The work model made the “Great Resignation” inevitable

Adopting new ways of working is essential to attract and retain top talent Could the “Big Resignation” have been avoided? I think so. Employees would always want more flexibility as technological advances made it possible. It was inevitable. If companies had earlier detected the need for employees to have greater flexibility, the “Great Resignation” might not have been so relevant.

The reality is what it is, and right now companies are faced with a choice: adapt or become obsolete. It is essential to adopt new ways of working to attract and retain the best talent. Employees are the ones in control of their choices in the workplace and honestly, that’s how it should have been all this time. One lesson we should all learn from the new normal is that our teams know where and how they do their best work; we just have to trust them.

The Grand Resignation could have been avoided if there had been more flexibility

There are those who highly value the time they spend in the office, and take the opportunity to unwind on the way home after work. Others, on the other hand, are clearly committed to a more flexible work environment. This is reflected in the results of a recent study carried out by my company, Ivanti, on the Everywhere Workplace, which confirms that almost one in four respondents acknowledged that they would leave their job if they were forced to return to the office full time. .

Although reluctant at first, many employers are getting used to the idea that the abrupt and improvised change of remote work that has been accelerated by the pandemic, is here to stay. A change that represents undoubted progress and a step in the right direction. And one thing is clear: offering flexible working arrangements is becoming more of a business practice as our workforce becomes more mobile and tech-savvy.

There’s just one problem: Whereas the office represented a static, predictable environment where everyone used the same types of devices in the same physical location, ate in the same cafeteria, and (well!) breathed the same air, this uniformity is not found in the Everywhere Workplace. And yet, many leaders who congratulate themselves for signing off on the Everywhere Workplace move continue to treat the security, network access, and device landscape as “everyone’s cafe.”

To be fair, the workplace has never been the same for everyone. That people share the same environment does not mean that their experience is identical. Office politics, professional categories and questions of identity and equality have always been there and have played their part. The decentralization of the workforce and the elimination of the facade of homogeneity that comes with sharing a work space, is the trigger for company managers to start considering employees individually, as individuals.

Business leaders have to deal with the talent shortage that is taking place in their organizations, so they increasingly value the level of experience of their employees. And an important factor that cannot be overlooked is that the technologies provided by the company must provide the highest level of security to its workers, without hindering their productivity. A subtle balance that needs to be maintained, as it is directly responsible for the degree of digital experience of employees, which is so necessary in today’s work environment. .

Although the transition to Everywhere Workplace brings significant benefits, it is essential that the security infrastructure evolves as well. Employees no longer work exclusively with corporate devices on local networks, which means company data no longer lives within the confines of corporate networks. The Everywhere Workplace requires cybersecurity solutions that make it easy to discover, manage, secure and service all endpoints and devices, wherever they are.

Having a strong security posture throughout the organization is crucial. Companies face challenges trying to balance ease of access and employee productivity, while ensuring bad actors stay out of a workplace that has recently been devoid of a security perimeter. Since January 2020, there has been an alarming 30,000% increase in Covid-19 related attacks including phishing, malicious websites, and malware targeting remote employees.

Here are some practical recommendations for companies:

– Embrace the Everywhere Workplace. But do so knowing that things like digital access, flexibility in where and how employees work, and your ability to keep them safe and productive will all be factors in how willing employees are to join and stay on your team, and in their ability to perform at their best.

– Don’t overlook employees’ desire and need for flexibility. They will get them to give the best of themselves, increase their creativity and commitment to their projects. By making remote access easier and safer, they will focus more on their goals and optimize their time, achieving better results.

The world is not going to return to “normal”. Navigated correctly, that could end up being a good thing for your team and your business.

By Melissa Puls, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Ivanti.