While 68 per cent of the world’s best-managed companies employ collaboration platforms to evaluate employee wants and needs, 74 per cent of these “digital winners” facilitate collaboration of all kinds in the workplace, according to the findings of a new study by SAP and Oxford Economics.
‘Getting Collaboration Right’, part of the Leaders 2020 study, evaluates the collaboration habits and best practices of 4100 executives and employees of some of the world’s most digitally advanced leaders, revealing that it takes more than technology to succeed in today’s digital landscape.
“Companies need modern collaboration strategies to get full value from technology,” said Adrianna Gregory, associate editor, Oxford Economics.
“Companies who embrace digital transformation understand that strong financial performance is connected with sound collaboration practices. Organisations need to recognise that effective collaboration is not just a nice-to-have; it equates to bottom-line results,” said Anthony Leaper, senior vice president, enterprise social software, SAP.
The study found that digital winners share numerous characteristics including belief that teamwork starts at the top. A full 74 per cent of these leaders are more focused on improving the collaboration skills of their management teams and they are more likely to say that management is highly proficient at facilitating collaboration inside and outside of their organisation.
Digital winners also invest in creating a collaborative culture. Twenty per cent more likely than other organisations to say that their decision-making is distributed across their organisation, they are actively engaged in changing their internal processes to build partnerships and strengthen teamwork.
Organisations that focus on collaboration also see the highest rates of employee satisfaction, with 62 per cent of satisfied employees reporting they believe that their manager is proficient in collaboration, compared to just 36 per cent of dissatisfied employees. At the same time, 60 per cent of very satisfied employees reported that their organisation provides technology to facilitate collaboration, compared to just 32 per cent of dissatisfied employees.
Providing direction for future improvement, Gregory said, “Our research shows that leadership at most companies has room for improvement when it comes to facilitating teamwork and distributing knowledge and power across the organisation.”
