Compucom released results from a new survey

According to a recent survey conducted by Atomik Research on behalf of Compucom, a leading enterprise IT services and technology sourcing solutions provider, America’s workforce prioritizes workplace technology and location choice when it comes to optimizing their overall experience. Regarding what matters most to their digital workplace experience and overall satisfaction, respondents indicated that technology choice (35%) and workplace flexibility (35%) are two of the most important elements.

While most workplace satisfaction surveys focus on how employees feel about working remotely, hybrid or in the office, Compucom’s survey focuses on how technology and digital support – or lack of it – impact the employee experience.

“It’s clear that choice is the most important aspect of the overall digital work experience,” said Heather Lockhart, Compucom’s CMO. “Three years ago at the height of the pandemic, there was little choice in workplace or technology used. But despite companies having time to work out the kinks, there seems to be limited choice as workers continue to experience technology frustrations that impact their engagement and productivity.”

The survey polled 2,400 hybrid, remote and full-time in-office workers, and the results show the importance of technology to the employee experience. The survey explored the role technology choice, user support and workplace play in both job decisions and employee satisfaction.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Compared to results from a similar survey conducted on Compucom’s behalf in 2022, companies aren’t doing any better in supplying the technology and support employees need. When it comes to production loss and daily tech frustrations, there’s little change year over year for remote and hybrid workers. Technology frustration is still a major driver of employee churn:

• In this year’s survey, 47% of remote and hybrid workers have switched jobs or are actively looking due to frustrations with workplace technology – last year, it was 53%.
• Employees indicating “always having bad experiences with their workplace technology” has risen from 20% (2022) to 23% (2023).
• The amount of time lost due to these frustrations was 21 minutes this year compared to 20 minutes last year – more than two weeks per year per employee.

Workstyle preferences drive experience

Put in overdrive due to the pandemic, the digital workplace experience has been a primary focus of many companies. During this time, Compucom launched its four key dimensions of the digital employee experience: Technology Choice, Workplace Flexibility, Self-Sufficiency and Feeling Well-Supported. As the survey focused on these four dimensions, it found that there is a distinct difference between the primary technology and support wants and needs of remote, hybrid and full-time in-office workers.

• 50% of fully remote workers say technology choice is the most important element in their overall digital work experience.
• 43% of hybrid workers indicate that workplace flexibility is most important to them.
• 25% of workers in the office full time say being well supported is important to them – twice as much as the others.

“When employees have the right tools that perform well and receive support – how and when they need it – they’re more satisfied in their jobs,” Lockhart said.

Leading the DEX evolution

Compucom has set the standard for Digital Employee Experience (DEX) by leveraging several tools and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for its proprietary service that gleans insights into an employee’s technology experience and provides actionable insights to improve it. Combined with its full end-to-end device lifecycle and end-user support services, Compucom is starting to incorporate experience level indicators (XLIs) and agreements (XLAs) in managing and improving an enterprise’s digital workplace experience.

“As CIOs look to the future and their company’s digital transformation, improving employee productivity, attracting and retaining the best talent and enhancing the customer experience are at the top of their priority list,” Lockhart noted. “Focusing on the digital employee experience helps accomplish all three of their primary goals.”

Survey Methodology

Compucom commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 2,404 full-time workers throughout the United States who work at companies with 1,000 or more employees. The overall sample consisted of three subsamples that are categorized by a participant’s reported working environment — fully remote, fully in-office and hybrid.

The margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points with a confidence interval of 95%. Fieldwork took place between September 11 and September 18, 2023. Atomik Research is an independent, creative market research agency.