By Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager South Africa

The pandemic changed not only our lives, but also the way we work. Employees' needs shifted drastically during and post-pandemic, something organisations and HR cannot overlook. After a long period of working entirely remotely, many of us are coming back to the office and embracing hybrid work. Indeed, almost half of South African workers say they have returned to the office full-time. Inevitably, HR and IT stakeholders must address several hybrid work problems, which range from reinforcing inclusivity to fostering office culture. This is especially true for younger South Africans, who seem to be the hardest to lure back to the office.

But how can local HR practitioners make the office space attractive for younger employees?

We recently collaborated with Leesman, a leading global provider of original research on workplace quality and employee satisfaction, to create a report that utilises their insights and large database of over 70,000 survey respondents. We wanted to understand why younger employees are the least responsive to working in a hybrid way and more responsive to working from home only, and what solutions HR (with IT’s support) can implement to attract them back into a hybrid office.

While just 10% of South African workers want to return to a traditional work environment full time, Leesman data suggests that the youngest age group (those under 25) are least likely to work in a hybrid way compared to their older colleagues. Indeed, even though younger workers benefit the most from in-person social interaction and learning from others – both of which are more naturally supported by the office environment – they appear to prefer home only work more.

Let’s delve into what factors keep younger employees away from the office.

Current office spaces may not be appealing

Pre-pandemic offices set up with cubicle desks and fixed computing equipment may not be appealing to young workers. By contrast, the rapid advancement of collaborative technologies, as well as the greater familiarity that younger people have communicating and interacting online, leads them to view working from home as a better way to socialise, stay in touch with co-workers, get work done, and learn from others.

To be attractive, offices today need to transform into places where younger employees can meet and talk to each other in a casual and more collaborative way. They should not feel stuck at a fixed desk all day but should be able to move around more freely. That said, younger workers also need to be able to use the office as a focused work environment to facilitate more effective learning and their individual desk-based focused work. The office, therefore, needs to flex to accommodate both working states. 

Mobility and Wi-Fi connectivity are lacking

Younger South Africans prefer and are more at ease with using mobile computing equipment at home as well as in the office, relegating fixed computing equipment to a thing of the past.

Pre-pandemic, wireless networking at the office was a ‘nice-to-have’ feature as most workstations had fixed PCs, terminals, or Ethernet-based connectivity for laptops. Additionally, there was less in-building mobility in the office, and wireless was set up as a backup networking option rather than the primary mode of communication.

To make young South Africans more eager to return to the office, HR could work closely with IT stakeholders to ensure that the office environment reflects a more high-performance mobile-centric model.

As Leesman’s employee survey data shows “computing equipment, mobile (e.g., laptop, tablet),” and “Wi-Fi network connectivity” are two of the most important features for respondents who worked from home. Furthermore, home working respondents were very satisfied with both features (87% and 82% satisfaction levels, respectively). Conversely, office working respondents from this data set had lower satisfaction rates for these two features (79% for mobile computing equipment and only 67% for in-office Wi-Fi). To make the office more appealing for young workers, mobility and Wi-Fi connectivity must be the same, if not better, than in their home environment.

The network of the future: A mobile, flexible IT infrastructure

The previous approaches to the office network infrastructure are no longer viable for an optimal hybrid work environment. The Leesman report findings and data confirm our view that making mobility a top priority with a mobile, flexible IT infrastructure is the best way forward. South African organisations that invest in mobile technologies and higher-performance networks create a hybrid work environment that is inspiring and attractive to young workers, which can result in improvements in younger workers’ satisfaction overall.

But what impact will mobility have on a company’s IT and networking infrastructure? Technologies such as IoT (occupancy sensors), booking software, and improved measurement systems place additional demands on IT networks and applications, and require continuous network improvements and/or optimisation or automated fine tuning.

By working closely together, HR and IT stakeholders can not only increase workplace satisfaction today – attracting young South Africans back into the office more often – but they also have the chance to build a network that supports future digital business initiatives. The quality of the workspace and in-office IT play a big role in the adoption of a modern workplace strategy.