T
TALKING HEADS
Are you taking the pulse of your organisation?
T
Julien Codorniou
Communication tools
connect generations
and provide your
people with a voice.
46 // Future Talent
he way we work has changed.
Over recent years, we’ve
moved from letters to email,
desk phones to mobiles, and
offices to remote working, thanks to
enhanced and flexible connectivity.
In the modern workforce landscape,
80% of employees around the world
don’t sit at a desk.
We are now in the midst of further
transformation as new generations
enter the workforce. Generation Z
comprises true digital natives, members
of whom have been exposed to the
internet, smartphones and instant
messaging from their earliest youth.
They have very different expectations
of how their employers should operate,
communicate and collaborate.
Our challenge is to connect
generations to create an inclusive culture
and increase business productivity.
However, Facebook’s Deskless not
Voiceless study, which explored
the communication practices and
challenges between frontline workers
and business leaders, found that while
95% of leaders understand the value of
workforce collaboration tools, only 56%
have implemented them.
This disparity presents a huge
opportunity for a significant number
of organisations to provide a platform
where employees of all positions,
ages and backgrounds have a voice.
Doing so should be seen as a
competitive differentiator.
Collaboration tools can help bring
the entire organisation together.
Individuals entering the workforce
today want to feel connected to their
companies, know who their CEOs are,
and what their organisation stands for.
Communication tools almost double the
number of people who feel connected
to the leadership team, from 14% to 25%.
Generating this feeling is surely essential,
especially when you consider that 61%
of Generation Z plan to leave their jobs
within two years due to a personal or
career priority disconnect, according
to the 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey.
Having communication tools at an
organisation’s core not only attracts
great talent, but it empowers and
retains it; it can drive ideas sharing
across the business and be that spark
for organisational innovation.
Innovation is in many ways the
lifeblood of business, but it can only thrive
in environments that welcome new ideas
from anywhere and organisations that
have processes in place that allow them
to grow and develop. Our research found
a common consensus among (98% of)
“Communication
tools almost double
the number of
people who feel
connected to the
leadership team,
from 14% to 25%”
business leaders that ideas should come
from anywhere within the business.
Despite this, we also found that one
in four employees said their ideas were
stifled by poor communication. What
if the next big idea for your business
lies within that quarter of employees
who feel voiceless? Will it be lost?
Communication tools don’t just enable
more conversations and benefit the
company culture, they change the
things employees are able to say and
provide a platform for ideas to be shared.
People are the beating heart of all
organisations and companies can future
-proof themselves by ensuring their
workforce feels valued and connected.
As new generations enter the workforce,
there is an opportunity to evolve and
transform, and in the process, create
an environment that empowers all staff
and drives innovation.
Julien Codorniou is vice-president of
Workplace at Facebook.