Cutting-Edge Study Shows Many Businesses Remain Unprepared for Remote Work 18 Months Into Pandemic

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, September 29, 2021 (Newswire.com) - While companies across the globe have had more than 18 months to ramp up remote work capabilities, a noteworthy new study from Origami Connect reveals that many organizations are still woefully unprepared for remote work. Three key challenges — remote access technology, lack of documented policies and procedures, and nonexistent performance management — have largely prevented successful work-from-home arrangements.

Origami's recent study of more than 200 organizations based in North America, Europe and Oceania was designed to measure the state of the digital employee experience in 2021. Respondents chiefly represented IT, Human Resources and Internal Communications, among other departments.

"The issue with remote work is not managers' need for control. It's that many companies lack the bare essentials to make remote work viable," said Yaroslav Pentsarskyy, Digital Workplace advisor for Origami Connect. "Technology and processes for remote work are simply not there."

According to the Origami study:

• Nearly half of companies with fewer than 100 employees and 40 percent of companies with at least 100 employees struggle with remote technology — or lack it altogether. Even when employees can perform tasks remotely, they are required to come into the office due to technology issues.
• One-quarter of companies lack documented policies and procedures, which makes it harder to ensure quality of work, resolve issues and train new employees.
• Almost 50 percent of organizations surveyed don't have performance tracking and management systems in place, forcing them to rely on daily monitoring and feedback, which is difficult in a remote environment.

The impact on employees, companies and industries

Even as many employees remain uncomfortable coming in to work and the pandemic continues to disrupt global business, companies of all sizes are requiring their team members to return to the office because they lack ample remote-work capabilities and support.

One of the biggest disruptions involves learning and development. Just 42 percent of surveyed companies have a learning management system in place, which means nearly 60 percent handle ongoing training and education in an ad-hoc fashion. When companies are unable to deliver cohesive training and employees are unable to advance their skills and education, it can lead to attrition, decreased morale and negative long-term effects for businesses and employees alike

"While many global businesses successfully pivoted to remote work immediately, a surprising number are still struggling to adopt effective policies and technology to make this possible," Pentsarskyy added. "All of these tools are widely available, so we would hope to see a real shift in our next survey."

About Origami Software

Based in Vancouver, Origami is an award-winning, data-driven SharePoint intranet that helps employees find information 70 percent faster. With a passion for innovation, Origami's mission is to unlock the hidden capacities of the digital workplace. For more information, please visit https://www.origamiconnect.com/.

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Source: Origami Connect