The New Digital Workplace Divide: Nearly Half of Kiwis Whose Employers Provide Outdated Technology are Frustrated with
Employers, are 450 Percent More Likely to Want to Quit
While New Zealand ranks high for technology “technology leader” organisations, “technology laggards” organisations
disempower digital workers - putting long-term prosperity “at risk”
AUCKLAND, 27 June 2018 – The key to keeping today’s digital worker productive, positive about their job and around at all? Arm them with the
most updated technology possible, according to a new study by Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) that explores the importance of deploying current and future digital capabilities in the workplace in New
Zealand and 11 other countries around the world.
The New Digital Workplace Divide: Why a Technology-Enabled Workplace is Critical to Business Success surveyed 1,000 adults in New Zealand (April 2018) and found a significant “digital divide” between employers based on
the technology their employees use in their jobs – “technology leaders” and “technology laggards”. The study examines
the human impact of new digital workplace trends.
Key highlights from the New Zealand results:
•Technology laggards breed employee frustration and attrition - Workers at technology laggard organisations are almost 500 percent more likely to be frustrated with their employer and
450 percent more likely to want to leave to work elsewhere, as compared to their counterparts at technology leader
organisations.
•Devices are the biggest pain points for workers at technology laggards – Nearly half (49 percent) of Kiwis working for laggard organisations work with outdated devices, three times as many
who work for technology leaders. Also, workers at laggard organisations are twice as likely to complain about limited
roll-out of technology and connectivity.
•New Zealand is doing better than most other countries surveyed – Thirty-seven percent of Kiwi workers feel that their organisations are leaders in their use of technology. This is the
second highest, after Mexico and level with Brazil, and up five percentage points from the global average of 32 percent.
•Security needs to be a priority in Kiwi organisations - The “Bring Your Own Device” to work environment allows greater access to company information and brings with it
potential security risks. More than two-thirds (71 percent) of digital workers in New Zealand admit to using workarounds
that bypass security protocols.
“The research underscores how the digital workplace encompasses a wide ecosystem of people, culture, technology and
processes – it’s not just about how up to date your IT is or whether you can log in from home,” said Mr Leon Sayers,
lead advisory consultant for Unisys Asia Pacific. “How you work defines your workplace – and vice versa. To achieve
successful digital transformation employers must take a holistic approach to organisational change.”
The Correlation between Technology, Productivity and the Bottom Line
While business leaders know that unhappy employees cost them money, many would be shocked at how high that cost actually
can be. Organisations who invest in employees have 4.2 times the average profit of those who do not.1 And the impact on
the bottom line to replace a salaried employee is commonly predicted to be six to nine months’ salary on average2.
“The cost of not engaging employees in the workplace has real consequences. A substantial number of businesses are
behind the technological curve, putting them and the economy at risk from a talent retention standpoint and bringing
down their overall efficiency and productivity,” said Mr Sayers. “Personal productivity is a key motivator that not only
impacts an employee’s ability to do their job efficiently, but also how engaged and committed they are to their
employer. Designing and implementing an effective digital workplace requires effective organisational change management
and consultation to ensure employees have the right technology to do their jobs, and they are comfortable using it.”
The Future of the Workplace
According to the survey, 35 percent of New Zealand respondents viewed Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the emerging
technology with the most potential to transform their workplace environment in the next five years, with 34 percent
citing Internet of Things (IoT) as a close second. While a majority of respondents cited familiarity with these terms,
only 23 percent and 24 percent, respectively, said they understood AI and IoT well.
Importantly, this lack of understanding plays strongly into what people believe the impact of emerging technology will
be on their workplace. Notably, the survey found that 39 percent of workers at leader organisations believe that
technology and automation could make their jobs obsolete in five years compared to 28 percent for laggard organisations.
“The fear of the unknown is powerful, and that is what these statistics bear out,” said Mr Sayers. “However,
organisations that modernise their technology and business processes in the right way will be best positioned to lead.
Coupled with the proper training, automation and intelligence can help empower workers by freeing them from tedious
tasks so they can deliver better results. We believe AI will enhance their workers, not replace them.”
Download the full reports of New Zealand and global results or details on the research
methodology here.
Download the New Digital Workplace Divide infographics and other information here.
1 – Harvard Business Review: Why the Millions We Spend on Employee Engagement Buy Us So Little
2 – PeopleKeep: Employee Retention - The Real Cost of Losing An Employee
About Unisys
Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most
demanding businesses and governments on Earth. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital
transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating
environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely
for its clients across the Government, Financial Services and Commercial markets, visit www.unisys.co.nz. Follow Unisys on Twitter andLinkedIn.
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