In order to entice the most skilled employees, you need to stay on the cutting edge of workplace trends. We’ll discuss some ways the workplace is changing and what you can do about it. You can make your workplace more job seeker friendly and increase workplace productivity.
What Does an Agile Workplace Look Like?
More and more employees are seeking a flexible work environment. They want to be able to work on the go, from where they’re at. Workplace agility provides the tools necessary to accomplish this.
Give your employees the tools they need to continue to be productive and efficient from wherever they’re at. Workplace agility is supported by technology that can create this flexibility for your employees. We’ll discuss some of these vital tools in depth later on.
Why Is It Important?
Today, there are more jobs than there are qualified people to fill them. This means you need to be attractive to potential employees. According to several studies, current job seekers care more about flexibility and options in the workplace than they do salary.
They need a space that allows them to work on their own time. Some work best on their own. Some thrive in a space that allows them to collaborate with others. And yet, even others excel when they’re able to work in their own environment at home. Agility creates space and the tools to integrate all of these needs into the workplace and increases overall productivity.
How to Create an Agile Workplace
This isn’t something you just plunge into without any planning. You’ll need to have a strategy, implement that strategy and then quickly adapt to what’s working. You’ll need to track employee engagement to see how active they are on different tools such as the cloud and apps.
Create a space that has a common area for employees to come together to collaborate, but still has private offices for those that need time to work on their own. Most suggest starting with a cloud-based office suite to aid in collaboration as your employees work together in person and from the comfort of their own homes.
Technology Tools for an Agile Workplace
Virtual reality and augmented reality are several great tools that allow your employees to attend meetings or test products from wherever they are at. SaaS platforms and the cloud are vital tools for remote work. These tools allow your team to collaborate with each other via the internet.
With the desire to work remotely comes the need for a “work as you need to” model. As long as employers are getting their work done, then employers aren’t concerned with the hours they logged doing the work. This is also a great model that allows employees to come together to brainstorm then separate to fulfill their duties on their own.
~ Written for us by our associate Gary Sorrell, Sorrell Associates, LLC. Copyright protected. All rights reserved.
