The modern workplace:How IT and HR are driving modern culture, together

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“For us, the modern workplace is an ideal blend of people and technology. It’s about letting employees take advantage of the incredible new tools available today to work and collaborate in new and productive ways.”LEE BOOY, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, THE MISSING LINK

The march towards the modern workplace is well and truly upon us, and it’s up to leaders to initiate and steer the change. If they don’t, then organisations risk becoming outdated. Today’s employees demand modern tools, and an employer needs to provide them or risk being less attractive to the top talent – which

includes the millennials who make up the bulk of the workforce. Without these tools, they will also miss out on other benefi ts, such as staff engagement, productivity and reduced turnover.

In this eBook, we explore the benefi ts of the modern workplace and hear fi rst-hand from senior

HR and IT experts about their experiences in driving a shift away from traditional ways of working. Their comments and insights shed light on the challenges and possibilities ofthe modern workplace.

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What is the modern workplace and why have one?

The way we work is evolving rapidly. Teams are globally dispersed and employees are on-the-go, working from wherever, whenever, on their devices of choice. Mobility and cloud are emerging as not just nice-to-haves, but must-haves. At the same time, security threats are becoming more sophisticated, requiring a new approach to managing employee devices and networks.

All of these things come together to create the modern workplace.

The modern workplace represents a new culture; a new way of working. And IT plays a major role. With the right technology behind you, end users can be creative, productive and collaborative; with the highest levels of security and fl exible infrastructure.

The modern workplace delivers innumerable benefi ts to the organisation. Day-to-day, itmeans that:• With employees empowered

to get their work done in more ways than one – yet not necessarily bound by the physical restraints of the traditional offi ce – there’s more collaboration, conversation, team-work and productivity.

• Working together or alone, employees can think more deeply, solve more problems, get more done.

• Employees, particularly the millennial set, are more engaged and satisfi ed at work (there is a documented need for this as Gallup reported in their recent survey that only 55% of Millennial’s being engaged at work and 44% saying they expect to leave their current employers in 2 years)1.

• Employees have access to secure, highly reliable platforms for doing their best work.

Beyond the day-to-day, the benefi ts of the modern workplace play out as a boost to the bottom line, with both cost savings and performance gains. They also play out in the HR department, with greater employee satisfaction improving retention of top talent.

Lee Booy, Chief Technology Offi cer, The Missing Link, explains why the modern workplace works so well…

“There are obvious benefi ts for the business, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it. For the business, there are cost savings in moving a lot of that capex into opex via digital transformation. There are many effi ciencies, too, by getting rid of the platforms that require you to keep them alive and moving them into cloud platforms. And there’s recruitment and retention, building a strategy that targets millennials.”

1 Gallup Report, How Millenials Want to Work and Live, https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238073/millennials-work-live.aspx

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The expectations of the modern workforce

Employees today think differently; they expect more. Driven by the collaborative and adaptable millennial mindset, employees across the board have new ideas about how, when and why they work.

On top of this, managers have new expectations of their employees – wanting them to be more creative and innovative, adding value where previously they may have just ticked boxes. Teamwork is often at the heart of this; yet teams are no longer confi ned within the walls of an offi ce.

According to Leah Tinker, Senior HR Business Partner, Microsoft Australia, the changing fabric of the workforce is driving the evolving expectations at work. She says, “For the fi rst time, we’re actually working with fi ve generations. Yet by 2020, 60% of the workforce will be millennials – we’re already at 50%. While senior infl uencers may be baby boomers, the reality is that in 18 months they will make up less than 40% of the organisation. We need to think about the trends coming up. We know that culture is currency in attracting talent – and the reality is these millennials are changing the ways and the whys that we work.”

Tinker continues: “Young tech professionals say they would actually take extensive pay cuts if it meant that they could work at home. That’s huge. They’re looking for fl exibility; they’re looking to make an impact; and they want to work wherever they want, whenever they want. It’s not just about being in the offi ce. It’s actually about when you work, too.”

Along with this cultural shift comes a change in the types of technology demanded by the modern worker. Booy says, “When they come into the offi ce, employees expect modern, sleek hardware. They expect the tools to work together well, to be intuitive. They expect to be able to collaborate with people and they expect fl exibility in how they work. Some of them want to work from home. If so, they want the same experience as what they have in the offi ce.”

He adds…

“We’re increasingly working across geographies. There may be an offi ce in Sydney, but you might be collaborating with someone in Seattle. In terms of attracting talent – and in terms of the way we conduct business using productivity tools – we need to identify and nurture the culture that enables this.”

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The tools and technology enabling the modern workplace

Arriving at destination ‘modern workplace’ typically requires digital transformation of some sort – a shift from on-premise ways of working to multi-device, multi-disciplinary platforms that empower employees to work wherever. With secure productivity tools at their disposal, all those things on employees’ and managers’ wish lists can be realised and you’re on your way to the modern workplace.

So what does the modern workplace look like from an IT standpoint? The technology that drives the modern workplace may include a combination of:

The Microsoft 365 suite of modern workplace tools – including Offi ce 365, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Enterprise Mobility + Security – is the biggest infl uencer in this space, delivering on all of the above and more to enable orgranisations to create and sustain a modern workplace.

Devices Personal and corporate devices

with mobile device management solutions to minimise complexity

and connect a user’s experience across multiple devices

Access Single sign-in for employees with

multi-factor authentication

AppsOn-premise and cloud apps,

including tools that unlock creativity and visualise

information in new ways

SecurityComprehensive security stack and threat intelligence, with built-in protections against

modern threats

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New challenges for HR

Digital transformation and the creation of a modern workplace is not without its challenges. From an HR perspective, there’s a cultural shift that must be carefully considered. As Booy comments…

“In the modern workplace, it’s not just about deploying a tool and getting IT to write a training book and handing it to people. With these tools comes a completely different way of working.”

A central tenet of the modern workplace is that employees can work from anywhere, anytime. Yet how do you ensure that they’re not working round the clock and suffering burnout? How do you know if employees are working when they say they are? How do you mitigate the lost opportunities for face-to-face engagement when more employees are working remotely? These are some of the key questions that HR leaders are asking when it comes to the modern workplace.

Managing employee wellbeing

One concern for HR is around employee wellbeing – ensuring that employees aren’t working excessive hours, for example they aren’t doing a day’s work in Sydney and then collaborating with a team in the UK at night.

It’s important to have ongoing conversations with employees around their hours of work, and have strategies to help them

manage their hours in a more fl exible environment. As Tinker says, “Previously, it was simple. You work nine-to-fi ve and that’s just what you do. But now, we’re giving you the fl exibility to work the way you want. And if we’re not helping them work out how to do that, then they’ll struggle. One of the challenges of working different hours is that you feel judged for coming into the offi ce at 10am even if you worked late – so you come in at 9am anyway.”

Measuring employee performance

Another challenge is around measuring the performance and productivity of employees who work remotely. Yet as Booy notes, “It’s a challenge, but it comes out in the wash pretty quickly because if you’re not delivering then you get found out.”

Holly Dean, Partner Sales Executive, Microsoft Australia, emphasises the importance of communication in keeping track

of employees’ performance and productivity. “If an employee is making progress and going alright, I say, ‘Keep me up to speed, send me an email, tell me where you’re up to and where you’re going.’ The smart ones give me the information I need. Others might go ‘dark’ on me. They could be working really hard or they may not be. And sometimes, the outcomes thing is a little bit grey – it’s subjective and hard to judge. One of the skills that has to come with remote working and fl exibility is the ability to communicate better, so that people around you know what’s going on.”

She continues: “If you’re offl ine all day, it’s about making sure you’re visible. If I was working on a project, I’d share it and say, ‘Hey guys, if you’re going to do something similar with some of your accounts, here it is’. It’s making sure you’re visible so you don’t need to be checked up on.”

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The need forface-to-face time

Then there is the issue of balancing the need for face-to-face time against employees’ desires to work remotely. Sometimes, virtual collaboration spaces aren’t quite enough, and you need strategies to make sure that those who work remotely are made to feel included in meetings and conversations.

As Booy explains…

“Even in companies that have fl exible working, the primary method is still face-to-face; and all their processes and ways of working are built around that. So, when you’re working remote you still have access to the tools, but you’re a second-class citizen to the group. It’s great if you’re going away to focus… but if you want to work in the team like you normally would, it doesn’t work as well.”

To address this issue and foster inclusiveness for those that are using technology to work remotely – or even for the minority calling in from another offi ce location – Booy recommends an all-for-one, one-for-all approach. “Coming from an inclusiveness angle, how do you ensure that the people on the phone feel included? What if you have six partners in Melbourne and three video conferencing in from Sydney? That’s not going to work for the three that aren’t in the room. So why don’t you use technology that can enable them all to work equally – set them up on their own devices so they’re all equal?”

Dean reiterates the importance of face-to-face communication when it counts. “Virtual collaboration spaces are great. But if you need to have a tough conversation with someone, then you need to go and sit in front of that person and have an eye-to-eye. And try to encourage videoconferencing over calling. It’s very easy to just pick up the phone and call. But if they can see you and you can see them, there’s more interaction. Except when you’re at home in your PJs!”

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A new culture, driven from the top

The challenges described above – while certainly valid during any transformation phase – quickly melt away once the modern workplace becomes, simply, the workplace. Like any other cultural shift, it can take time, but the effort is certainly worthwhile.

It’s clear that for any modern workplace to be successful, key cultural characteristics – things like trust, teamwork, a growth mindset, innovation, learning from mistakes – must come to the fore. These are things that many HR practitioners would be striving to encourage within their workplaces anyway; they are traits that must be demonstrated at the C-level and fi ltered down throughout the organisation.

Starting at the top, leaders can pave the way for success. Dean say…

“It really comes back to being leader-led. Unless it’s being driven from the top, it won’t work. People need to see the symbols and behaviours from the leaders, to adopt those behaviours themselves.”

Tinker agrees, citing the leadership of Microsoft’s CEO in driving change: “Our CEO has a growth mindset, and it’s now part of our culture. The reality is that because of this growth mindset – and because it’s leader-led from the top – we’re actually starting to see transformation in many ways.” She goes on to describe how, with change being initiated from the top, organisation-wide culture has successfully evolved at Microsoft, too: “I always get asked, ‘How do you know someone’s even working?’ It’s all about cultural change. The big piece for us is that we’ve completely changed the way we measure performance. We now measure impact. And it means that workers could be anywhere – as long as they are connected straight to the technologies they need and the work they’re doing has an impact, then that’s OK.”

And, for Tinker, proof of the benefi ts of the modern workplace is written on the wall. “One of our practice groups initiated a fl exibility pilot and the trial was so successful for the legal team that it’s now part of what they do day-to-day. They have actually abolished business hours. Yes, there are a couple of rules – like you have to be here for client meetings and some team meetings. But outside that, you organise your own work. It was led from the top; the technology enabled it; and everyone was willing to give it a go. There has been no drop in productivity – in fact, engagement has soared. It’s all about empowerment and trust.”

“The ideal blend of people and technology”

The modern workplace is revolutionising work as we know it. We have left the nine-to-fi ve era and the constraints of the offi ce; and look forward to an era where teams can work together across the globe, exchanging ideas and having creative conversations in real-time from wherever they are.

To get there requires a shift in thinking and behaviour, but the benefi ts most certainly outweigh any effort required. The businesses that embrace the modern workplace will maintain a competitive edge; and they will attract and retain the top talent to help them get further ahead.

As Booy says, the modern workplace really is the ideal blend of people and technology – people are trusted and empowered to work creatively, collaboratively and fl exible; and the technology, in both its simplicity and its sophistication, is designed to enable this.

contactus@themissinglink.com.au

If your organisation is ready to embrace the many benefi ts of the modern workplace, contact The Missing Link today.

Talk to us 1300 865 865 www.themissinglink.com.au