Work before and during Corona

Has the digital revolution finally taken place in Germany? Work before and during Corona

A year ago, Corona turned the work landscape upside down. How Corona has actually changed our everyday work is now shown by a study that compares survey results from February 2020 with December 2020.

Despite the strong changes caused by Corona, employees in Germany seem to have got used to the “new normal”, even if they have a complicated relationship with technology in the workplace, like ours current study State of Work 2021 shows [1].

In the course of the move to their own four walls, hardware and software were often implemented rather hastily, with which employees should work remotely. However, they are currently not always fully supported in their task management or sometimes even prevented from doing so. At the beginning of the pandemic, a quarter (23 percent) had problems pursuing their own professional activity as usual.

This is not only due to the changed work situation, but also affects the use of new devices and software. The problem: Most of the time, each department uses its own devices and software solutions without taking a comprehensive view of the company into account. However, as work becomes more complex and multiple teams are involved, such technical silos make it difficult to stay connected to each other and keep up to date with the current status. Because important communication is eliminated – also on the interpersonal level. It is therefore not surprising that employees in Germany particularly lack interpersonal contact when working from home.

Employees in Germany rely more on technology

Since moving to the home office, employees have to rely on technology more than ever to continue working together productively and doing their work in the best possible way. Accordingly, the importance of the technical equipment, with a plus of 5.5 percent compared to pre-Corona, has increased significantly. A clear difference can be seen in the way and for what purpose employees use technology compared to the time before the pandemic.

According to this, more than two thirds (67 percent, increase of 8 percent) of German employees use technology to better manage their time. They also rely more on technological support to foster creativity and innovation (54 percent, up 7 percent from last year) and to develop new ideas (54 percent, up from 6 percent from last year).

This new “connection” between German employees and technology has a positive impact on important work areas and also has an impact on interpersonal relationships. Since the pandemic, they have felt more confident in working with colleagues of different ages (82 percent, increase of 3 percent), prioritizing their work (73 percent, increase of 6 percent) and even in dealing with work-related conflicts (48 percent, increase of 4 percent).

Effects of remote work

Although two thirds (69 percent) believe that their daily work contributes to the success of their company, many find it difficult to link this to the strategic goals of their company. Here, the greatest challenges that already existed during “normal office hours” have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Almost half (44 percent) of employees say they spend too much time on activities that are not part of their core duties, an increase of three percent compared to February 2020.

The past year has shown that work or the workplace does not have to be tied to a fixed location, but can work from anywhere without affecting productivity. However, the physical distance to work seems to result in employees feeling less emotionally connected to their workplace (70 percent, a decrease of 9 percent). One of the reasons for this is that remote work has the inherent disadvantage that the team is more difficult to reach and manage, so that the celebration of successes and a corresponding culture of praise no longer take place to a sufficient extent.

In order to counteract this and achieve re-identification with their workplace, companies must find ways to reflect the appreciation and value of each employee for the company. The greatest obstacles preventing employees in Germany from approaching their work with motivation include the feeling that they are not valued enough (64 percent, increase of 4 percent compared to the previous year) and the feeling that their work is not important (58 percent, increase of 17 percent).

Rethinking work – what employees want

But what do the respondents actually want from the “right” technology? Most important to them is that they are supported in their daily work. Technology should always provide the right context so that employees have the right information at hand when they need it (39 percent). In addition, 37 percent would like support in planning and prioritizing their tasks and just as many would like the applications to enable collaboration with other departments and locations.

Companies need to invest in comprehensive technology that personalizes and optimizes the employee experience by providing the right context for collaboration and information and visualizing all work in the company accordingly. Switching to such a strategic work management prepares both employees and companies for the future. It is more important than ever for companies to provide employees with comprehensive support and to regard them as a valuable asset. Technology should therefore be geared towards enabling team members to be engaged and productive.

Swen Arnold.

About the author

Swen Arnold is the regional director for Nordics, BeNeLux and DACH Workfront, an Adobe company.

[1] About the study:
In the “State of Work 2021” study, more than 1,000 Germans were surveyed shortly before Covid-19 in February 2020 and then again in December 2020.

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