Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 55 | Page 26

EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

HOW CAN CIOS HELP THEIR ORGANISATIONS TO EMBRACE THE WORK FROM ANYWHERE MODEL ?

Finally , there is a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel . As countries get closer to the easing of lockdowns and social restrictions , many organisations are starting to look forward to welcoming employees and clients back to the office . But if enterprise organisations are thinking that this is the end of working from home , they need to think again . Industry experts look at the pro and cons of remote working and why enterprises in the Middle East should embrace a high breed model if they want to appeal to new talent .

While working from home was initially a reactionary solution to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions that governments in the Middle East region had imposed , now that it has demonstrated its value , it is here to stay . And as the need for organisations to reassess their remote work and learning capabilities , in order to create a digital workplace that ’ s ready for anything and ensures productivity from anywhere garners momentum , CIOs and IT teams have been grappling on how best to embrace the work from anywhere model for their organisations .

Matt Hancocks , Senior Director Analyst , Gartner , said there are many reasons why organisations in the Middle East should start to embrace working from home . Hancocks said these range from organisational effectiveness , productivity , employee experience in , but more importantly is the potential global talent war . “ One of the main considerations is what will this mean for accessing talent . Many organisations , especially
The survey revealed that even in a post-pandemic world , employees wanted to keep hold of many of the positives that had emerged in the new way of working . in IT roles , are looking at sourcing talent from outside their geographies , via a remote research model ,” he said . “ But also , those companies that do offer greater flexibility are likely to be better attracters of talent and could pull talent away from those organisations that don ’ t offer remote work .”
Osama Al-Zoubi , CTO , Cisco Middle East and Africa , agreed with Gartner ’ s Hancocks and said : “ Last year , Cisco commissioned a Workforce of the Future survey , with over 10,000 workers across 12 markets in Europe , Middle East , Africa and Russia ( EMEAR ). The intention was to understand what was working well during the work-from-home phase , what was no longer fit for purpose and how to build a future workplace that caters to all .”
According to Al-Zoubi , the survey revealed that even in a post-pandemic world , employees wanted to keep hold of many of the positives that had emerged in the new way of working . “ These benefits include having increased autonomy , working well as a dispersed team and being able to keep hold of faster decision-making . Even though only 5 % of those surveyed worked from home most of the time before the lockdown , now an overwhelming majority hope to keep this increased independence ,” he said . “ 87 % of people told us that they want greater ownership in defining how and when they use office spaces – blending between being office-based and working remotely .”
26 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com