What Do Knowledge Workers Need to Succeed?
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What Do Knowledge Workers Need to Succeed at Work?
Today's knowledge workers depend on both traditional tech tools and cloud-based on-demand solutions—and they prefer informal, less-controlled work environments. -
Evolving Roles
35% of the knowledge workers surveyed said their current job role will not exist within five years. -
Casual Culture
90% said an informal work environment would be closer to what they consider ideal, and 95% prefer that their workplace be less "controlling." -
Restricted Space
69% of the respondents said that having a single office as a physical workplace is not as important as it was in the past. -
Open Borders
45% would like to spend more than a quarter of their time outside of a traditional office, and 38% actually do that. -
Remote Rapport
52% of the respondents said they work in virtual teams more often now than they did in the past. -
Tech Support
57% said they use on-demand tools, such as those based in the cloud, for team, project and collaboration needs. -
Top Benefits of Working in a Virtual Team
Opportunity for creative thinking: 36%, Bringing together different skills: 34%, Ability to make decisions quickly: 26% -
Top Challenges of Working in a Virtual Team
Lack of face-to-face formal meetings: 36%, Absence of social interaction with colleagues: 34%, Inability to establish clear leadership: 26% -
Crucial Communications Tools
Email: 74%, Face-to-face conversations: 49%, Audio conference calls: 32%, Intranet: 23%, Videoconferencing: 16% -
Open Options
21% of the knowledge workers surveyed are employed as contractors or freelancers. 53% of the respondents who are not contractors or freelancers would prefer it over working as a full-time employee.
Thanks to rapid technological shifts and market changes, their job roles are constantly evolving, and they place more value on mission-supporting results rather than simply "clocking in" from 9 to 5. Also, many of these individuals believe that an ideal work space doesn't exist in a traditional office. Who are we describing? Knowledge workers, the vast majority of whom are seeking informal working environments that are less "controlling," according to a recent survey from Unify. The resulting report, "The Way We Work," defines knowledge workers as people who "think for a living" and engage with technology day-to-day. Most indicate that they're working as part of a virtual team more than ever. To stay connected, they depend on a mix of traditional technology tools (such as email) and newer cloud-based, on-demand solutions. These tools enable the workers to think more creatively and make quicker decisions. "Work is so much more complicated today than just the hours put in during any given day," writes Jon Pritchard, CEO at Unify, in the report's introduction. "In the average office, knowledge workers … have to contend with generational gaps, digital transformations, the on-demand economy, the fast evolving nature of work, frustrating technology and the growing realization that many of their jobs won't be in existence in the future. … As business leaders, we need to start shaping our businesses, our office spaces and the communications tools within them to suit the modern knowledge worker—or [we] stand a real risk of losing our top talent." An estimated 9,000 global employees took part in the research, which was conducted by Censuswide.