How connected are your teams?
With the team collaboration software market set to hit a value of $59.86 billion by 2023, you’d think our communication problems were almost over.
However, a recent study conducted by the experts behind Workplace by Facebook reveals that there are still disconnects and silos in the business environment that need to be addressed. According to the research, while 86% of employees feel more connected to direct coworkers, only 14% feel as though they have a reliable link to their business HQ.
Our teams might be working better together but bridging the gaps between HQ and field workers could be the key to stronger collaboration in the future.
The Finding of Workplace by Facebook’s Study
Workplace by Facebook has built its research on the belief that modern teams are more dispersed than ever before. Countless employees don’t work in a standard office environment. Instead, these professionals live their lives on the frontline, away from HQ. Unfortunately, this can mean that team members feel disconnected and isolated from leaders and managers.
The results from Workplace’s study come from the answers given by more than 4,000 frontline workers and HQ managers in a survey distributed across the US and UK. The findings suggest a serious gap between different parts of the modern business environment.
Only 45% of frontline workers regularly share their thoughts with senior employees, even though 90% of managers feel that their frontline workers are empowered to share ideas with them. Additionally, 83% of managers felt confident that all employees have a voice in their business. However, 54% of frontline respondents said they feel “voiceless” at work.
Karandeep Anand, Vice President at Workplace by Facebook said:
“Collaboration tools are crucial in connecting the unconnected and ensuring everyone has a voice. There is a serious communications failure between managers and frontline workers which is inhibiting innovation and creativity. Some workers may be deskless, but they should not be voiceless.”
Making Sure That Everyone is Heard
Today’s business leaders can’t afford to ignore results like those provided by Workplace. After all, 21% of frontline workers claim that they’d consider quitting if they felt they weren’t listened to at work. Interestingly, Workplace by Facebook seemed to show that the UK is worse than the US when it comes to engaging frontline employees.
While 51% of US workers felt comfortable sharing an idea with head office, only 39% of UK workers felt the same. Additionally, 63% of US workers said that their company encourages better connections. Only 50% of UK workers saw their employers promoting “connectedness” at work.
Workplace believes that the stats show business leaders are frequently taking the wrong approach to employee interaction and engagement. For instance, 95% of business leaders recognise the importance of collaboration tools, but there are only 56% of respondents rolling these tools out at the moment.
Workplace by Facebook’s study suggests that employees feel undervalued and unheard in their current work environment. The only way to overcome this problem is to empower individuals with the right tools, ensuring connections between all parts of the business.
This quantitative research was carried out in May 2019 by independent research company Censuswide. 2,000 frontline workers and 2,000 HQ managers across the UK and US in the IT, HR, Manufacturing, Retail, Legal, healthcare, finance, arts & culture, Engineering & Architecture, sales and transport sectors were surveyed
