18:26 | 30/03/2017 Science - Technology
Only 40% feel that their organization is committed at a leadership level to bridge employee digital skills gaps.
Microsoft today unveiled findings of its Asia Workplace 2020 Study, where it found that employees in Vietnam do not feel empowered to embrace the demands of the digital workplace.
90% of Vietnam respondents consider themselves to be mobile workers and spend at least 20% of their time working outside of their offices, and 70% feel empowered by their organization’s culture and managers to be able to work together productively and collaboratively. However, what was interesting was that only 40% feel that their organizations are committed at a leadership level to bridge the digital skills gaps among employees in the digital age, which means more can be done to enhance collaboration within the workforce.
The Study, which involved close to 4,200 working professionals from 14 markets in Asia, sought to understand shifting employee behaviours and gaps in the workplace when it came to productivity, collaboration and flexi-work practices. This included 311 respondents from Vietnam.
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Mr. Vu Minh Tri, CEO of Microsoft Vietnam |
“As Asia primes itself to become the most connected market with more than half of all mobile connections originating from the region by 2021, organizations need to rethink how they empower their workforce with the right culture, policy, infrastructure and tools to maximise their potential. This means enabling collaboration from anywhere, on any device. However, it is also critical for business leaders to evaluate and implement changes to counter cultural and management challenges that are hindering employees to work seamlessly from wherever they are, which will in turn, hinder an organization’s growth and progress in the digital age,” said Mr. Vu Minh Tri, CEO of Microsoft Vietnam.
An earlier version of the Study conducted in 2015 found that 45 out of 100 respondents in Vietnam were ready for the New World of Work, whereby organizations had the right People, Place and Technology principles in place to enable a productive, collaborative and innovative workforce. This year, 70 out of 100 respondents felt so, indicating that organizations in the market are better equipped, although more can be done to move the needle.
But beyond People, Place and Technology factors, the rise of the 4th industrial revolution has also accelerated the pace of transformation. A recent Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study conducted in late 2016 found that ‘Empowering Employees’ is the number two digital transformation priority among Asia’s business leaders. On the other hand, having a digital skilled workforce was the number one barrier in their digital transformation journey.
It is evident that mobile professionals in the market are embracing flexi-work today, and organizations should look at new workplace practices, especially with the impeding influx of digital natives (born after 2000) entering the workforce for the first time.
Majority of respondents (83%) value work-life integration today, where the boundaries of work and life have blurred, but have enabled mobile professionals to be able to collaborate and work virtually.
The Study also found that organizations need to address several structural challenges within the workplace to ready themselves for the digital age, as well as flexi-work practices:
Workplace shifts have undeniably resulted in new ways of work, where technologies have enabled increased collaboration between individuals and teams across geographies and groups. However, the Study found that there were certain gaps today that hindered collaborative and productive outcomes from teams.
The top challenges were:
However, respondents feel that strong leadership and vision from team leaders (56%), and access to technology tools for collaboration so that employees could work from anywhere and respond in a timely manner (50%) can help build more collaborative teams.
The Study also found that respondents are seeking better devices to help them become more productive at work. Beyond hardware requirements, 39% hope to have the ability to access information and data on their mobile devices and 30% desire enterprise social networks for better collaboration across teams.
When asked about emerging technologies that will help build better work environments by 2020:
“As the nature of work changes, how employees collaborate and work together will be impacted as well. It is critical for business and HR leaders to seek ways to better empower individuals and remove barriers to collaborate for the digital age, especially when the Study clearly identifies gaps that can be minimized with technology. However, it is also important for businesses to also bridge the leadership and employee gap with more focus on people and culture,” Mr. Vu Minh Tri, CEO of Microsoft Vietnam shared.
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