As many organisations want to support mobile, team-oriented and nonroutine ways of work, an increasing number of them are looking for assistance in adopting digital workplace technology. A Gartner survey concluded that only 7% to 18% of organisations possess the digital dexterity to adopt new ways of work (NWOW) solutions, such as virtual collaboration and mobile work.
An organisation with high digital dexterity has employees who have the cognitive ability and social practice to leverage and manipulate media, information and technology in unique and highly innovative ways.
By country, organisations exhibiting the highest digital dexterity were those in the US (18.2% of respondents), followed by those in Germany (17.6%) and then the UK (17.1%). “Solutions targeting new ways of work are tapping into a high-growth area, but finding the right organisations ready to exploit these technologies is challenging,” says Craig Roth, research vice-president at Gartner.
In parallel, the survey found that workers in the US, Germany and UK have, on average, higher digital dexterity than those in France, Singapore and Japan.
Workers in the top three countries were much more open to working from anywhere, in a nonoffice fashion. They had a desire to use consumer (or consumerlike) software and websites at work. Some of the difference in workers’ digital dexterity is driven by cultural factors, as shown by large differences between countries. For example, population density impacts the ability to work outside the office, and countries with more adherence to organisational hierarchy had decreased affinity for social media tools that drive social engagement.
As expected, the youngest workers are the most inclined of all age groups to adopt digital-workplace-driven products and services. They have a positive view of tech in the workplace and a strong affinity for working in nonoffice environments. Nevertheless, they reported the lowest levels of agreement with the statement that work is best accomplished in teams.
The survey also showed that the oldest workers are the second most likely adopters of NWOW. Those aged 55 to 74 have the highest opinion of teamwork, have progressed to a position where there is little routine work, and have the most favourable view of all age groups of internal social networking technology
Workers aged 35 to 44 were at the low point of the adoption dip, potentially feeling fatigued with the routines of life as middle age approaches. They were most likely to report that their jobs are routine, have the dimmest view of how technology can help their work, and are the least interested in mobile work.
Larger organisations on average had higher digital dexterity than smaller ones. “Embracing dynamic work styles, devices, work locations and team structures can transform a business and its relationship to its staff. But digital dexterity doesn’t come cheap,” says Roth. “It takes investment in workplace design, mobile devices and software, and larger organisations find it easier to make this investment.”
The topic of digital workplace transformations will be further discussed at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo taking place in Cape Town from 17 to 20 September