The future of the office-the danger of not adopting the mixed work style that the CEO of ServiceNow believes-TechRepublic Japan

Now that we are in the age of mixed work, companies need to rethink their approach to office space. “No one wants to work in the office anymore,” ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott told analysts and reporters at the company’s Knowledge 2021 event. …

The corporate office building has always been a place where managers confirm that employees have completed their daily work and their work has been completed. These two basic goals are whether the facility is a small office in the suburbs, a huge corporate park, a single office building, or an open floor plan, whether the office is an engineer, an accountant, a graphic design, or all of these, unchanged. However, as Bob Dylan told his posterity in the form of a song, “Times are changing.” And this time seems to have come.

Digital transformation to tackle COVID-19

In addition, all the executives I have spoken to hope that hybrid and remote work will become part of the new routine. For example, when asked if they will continue to provide employees with remote work opportunities after the pandemic, 100% of Tech Republic’s CIO jury said they would.

In short, as mentioned earlier, the main purpose of the office is to provide a physical place to conduct business no longer in line with modern times.

But what about the second purpose of managers confirming that employees have completed their work? This is also solved through technology. From software development to launching public relations activities, today’s project management tools, office productivity applications, and enterprise software provide managers and executives with more information about employee productivity than ever before.

According to a survey by Salesforce, the vast majority of remote workers are actually improving their productivity and communication skills. Similarly, a report issued by the Prodoscore Research Committee (PRC) in March 2021 showed that despite the significant increase in telecommuting in 2020, the work efficiency of employees has actually improved. This has become obvious.

Therefore, it can be judged that the second traditional use of office buildings is not convincing.

Collaboration-centric office reorganization

So the question is, will there be a physical office in the future? The answer is yes, at least for now. A survey conducted by Zoom and Momentive in February found that 65% of remote workers want to divide their time between working at home and going to the office.

But we need to change our view of office functions.

McDermott stated in a statement that by 2024, 75% of the working population will be millennials and beyond. These younger generations want to work “in the most efficient way”, “this is a great experience.” . We hope to be able to do this flexibly.”

“I think office buildings are like computers and smartphones,” McDermott said. “This is a tool, if it can connect you and your colleagues, come up with ideas, collaborate and innovate, but you are busy pushing time cards even in a large office, that would be great. No one wants to hang out Time wasting time,” he said.

McDermott’s views are also supported by multiple surveys conducted during the pandemic.

A study conducted by Morning Consult and Verizon in March 2021 found that seven in ten Americans expect to work remotely at least 1-2 days a week after a year. According to a report released by Salesforce in May, 59% of respondents believed that mixed work “improved their mental health” and 54% believed that “improved their physical health”. It is said. In a January survey by LiveCareer, nearly one-third (29%) of employees said they would retire if they were not allowed to work remotely.

McDermott explained the dangers of companies that do not adopt flexible and mixed working methods in two parts.

The first and most important risk is damage to customer satisfaction.

In McDermott’s words, in order to obtain 3-Michelin-star customer satisfaction, a company must first obtain 3-Michelin-star employee satisfaction.

Second, there is a risk of brain drain or inability to hire talent.

“If you want to attract the best talent, you have to manage your company flexibly,” McDermott said. “We want to bring a new generation to the IT industry, especially ServiceNow, but not everyone can move to Hyderabad, San Diego or Santa Clara. The best talent may be in Chicago. You may be in Atlanta, or maybe In Miami, you may be in Houston, you may be in Austin, you may be anywhere in the world.”