New research from Microsoft Canada and Ipsos
Canada sheds light on the biggest changes and challenges to
Canadian workplaces
TORONTO, Jan. 18, 2018 /CNW/ - A new culture of work
is emerging, resulting in profound implications for Canadian
businesses. New research from Microsoft and Ipsos shows that
if leaders want to drive growth and innovation, they must foster a
workplace culture that unleashes their employees' creative approach
to problem solving and desire to collaborate in order to generate
fresh ideas. The study of 500 Canadian business decision
makers found that adapting new cultural and technological changes
are key to this transformation.
In fact, according to the research, the overwhelming majority of
business decision makers (88 per cent) point to the value of
motivating and empowering employees to be their most creative
selves as an important factor in creating a successful workplace.
Nearly the same number (88 per cent) place an emphasis on
leveraging technology for success because it helps employees
collaborate with each other regardless of the physical location.
That said, unlocking creativity is proving to be difficult with one
in four business leaders saying that motivating and empowering
employees to be their most creative is one of the greatest
challenges.
"Business leaders are faced with profound challenges in a
rapidly evolving economy and it is critical that they
rethink everything from the organization's culture to the
physical and digital tools they provide to their workforce to drive
value and stay competitive in this new world of work," said
Jordan Sheridan, General Manager of
Modern Workplace, Microsoft Canada. "In response, this
represents a fundamental shift in how Microsoft is designing
solutions. We're constantly challenging ourselves to deliver the
technology, devices and services that enable businesses and their
teams to be better connected, more productive and more secure than
ever before."
Changing employee expectations, more diverse and globally
distributed teams – including more generations in the workplace
today than ever before – and an increasingly complex threat
landscape are all shaping this new world of work. As a result,
businesses need new ways of communicating, connecting and sharing
in order to drive creativity and collaboration, confirmed by the
research. The overwhelming majority (84 per cent) of business
leaders say that modernizing how employees work, including the
introduction of flexible hours and work arrangements, is important
to the success of business.
"Historically, the workplace was designed to prevent
communication," commented Bruce Mau,
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Massive Change Network.
"What we realize now is that communication flow within an
organization is the most powerful creator of wealth, so we as
business leaders need to find the synthesis between our physical
and digital workspaces to facilitate this communication."
Shifting priorities from work places to work
spaces
The research, conducted by Ipsos to understand the pressures
placed on businesses to stay relevant in an increasingly
competitive climate, reveals that as business decision makers
consider the evolution of the workplace, it is more important than
ever to empower employees with the right spaces and technologies
they need to do their jobs. For instance, designing a digital
environment that includes upgraded technologies to improve business
processes is the highest priority for 65 per cent of Canadian
business leaders. More than three-quarters (86 per cent) of
business decision makers recognize that technology devices that
make it easier for employees to do their job is critical.
Additionally, 55 per cent of this same group indicate that it's
very important to redesign an office space with fewer walls and
more collaborative spaces. Ultimately, the marrying of the digital
and physical is critical to the success of any organization in the
modern world. Companies need to lead with the digital tools but
it's important to support this new reality with the physical
workspaces that drive creativity and collaboration.
An example of this is the recent collaboration between Microsoft
and Steelcase. The two organizations joined forces to explore the
future of work and together they developed a range of
technology-enabled spaces to help organizations foster creativity
and better collaboration. These spaces seamlessly integrate the
best of Microsoft Surface devices with Steelcase architecture and
furniture, helping every employee unlock creativity.
"The problems people face at work today are much more complex
than they used to be. They require a new creative way of thinking
and a very different work process," said Gale Moutrey, vice president of communications
at Steelcase. "Creativity is a process in which anyone can engage
and requires diverse work modes as well as different types of
technology. People need to work alone, in pairs and in different
size groups throughout a creative process, and they need a range of
devices that are mobile and integrated into the physical workplace.
Additionally, spaces should inspire people without compromising
performance. Together, Microsoft and Steelcase are helping
organizations thoughtfully integrate place and technology to
encourage creative behaviours at work."
Increased focus on safety and security
The research also revealed that business decision makers are
looking to create a cohesive environment that allows for
collaboration and creativity in a secure environment that blocks
threats, regardless of where or when an employee needs to work.
In fact, 84 per cent of business decision makers confirm that
transforming business to address the needs of the modern workplace
by giving teams the tools to be mobile and work remotely cannot
come at the cost of sacrificing the company's data and information
– it must remain safe. More broadly, the research also highlighted
that more than three quarters (78 per cent) of business decision
makers see security as a high priority, placing an importance on
ensuring their business is protected against data breaches.
Despite the acknowledgement of the importance of security, fewer
than three in ten business decision makers feel very confident that
their organization is currently well protected against security
threats, including data breaches and loss of devices. This means
many organizations may be leaving themselves vulnerable to security
breaches.
The research is part of Microsoft Canada's Modern Workplace
campaign that is aimed at helping businesses better navigate the
changing world of work in Canada.
The campaign – which launches this month – includes a series of
interviews with Canadian thought leaders, such as Bruce Mau, Founder of the Massive Change
Network, Gale Moutrey, VP of
Communications at Steelcase and Jonathan
Lister, VP, Sales Solutions & Canada Country Manager at
LinkedIn for a "how to" series on the modern workplace. Data from
the research will also be leveraged for a whitepaper on the same
topic. All the information, including details on Microsoft's modern
workplace tools, such as Microsoft 365, can be found here:
Microsoft.ca/ModernWorkplace
Methodology
These are the findings of an Ipsos poll
conducted on behalf of Microsoft. A sample of 500 Canadian business
decision-makers (BDM) was surveyed online between November 27-30, 2017. The overall data has been
weighted by number of employees and region to be representative of
businesses in Canada based on the
latest Census data. The precision of online polls is measured using
a credibility interval. In this case, the results are accurate to
within +/- 5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the
results would have been had all Canadian business decision-makers
been polled. Credibility intervals are wider among subsets of the
population.
About Microsoft Canada
Established in 1985,
Microsoft Canada Inc. is the Canadian subsidiary of
Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses
realize their full potential. Microsoft Canada provides
nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services
in both French and English. Headquartered in Mississauga,
Microsoft Canada has nine regional offices across the
country dedicated to empowering innovation, prosperity and security
through great software - any time, any place and on any device. For
more information on Microsoft Canada, please
visit www.microsoft.ca.
SOURCE Microsoft Canada Inc.