This disparity between employees and employers signals a global trend that suggest decision-makers need to engage and align with their employees to better understand their expectations. By understanding and meeting employee needs, business leaders can create a strong hybrid working model will in turn help secure future talent.
The research, carried out by Ipsos, also found that end users are now spending an average of seven hours per week in virtual meetings – an increase of two hours per week over the last year.
In addition, 99 per cent of decision-makers now see the advantages of virtual meetings, which deliver time and cost savings as well as enabling meetings to take place seamlessly across time zones. Yet there are critical challenges to hybrid working that need to be addressed. 9 in 10 end users are currently experiencing difficulties in virtual meetings, with the most common experience issues including misunderstanding what’s being said in a meeting (26 per cent), and missing out on critical information (21 per cent), and appearing unprofessional because of poor sound experiences (17 per cent).
The experience issue extends to collaboration tools used, with 16 per cent reporting that the equipment they use is ‘not fit for purpose’ while 13 per cent report having difficulties seeing details shared on screen.