Employers in Singapore are not providing the right tools for employees to effectively collaborate and communicate internally across the organisation, as well as externally with customers. This finding is according to nationwide survey commissioned by Avaya, and conducted by research firm YouGov.

The results based on interviews with 507 employees, highlight that the communication and collaboration tools provided by workplaces are not mobile-friendly, and are not embedded into the applications and browsers that employees “live in” every day.

Nearly one quarter (24 percent) of employees say, their employers do not provide the right technology tools for effective communication. The survey focuses on three key areas of concern as companies seek more collaborative communications tools in the workplace: being able to work seamlessly across any device of their choice, having access to emails, shared files and tele or video-conferencing facilities to manage work related calls, and finally easy access to collaboration tools.

The Gaps

As technology reshapes the workforce, employees are relying on a patchwork of mobile and cloud-based collaboration applications to keep up with the changing work environment.

Nearly two in five of office workers (39 percent) spend an average of 8 working days away from their desks in a typical month and need easy access to tele or video-conferencing facilities to manage work related calls, as well as access to emails and shared files on the go.

Office workers want independent access to emails on their mobile phones (37 percent), calling and mobile data packages (43 percent), and remote access to file servers and databases (43 percent) from their mobile devices or outside the company network.

Further, less than one in three have access to third-party conference calling solutions (32 percent), video conference facilities (27 percent) and desktop conference facilities (23 percent).

Only 30 percent of full time employees in Singapore are currently able to work effectively and seamlessly on device of their choice – desktop, laptop, mobile, or tablet. In fact, more than 41 percent of office workers say they would want a hot desk facility to work effectively from any location.

See: Tech Talent Shortage in Singapore Unable to Meet Industry Demands

While office workers rely on technology to keep track of and manage their work, from scheduling meetings, to sharing digital, video and audio content, to recording meetings and sharing notes afterward, many do not have easy access to collaboration technologies outside of work – only 35 percent have calendar access on mobile. 

Further, 70 percent of employees in Singapore are using personal social messaging applications such as WhatsApp and WeChat for business communications without oversight from IT teams, thus exposing organisations to data breaches and security risks. These applications also do not integrate with other enterprise tools such as email, work calendar and file storage services.

The Opportunities

More than half (53 percent) surveyed would build communication and collaboration abilities into existing enterprise apps (click-to-call through email, join conference call through calendar, etc.) and an overwhelming 71 percent said that a technology-assisted environment can help employees to be more productive.

“Digital transformation can be described as a way of helping companies reduce complexity of customer interactions. Employees are internal customers and the employee experience is the future of work. The survey results clearly show employees are looking for simple, easy to use mobile friendly collaboration tools that fit within their workflow. Avaya Equinox is the industry’s first real unified communications solution that enables employees to seamlessly use communication and collaboration tools within their workflow,” said Sami Ammous, Sales Engineering Director, APAC, Avaya.

Also read: Harnessing Technology to Build People-Centred Culture