Dive Brief:
- Digital tools and career development drive job satisfaction, a new Randstad US study shows. Based on responses from 800 company leaders and 3,000 workers, Workplace 2025: The Post-Digital Frontier revealed that employee engagement is influenced by digitization and opportunities for growth, but that only 42% of organizations are restructuring their HR operations or revising their strategies to leverage digital tools. And only 51% of that number said they're highly or very effective at doing so.
- Study results also show that technology tops the list of what fulfills employees' basic needs. Workers cited those needs as: a work computer/laptop/device (75%); fast internet and Wi-Fi (68%); office space/cubicle space (55%); and air conditioning and heating (47%).
- The top factors cited for job satisfaction were: having the latest digital and technology skills; savings or financial assistance programs (such as 401k, tuition reimbursement, etc.); and vacation.
Dive Insight:
Employees are equipped with technology and digitally proficient in their personal lives and expect the same of the workplace. In fact, a Clutch survey revealed that many employees use their own devices at work — but employers that aren't prepared to provide proper oversight for such usage, potentially creating security risks.
A similar Randstad US study released earlier this year found that organizations with successful track records for attracting and retaining talent tend to be digital leaders. Those results are closely aligned with the job satisfaction study. A little more than half of the employers polled said they're in the transformative stage of digitization, while only 38% described themselves as proficient. Both study results indicate that employers have much work to do to properly prepare for the transition to a digital organization.
In other surveys, HR professionals have said they recognize technology's advantages in the workplace but lack the resources needed for a digital transformation. As a result, organizations likely have a mandate: Get up to speed or or risk being left behind.
