HK Employees Want Greater Ownership of Workplace Design
- By HR&DigitalTrends editors
- January 12, 2021
Hong Kong employees want to help drive the future of work at their workplaces.
Cisco’s Workforce of the Future 2020 survey noted that Hong Kong employees understood the value of remote working. Three primary benefits cited include working well as a dispersed team (56%), faster decision-making (55%), and increased autonomy (54%).
Not surprisingly, the pandemic had a hand in the sudden shift in employee attitudes.
Over half of Hong Kong’s employees surveyed (57%) now have a greater appreciation of the benefits and challenges of working from home. Positive changes were afoot, as 42% of surveyed employees in Hong Kong indicated that leaders showed increased trust in their teams to do their jobs well.
Employees were better able to balance life around work, with 55% incorporating more exercise into their daily routine. In a similar spirit, 47% want to continue traveling less and use that time more productively
As a result, 87% of Hong Kong employees wanted greater ownership in defining how and when they use office space. They are also calling for a better blend of office-based and remote work.
“It is clear that working from home has its benefits, as does going to the office. Employers who want their staff to be productive and wish to enable them to collaborate effectively, however, must adopt the right tools — especially if they want to successfully make a transition to the hybrid work ecosystem demanded by today’s workforce,” said Hariharan S, managing director for software, cloud and collaboration sales at Cisco.
So, how will Hong Kong employees shape their workplaces?
The survey noted that when given the chance to be CEO for a day, 76% of Hong Kong employees would prioritize using innovative technology to improve their services to customers. Seventy-three percent would choose embedding effective communication and collaboration.
For these to occur, 74% of employees believe businesses need to provide the workforce with similar technology at home as in the office. In fact, 58% agree that one of the big positives to come from lockdown is proof that employees don’t need to be in the same room to collaborate effectively.
Hong Kong’s employees believe the 2021 budget priorities for their business should be investing in the technologies that help them become more productive and effective (36%), improving digital skills training in the workplace (35%), and bringing in technology to make the office a safer space from a health perspective (35%).
Employees of all ages are also calling for upskilling: 73% think more training on technology and digital skills will be needed for business success in 2021.
“The survey results clearly reflect the importance of providing remote workers with trustworthy and easy-to-use technologies to enable smooth collaboration and maintain productivity through uncertain times. With the right technology in place, a distributed workforce can be more resilient, effective, and diverse,” said Wilson Ching, general manager of Cisco Hong Kong and Macau.
“As we are entering a new working era, work is no longer a place people go to, it’s something they do. We at Cisco believe that embracing a hybrid working model is the future, and we are committed to delivering the best technologies and solutions to guide and support enterprises and employees throughout the journey,” he added.
Image credit: iStockphoto/Kubkoo