The advances in workplace digital initiatives, Cloud-based solutions and smartphones have changed the way we live and work forever.

High-speed broadband, 4G (and soon to be 5G) mobile networks, VPNs, video and voice communication have made day-to-day business operations considerably less complex and strenuous, allowing employees to work wherever they want, whenever they want. Indeed, it is now entirely possible to build a business online from the comfort of your bedroom office.

The days of bustling offices with everyone punching in at 9:00am are a thing of the past. The modern office needs to be an open, all-inclusive environment where employees go to learn, develop and progress, both professionally and personally, rather than just ‘work’.

Many people now fit their lifestyle around work, which is great for the individual, but is your office infrastructure and culture set up to deal with this change? Has your business built an all-inclusive environment that provides employees with what they need to learn, develop and progress, both professionally and personally.

Should you care about employee happiness?
Businesses like Google realised this early on and opted to focus on employee happiness, professional development and work flexibility whilst driving innovation. Instead of being restrained by ‘traditional’ office culture, they embraced technological and generational change and adopted their working culture, use of technology and management style to attract new talent, retain existing talent, and build a culture that accommodates every employee.

Google’s approach is something that many businesses are still attempting to replicate, however this can be a radical change for some businesses, moving towards a structure that accommodates both new people and current employees. But hang in there, because once the transformation is complete the productivity gains, employee satisfaction and the business’ ability to scale and grow will be worth it.

UK companies aren’t prepared for a digital disruption
According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 88% of the companies cited building ‘the organisation of the future’ as a top priority. Despite this, it uncovered that most UK companies are unprepared for digital disruption in the workforce; the majority of HR and business leaders are not ready to build ‘the organisation of the future’ and, of the companies surveyed, only 16% were ‘ready’ to manage a workforce where new technologies and people work side-by-side.

Clearly, many businesses are struggling to restructure their office environment to incorporate new technologies and meet the needs of new employees – perhaps they are going about it the wrong way? With every generational or technological change, it’s vital that businesses develop their people first and then build their processes around them.

We’ve been going through our own transformation recently – read our ‘Webgains Academy’ blog to find out how we are creating a working environment that encourages Webgains’ employees to be brilliant, inquisitive, leaders, bright and courageous.

Yes, you should care
We cannot stress the importance enough of making sure the board and key business decision makers understand that it’s not about building the business first and attracting talent later – it’s about helping employees to grow and providing them with an environment that helps to drive productivity and efficiency. For businesses to attract and retain the best talent across all generations, the workplace structure must be built around its people. Once a business has an office environment that meets the needs and demands of each generation, only then can it truly begin to benefit from the expertise that each generation provides.

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