Future of the Workplace

The State of the Workplace from Cornerstone OnDemand
Today Cornerstone OnDemand, the experts in human resource applications and support, released a new study that they conducted of American workers late this summer. The fascinating results reveal a paradox between technology and information overload and the use of tech to get control or our busy lives. Most interestingly workers are quite willing to use their own technology and desire more and better technology to enhance collaboration. But, at the same time all employees, including Millennials, desire more face-to-face interaction at work. Check out the infographic below, but first a few key discoveries from their press release…

With the rise of mobile, the cloud and multiple device use, today’s workers are more connected than ever before, giving them access to high-volume streams of information on a 24-7 basis. But is this helping or hurting their productivity? New research from Cornerstone OnDemand (NASDAQ: CSOD), conducted in collaboration with Kelton, reveals that U.S. employees are feeling overloaded, whether by work (50 percent), information (34 percent) or technology (25 percent).

The survey indicates that it is the tech-savvy Millennials who are feeling the most overwhelmed from being “always on” versus their older colleagues. Information overload was cited by 41 percent of Millennials, versus just 31 percent among older generations, while technology overload was cited by 38 percent of them compared to 20 percent of older workers.1

From unplugging and digital detoxes to meditation and hiding in metaphorical caves, people are trying everything in order to combat the stress of living in a hyper-connected world. Cornerstone’s The State of Workplace Productivity Report indicates that, despite the attempts to unplug, people are still turning to tech to tame their always-on lives. They are even willing to try out wearable devices to manage everything from monitoring sleep to exercise to spurring self-improvement.

Key survey findings include:

• Face Time for the Facebook Generation. Despite the stereotype that younger generations prefer to hide behind their devices when collaborating with others at work, a surprising 60 percent of Millennials prefer to collaborate in person rather than online (34 percent), or via phone or video conference (6 percent). Overall, seven in ten U.S. employees (72 percent) said they favor in-person collaboration.

• The Rise of Wearable Devices. Wearables have the potential of not only impacting workplace productivity but also how employees think about work-life balance. In fact, 58 percent of survey respondents said they would be willing to use wearable technology if it enabled them to do their job better.

• Multi-Screen Multitasking. While workers across all generations are using multiple devices for work, more Millennials are opting for the “bring your own device” (BYOD) approach (56 percent) versus their older colleagues (39 percent). Over half of Millennials (52 percent) use their smartphones for work compared to just 23 percent among older generations. And one in five Millennials (20 percent) uses a tablet for work, versus 10 percent of older employees.

• The Emergence of Buy Your Own Application. Employees are not just bringing their own devices, they are now relegated to buying their own applications to get their jobs done. Of those currently using software for work, nearly four in ten employees (37 percent) said they are likely to spend their own money to download applications for work purposes in the next 12 months. Even 20 percent of employees not currently using applications for work said they were likely to do this.

Link to Infographic
The State of the Workplace from Cornerstone OnDemand