Joanne Bushell | Managing Director | VP Sales in Africa | Regus | IWG plc | mail me |
The only thing that’s constant in life is change. Many companies are now choosing hybrid workforce models to power their operations. As a result, they are adopting the technology necessary to complement this type of flexible model. The COVID-19 pandemic forever altered how the modern workplace functions: trends clearly show the demand for the hybrid workplace model.
The modern workforce was already changing long before the pandemic hit. Industry 4.0, or the next evolution of how people live and work with the rise of technology, is making waves in how people think about work. The question is: with all this new technology at our fingertips – coupled with Industry 4.0 and the hybrid workplace model – how is employee performance impacted?
Industry 4.0 and hybrid workplace technology provide the necessary interconnectivity to elevate the employee experience and company culture, impacting the future of work.
The rise of Industry 4.0 and the hybrid workplace
Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, continues to change how we work, live, and play. At the crux of this revolution is interconnectivity.
Technology that has emerged from Industry 4.0 includes the Internet of Things (IoT), smart buildings, sensors, AI-driven data, and big data. These technologies have paved the way for the modern workplace as we know it. For example, remote working would not be possible without this technology, or at the very least, what it is today.
The creation of mainframe computing, and eventually automation, marked the start of the previous industrial revolution, Industry 3.0. This eventually led to the development of hardware, software, and other foundational technologies that sparked Industry 4.0. Like the industrial revolutions before, Industry 4.0 is disruptive in its own right.
Interconnective technology
Companies used cutting-edge technology refined in Industry 4.0 even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced remote-only working.
While this technology was continuously evolving, the pandemic accelerated the changes Industry 4.0 was normalising into the workforce. Companies had to ensure their remote employees could work productively from home and remain connected and safe. As a result, many organisations had to embrace new technology and working styles, like flexible working and communication tools.
To be successful in the future, companies need to embrace cutting-edge technologies that will provide that edge.
For example, Facebook unveiled Horizon Workrooms, which allows remote workers to use Oculus VR headsets to join a virtual office. Users’ avatars are projected as part of the ‘Metaverse’, a virtual world where people use avatars to socialise, work, and entertain themselves. While we can’t predict exactly which technologies the future will hold, we do know that remote work is increasing and companies are embracing hybrid”, so an idea like this isn’t all that far from reality.
Many companies have embraced a mixed work environment, where employees work part of the time at home and part of the time in the office. This is known as a hybrid workplace—industry 4.0 and the hybrid workplace positions companies to rely on technology differently than before the pandemic.
The interconnectivity of Industry 4.0 and the hybrid workplace can elevate the employee experience.
For many remote workers, working from home full-time was a big adjustment. Not only did teams have to figure out how to communicate effectively, but other at-home challenges arose, like working alongside a partner or roommates, juggling family obligations and responsibilities, and feelings of isolation, loneliness, and increased stress.
According to Microsoft, 70% of employees welcome a hybrid work model in which they split their time between remote work and working in the office. Ten years from now, jobs will call for more thinking and less doing and be distributed across an increasing number of people in different communities and geographies. Such changes will require new models of learning and development as well as the creation of hybrid workplaces that combine technology and information to accommodate a mix of employees.
The hybrid workstyle has many benefits for employees and businesses alike, including:
- Improved work-life balance
- Flexibility
- No commute or an altered commute
- Increased time with family, friends, and outside-work activities
- Increased productivity and performance
This workstyle is the best of both worlds fused into one. The flexibility not only improves the balance between personal and professional lives, but it allows companies to open up their talent pool, giving them access to a broader selection, and it offers employees access to more job opportunities.
How businesses can embrace Industry 4.0 and the hybrid workplace
There’s no one way to adopt the hybrid workstyle, which is one of the best parts of this flexible work method. However, with so much hybrid workplace technology readily available, it can be overwhelming. It’s essential to figure out how to reconfigure your workplace to be genuinely hybrid.
The hybrid, blended workforce is here to stay. A few tips on integrating Industry 4.0 and the hybrid workplace into the organisation:
- Adopt activity-based working and agile working styles – Here’s a surprising statistic: 36% of employees say they’d prefer an agile workplace over a pay raise. The same study finds that 63% of managers link revenue growth directly to flexible working.
- The bottom line – flexibility means a boost in productivity and revenue. Therefore, it is critical to building an office environment that acknowledges that employees may work in different ways and at different times.
Examples of an agile workplace include:
- Open to change and flexibility throughout
- Embrace individual or unique employee needs and workstyles
- Provide employees with the equipment and technology they need to do their best work wherever they are
- Asynchronous work can be more productive than synchronous work thanks to hybrid workplace technology like Zoom, Slack, and other workplace tools.
For example, employees can book a shared meeting space, conference room, or an independent desk for quiet deep work from home before arriving at the office.
With people wanting to go back into the office at least part of the time, leveraging technology for the long-term is critical for businesses to grow. The 9-5, in-the-office-all-day style of working is now gone. Employees now have more choices and flexibility with where and how they work. Companies must have the technology that provides the most insights on how to plan for the future of work. The workplace is ever-changing, so having data-driven insights will support the new hybrid workplace.
The pandemic accelerated what Industry 4.0 was in the process of doing. It sped up combining technology with the workplace to foster productivity, cut costs, and improve the overall employee experience.
The future of work depends on interconnectivity
Either way, there’s no denying that the new way of working requires many businesses’ digital transformation from top to bottom. As well as the physical tools we need to get our jobs done, and there are the virtual workspaces we occupy.
Adopting a chameleon-like ability to adapt to a company’s digital culture is a challenge for many companies worldwide; however, if they fail to change, they plan to fail and could get left behind.
The rise of flexible working culture is helping to fuel the digitalisation of the workplace. As companies embrace the benefits of remote working, recruiting team members in different countries – or even different continents – and setting up flexible workspaces rather than traditional offices, the reliance on technology is increasing. And it’s forcing companies to take a long, hard look at the systems they have in place to see if they’re up to scratch.