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While organisations across all sectors are embracing changes that will draw top talent to their workplaces and boost employee retention, business leaders must realise that magnetism is a continuous process – there is no finish line.
In the wake of widespread resignations and a surge of employees seeking a better work-life balance and increased job satisfaction, organisations have recently sought new ways to retain their talent. One way in which companies have improved employee retention is by becoming a magnetic workplace.
According to a recent report by Economist Impact, supported by Kyocera, a growing number of organisations across the globe have implemented changes that have amplified their attractiveness significantly. As well as scoring a country or industry’s magnetic score for the present day, the report also analysed respondents’ confidence about their workplace’s magnetism in five years’ time. By examining where an organisation’s optimism, or lack thereof, lies, we can discover how they can maintain and multiply their workplace’s magnetism.
Businesses must plan how to build upon their present-day strengths.”
In one of our recent articles, we detailed how organizations can implement a series of reforms to boost their magnetism and appeal to desirable job applicants seeking their next opportunity. By equipping employees with the right tools for productivity, entrusting them with flexibility and autonomy, and cultivating a vibrant and inclusive workplace culture, today’s businesses have inspired both their in-house and incoming talent.
For example, 75% of business experts surveyed in the report responded that they have provided their employees with technology that boosts their productivity. In addition, just over two-thirds of participants expressed confidence that their recruitment processes were increasing diversity at their organisations.
These changes have pushed workplace magnetism through the roof while also boosting employee engagement for the foreseeable future. However, businesses must consider how to build upon their present-day strengths and ensure that the magnetic workplace remains a long-term goal rather than a fleeting success.
The first area where an organisation can enhance its attractiveness is Pillar 1 of a magnetic workplace: productivity and infrastructure. While some businesses may hesitate to invest in new technology, the ones that take the leap will see the greatest return on their investment and an increase in worker productivity. Employee productivity is essential for success, and one of the best ways to facilitate this is with long-lasting, reliable tools that contribute to a strong technological infrastructure.
While some European countries scored highly in their present-day magnetism, they lacked confidence in their investments in digital technologies. For these regions, now is the time to invest in creative solutions that will push employee productivity to new heights. By investing in state-of-the-art technology to boost productivity, business leaders across the continent can remain a key player in their markets.
As well as investing in new technology, business leaders should review the software and devices they already have in place. By taking stock of which areas need to be improved and where employee frustration with slow, out-of-date technology lies, they will be able to upgrade their infrastructure with innovative solutions that lead to productivity.
Board members of educational institutions will also benefit from modernising the technology used by teaching professionals. Despite a boom in education technology following the introduction of hybrid teaching models in recent years, 35.7% of educational organisations lacked confidence that their technology facilitated productivity.
In order to reduce turnover and burnout and inspire the next generation of incoming professionals, educational organisations should turn to cutting-edge technology to improve the day-to-day experience of their staff. One example of such technology would be document management solutions that professionals can use to organise vast amounts of documents more efficiently and increase the security of sensitive student information.
Another pillar of the magnetic workplace is employee engagement: if employees have access to flexible working arrangements and the ability to shape their roles, they will feel more satisfied at their place of work and be more likely to stay.
As political changes ripple across the continent, everyday operations at workplaces have also been affected. The effects of this can be seen in the report, which points to a lack of confidence about the availability of flexible working arrangements in some countries. As the report discovered, the availability of flexible working and hybrid working environments is key to employee engagement and long-term satisfaction.
To ensure that employee engagement endures the uncertainty of the future, organisations seeking to strengthen this pillar should utilise software that enables secure hybrid working. Business leaders will find a range of options available on the market, one example being cloud solutions that facilitate secure hybrid working and empower employees with mobility.
By employing software to increase the productivity of hybrid working, companies can be confident that their employees will feel more engaged in the long term. In addition, once their reputation for prioritising employee engagement spreads, world-class talent will see their organisation as a workplace deserving of their knowledge.
Despite the fact that profit will be the chief concern for board members and the key to its survival, its culture can make or break employee experience. Sooner rather than later this will be reflected in bottom line figures.
With more and more prospective employees researching the culture of an organisation before choosing to send an application or accept an offer, businesses need to factor in this aspect of their workplace when planning for long-term success.
While industries such as Retail, Financials and Insurance, and Media and IT are confident about their workplace’s culture, managers of companies within such industries will see great benefits if they continue to develop and improve workplace culture. One way to do this would be by implementing policies to improve sustainability so employees feel aligned with their organisation’s values. If employees feel like their employer shares their values, they will feel more motivated to consistently go the extra mile for the company.
Businesses looking to retain their valued employees and attract new talent are already laying the foundations for their workplace to become more magnetic. The ones that set themselves up for long-term success by implementing new technology and responsible business practices will see a sustainable increase in employee retention and a more prosperous future.
If you’d like to discover how Kyocera can help you build an enduring magnetic workplace and learn more about the Economist Impact report, you can take a look at our homepage.
Boost productivity and employee satisfaction by constructing the key pillars of a magnetic workplace:
