk (86%) of leaders count on their investments to extend additional over the following three years, with cybersecurity standing as the highest funding precedence.
In a comparable examine performed by Okta in March 2021, solely a minority (10%) felt their safety was not robust sufficient, indicating that cyber challenges are growing in tandem with the rise of hybrid work. However regardless of this, passwords nonetheless stand as the most well-liked authentication issue, utilized by over half (54%) as their major measure, a rise from two-fifths (40%) in 2021. Biometrics have additionally risen in adoption, with nearly a 3rd (30%) now utilizing this as an authentication issue, greater than doubling since 2021 (14%).
In terms of expertise extra broadly, 1 / 4 (25%) of UK enterprise leaders admit to fighting equipping hybrid workers with the fitting tech. This determine has remained the identical since March 2021, when the identical quantity (25%) felt that the required tech was solely obtainable on the office. Virtually a 3rd (30%) of leaders now see implementing the fitting expertise as their prime precedence.
“Elevated distant and hybrid work has magnified the necessity for added instruments, and now that companies are settling into the hybrid period, these lacking parts are extra outstanding than ever,” provides Lowe.
“It’s encouraging that stringent safety measures like biometrics are seeing increased adoption, as companies look to fight the rising threats from attackers hoping to capitalise on dispersed workforces. However many are nonetheless turning to components like passwords as their major protecting measure, and with safety challenges growing, this isn’t sufficient.
“As funding conversations happen for 2023, this gives the chance for leaders to take inventory of their instruments and assess learn how to higher equip themselves by way of identity-centred measures, which might embody a transfer to passwordless authentication or the adoption of biometric options. Taking a strategic strategy to identification will assist organisations really embrace hybrid and meet the wants of as we speak’s workforces, to allow them to function effectively, safely and securely.”
