Rebecca Gibson |
Less than 20% of organisations have the digital dexterity to adopt ‘new ways of work’ solutions, such as virtual collaboration and mobile tools, according to a new survey by research firm Gartner.
The Use the Digital Dexterity Index to Target Buyers Ready for New Ways of Work survey found that although many organisations recognise the importance of being able to support mobile, team-oriented and non-routine ways of work, most need assistance when it comes to implementing digital workplace technology. This is because they do not have employees with the cognitive ability and digital skills to be able to leverage and manipulate media, information and technology in highly innovative ways.
“Solutions targeting new ways of work are tapping into a high-growth area, but finding the right organisations ready to exploit these technologies is challenging,” said Craig Roth, research vice president at Gartner.
On average, larger organisations had higher digital dexterity than smaller ones.
“Embracing dynamic workstyles, devices, work locations and team structures can transform a business and its relationship to its staff, but digital dexterity doesn’t come cheap,” said Roth. “It takes investment in workplace design, mobile devices and software, and larger organisations find it easier to make this investment.”
The survey showed that on average, workers in the US, Germany and the UK have higher digital dexterity than those in other countries. These workers are also more willing to work from locations outside of the office and they want to use consumer, or consumer-like, software and websites at work. As a result, 18% of organisations in the US exhibited digital dexterity, 17.6% of companies did so in Germany and 17.1% did so in the UK.
Gartner also found that younger workers are the most inclined of all age groups to want to adopt digital workplace solutions and services. This is because they have a positive view of technology in the workplace and a strong affinity for working in non-office environments. However, they are least likely to want to work in teams.
Employees in the 55-74 age brackets are the second most likely adopters of ‘new ways of work’ solutions and have the most favourable view of internal social networking technology of all age groups. This group also place the highest value on teamwork.
Meanwhile, employees aged between 35 and 44 were the least interested in mobile work and had the lowest opinion on the potential of digital technology to improve the way they work.