We’re always connected. But are we connecting at work?
May 24, 2022
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The way we work has changed.
After the global pandemic forced almost every organization into the world of fully remote working almost overnight, we learned—a lot.
Two years later and against the backdrop of The Great Resignation and The Great Reshuffle, only a small fraction of any team—your team—feel like they are getting what they need and truly connecting on a human level.
People are not only experiencing a new world of work but living in a new world. It’s no surprise, then, that people’s fundamental idea of how to connect has also changed dramatically.
Our report, From always connected to omni-connected, shares new learnings about how omni-connected experiences strengthen culture, deepen trust and drive results. Omni-connected is the complete experience of work: of feeling connected, of being included and knowing we belong, regardless of our physical location.
We applied what we learned
As with so many other initiatives Accenture recommends to our clients, we test and refine them on our own organization first.
That is, we preach the power of omni-connected people because we’ve seen the benefits for ourselves. In truth, we had an advantage heading into the pandemic, since many of our people around the world had already worked remotely for years.
So, we were prepared to think about and set in motion a robust plan for helping our people feel even more connected and included, ensuring that they know they belong.
These actions guided our efforts about new, flexible ways of working.
Our five keys to the future of work
We’re expanding our focus beyond “spaces and places,” instead seizing opportunities in reimagined experiences for our people, guided by an omni-connected approach:
- Flexible working: Flexibility supports well-being and productivity—88% of survey respondents from our global all-people survey (78,000) said this was “most important.”
- No one-size-fits-all: Our model needs to be diverse and flexible enough to support our people’s needs and the spectrum of work we do.
- Decision framework: We’ll apply a consistent approach to deciding where work happens, including job requirements, client preferences, regulatory requirements, phase of projects, people’s individual preferences and tenure.
- In-person connection time: All our people will have a recommended baseline for in-person time—for collaboration, learning, knowledge sharing and building connection with clients, peers, leaders and communities.
- Human-led culture and omni-connected experience: We’re focused on building an inclusive, connected culture and experience built on equality and diverse opportunities to ensure all people feel they belong and can build careers they love.
The difference of being omni-connected
Omni-connectivity creates a shared and equal experience, wherever you work from, whatever you work on and whoever you work with. It comes from the digital tools we use, our physical locations, our behaviors and the culture we create.
We’re also implementing immersive reality and metaverse experiences to help people connect in new ways, feel a deeper sense of community and experience our culture in a personal way.
And we will continue to evolve and enhance our approach as we learn more and shape industry-leading work experiences and practices where people can bring their best selves—not only to work, but also to their entire lives.
