11 October 2023

CEOs vote hybrid work flexibility as #1 driver underpinning successful employee experience strategies

• However, less than half (48%) of organizations provide employees with the technology they need for hybrid work
• Only 25% of operational leads say they are very satisfied with employee experience (EX) capabilities

Johannesburg – October 11th 2023: NTT Ltd, a leading IT infrastructure and services company and parent company of Dimension Data, has today unveiled the findings of its 2023 Global Employee Experience Trends Report, exploring how current workplace trends, such as hybrid work and AI, are influencing EX strategies and the correlation between EX and business performance.

The report found that while 90% of businesses see the enablement of hybrid and remote work as having a positive impact on their bottom line, less than half (48%) of organizations strongly agree that employees have access to the technology they need to work well both at home, and in the office.

Many organizations are now implementing more structured approaches to work, with the report finding that approximately 56% of hybrid workers spend half the work week at the office. However, with hybrid models still favorable and recognized by the majority of business leaders as fundamental to positive EX, organizations need to ensure they are providing employees with the technologies they need to work effectively, regardless of location. This shows how the EX-narrative has evolved over the last several years. Today, it is a business-wide priority to ensure employees feel empowered and have the right technologies in place to drive efficiency. Previously, EX strategies have primarily focused on employee wellbeing.

Top-performing companies that increased their IT spend and invested in EX technology were 56% more likely than underperformers to report improved business growth due to improvements to EX, and 89% more likely than all others to have significantly increased employee satisfaction.

Commenting on the research, Marc Jessiman - Vice President of Technology Solutions at Dimension Data. said: "There is still too much of a disconnect between what employers provide and what employees require. Many employees prefer to work according to what works best for them, but hybrid working strategies often limit that flexibility."

"Interestingly, 73% of organizations agree that hybrid and remote working contribute to mobility investments over the last two years, yet more needs to be done to improve EX and reduce disconnects. As a result, satisfied and engaged employees are 66% more likely to provide exceptional customer service," added Jessiman.

In addition to hybrid work, EX is also being impacted by the rise in AI, with the emerging technology voted as the #1 enabler of future customer experience (CX) and EX strategies, and AI interfaces rising to become the norm for 4 in 5 organizations within the next 12 months. Despite this, 87% of organizations agree that human-led support remains a critical element in their customer engagement.

"NTT's report findings are reflective of today's dynamic work landscape, including a more permanent era of hybrid work and focus on employee engagement, said Sheila McGee-Smith, President & Principal Analyst, McGee-Smith Analytics. "The adoption of AI is growing, driven by the real business outcomes revolutionary AI technologies are bringing. Organizations are seeking guidance on how to harness all that AI has to offer to succeed in dominating their markets while supporting employee fulfilment and well-being."

To read the full report, please see here.

-ENDS-

About Dimension Data
Dimension Data is a leading IT infrastructure and services company, operating across Middle East and Africa. Dimension Data is 100% owned by the NTT group, a global technology and business solutions provider. Together NTT and Dimension Data believe in contributing to society through our business operations by applying technology for good.

At Dimension Data we deliver a secure and connected future that empowers our people, clients and communities. We lay the foundation for organizations' edge-to-cloud networking ecosystem, simplify the complexity of their workloads across multicloud environments, and innovate at the edge of their IT environments, where networks, cloud and applications converge. We offer tailored infrastructure and ensure consistent best practices in design and operations across all of our secure, scalable and customizable data centers. On the journey towards a software-defined future, we support organizations with platform-delivered infrastructure services.

Established in South Africa, Dimension Data employs over 8000 employees across 15 countries. Our services and solutions serve clients across all industries including some of the biggest brands listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Nairobi Securities Exchange, and the Dubai Financial Market.

For more information please visit our website.

Media Enquiries:
Razor PR for Dimension Data
Arnold Tshimanga
Arnold.Tshimanga@Razorpr.co.za

About NTT Ltd.
As part of NTT DATA, a USD 30 billion IT services provider, NTT Ltd. is a leading IT infrastructure and services company serving 65% of the Fortune Global 500 and more than 75% of the Fortune Global 100. We lay the foundation for organizations' edge-to-cloud networking ecosystem, simplify the complexity of their workloads across multicloud environments, and innovate at the edge of their IT environments where networks, cloud and applications converge. We offer tailored infrastructure and ensure consistent best practices in design and operations across all of our secure, scalable and customizable data centers. On the journey towards a software-defined future, we support organizations with our platform-delivered infrastructure services. We enable a connected future.

Visit us at services.global.ntt