The power of collaborative tools in talent retention

Talent retention for knowledge workers is going to be rocky going forward, but collaborative tools and technology that enables hybrid work can help. New Slack research*, Leadership and the war for talent, based on a survey of over 1,000 Singaporean knowledge workers, found that teamwork and collaboration, transparent and trustworthy leadership, flexible work, and employee wellbeing as the four biggest factors in driving organisational success. Financial achievement, the usual reason, is now on the back burner.

When it comes to flexible working, over two-thirds of Singaporeans want to be trusted to do their job regardless of location or the hours worked. With nearly one in two Singaporean knowledge workers considering moving jobs in the next year, and 16% admitting to ‘quiet quitting’ - fulfilling the requirements of their job but not going above and beyond - it’s critical for leaders to act, Slack said. The company advises that leaders:

- Analyse the time employees are spending on unproductive tasks; 

- Explore ways to elevate productivity with collaborative technology; and 

- Figure out how to meet the varying expectations of employees from different generations, who prefer to work in different ways.

Shweta Verma, Country Manager, Singapore, Slack said, “As we continue to go through one of the biggest workplace experiments of the century - moving from physical offices to digital headquarters - it’s critical that employers demonstrate sound, positive leadership. By harnessing collaborative technology at scale, and engaging employees in ways that best suit them, leaders can help drive productivity and a happier, more engaged workforce.”

Collaborative technology as potential ‘power tools’ for boosting leadership

While the Slack study showed that poor leaders led to job dissatisfaction and quiet quitting, it also showed a strong correlation between those respondents that hold their leaders in high regard and those whose leaders embrace the use of collaborative technology. Interestingly, these respondents were also identified as feeling highly connected to their organisations. In contrast, those who deemed their leaders as technology laggards in this area say they are more likely to quit their job.

Nearly two-thirds of Singaporean knowledge workers saw collaboration tools as enabling them to be productive, among other benefits. These include being able to free up time by automating work, getting information to the right people quickly, speeding up the implementation of projects, improving communication with leadership, prioritising tasks, and achieving faster feedback loops. 

The real reason Singaporean knowledge workers don’t have enough hours in the day

The potential value of collaboration tools on organisational success becomes more pronounced, Slack said, when looking at the amount of non-productive time that Singaporean knowledge workers say they are spending on routine and often mundane tasks.

For example, nearly a third of respondents feel that it takes them too long to find information internally, and that internal processes take up too much of their day. A similar number find that communicating across the company, within big teams and across time zones is slow due to delayed responses. Where this is the case, around a quarter of this group say they are spending over an hour a day on these activities, which can be accelerated through collaboration technology.

Mind the generation gap

The survey shows significant generational differences in employees in Singapore in terms of technology use. Millennials leans in most to the use of collaboration tools, whereas Gen X are the least interested in technology and innovation.

Cooling down the burnout 

Respondents from the tech sector gave the highest scores to their managers for being competent and communicating well. Although not inspirational, IT leaders are seen to lead by example. Perhaps, as a result, IT workers are less likely to feel burned out, Slack suggested.

Government: There seems to be a significant opportunity in Singapore’s government sector to tap into the benefits of collaborative technology, Slack notes. More than half (56%) of government employees say that email is still their primary method of communication with customers and partners - a proportion significantly higher than other industries in the survey. Government workers are also more likely to be working from a mix of home and office environments, with around two-thirds (67%) saying they are working this way.

A new perspective on the office

While employees are increasingly working from home, the office environment is still valued, the Slack study found. When asked what they felt the office was best suited for, Singaporean knowledge workers cited team building, social connection, collaboration and brainstorming, and one-on-one/development meetings. Activities like progress updates, company town halls, learning programmes and knowledge sharing sessions were perceived as less critical if they are held in an office. This suggests that a lot of time can be potentially saved by conducting these activities virtually, using collaborative technology. 

 

Source: Slack infographic. Over one in four knowledge workers in Singapore are extremely satisfied with their jobs in organisations that embrace collaborative technology. This percentage falls to just 3% in companies which do not have such technology.

Explore 

Read the Leadership and the war for talent report.

*Slack’s new research, conducted by Honeycomb Strategy, was based on responses from 1,000+ Singaporean knowledge workers within organisations of 100+ employees.

This is the second iteration of this Slack research in Singapore, with The Reinvention of Work study carried out in October 2021. The Slack State of Work report, a global survey including 1,000 Singaporean knowledge workers, is similar research that was carried out by GlobalWebIndex in March 2020, prior to the pandemic.