Most ‘hybrid’ officers are not fit for purpose says Kinly report

A new report from Kinly highlights that two-thirds of enterprises admit that their ‘hybrid’ officers are not fit for purpose, despite calls for workers to return.
 

The report highlights that bad technology is damaging productivity, efficiency, and leaving enterprises unable to facilitate hybrid working effectively for employees both in the office or at home.

Kinly identifies 65% of enterprises that admit that their spaces are not optimised for hybrid working, despite 66% wanting to encourage staff back to the office at least part of the time.

Kinly’s report, titled Trusted Connections 2024, surveyed 425 AV professionals at global enterprise-level brands across the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordics.

The survey revealed that the challenges and complexities of flexible and remote communication may be a factor in the call to return to office, with one third (28%) of enterprises naming it as a top challenge.

More than half of respondents stated poor hybrid workflows (57%) and outdated AV technologies (58%) are damaging the productivity of hybrid teams. To meet this challenge, investments into hybrid technology, both in office and for remote workers, are being prioritised, with a third (35%) of those surveyed say they will be investing in remote support/management, 33% in unified communications and collaboration software, as well as 33% in in-office hybrid meeting rooms.

However, a quarter (26%) of AV professionals highlight a lack of analytics around working practices as a barrier to meeting their organisation’s priorities, such as ‘increasing efficiency’ (61%) and ‘increasing productivity’ (58%).

A third of respondents (33%) are already investing in an analytics platform for remote working and a further third (29%) are also investing in ‘in office’ analytics platforms.

Simon Watson, head of innovation, Kinly, commented: “Calling employees back to the office is not a solution to poor hybrid working practices. If anything, it could make things worse.

“Effective hybrid working relies on having the right technology in place at home and in the office, and most importantly making sure all these technologies work together seamlessly to give employees the same experience no matter where they work.If employers are going to adapt to this shift in corporate culture and ensure that workers are happy and effective, both at home and in the office, it all starts with AV technology. Ultimately, effective hybrid working makes a real, tangible impact on talent acquisition, and employee retention that cannot be discounted.”

 

Source: Inavate