Getting the Future of Work Right - TRA

© 2015, All Rights Reserved.
Getting the future
of work right
By Tech Research Asia, Sponsored by Fuji Xerox
Executive Summary
How your employees work, or think about work today is likely very
different from the way things were done five or ten years ago. And there
is little doubt that it will be different again in the next decade. The salient
question is whether you will be a victim of this disruption, or whether you
are able to harness its benefits. Workplace innovation is an imperative for
all business and IT leaders regardless of industry or geographic location in
Asia Pacific. This Tech Research Asia insights paper delivers a
comprehensive analysis of the adoption of flexible working strategies, and
outlines how your organisation can benefit and pursue a similar approach.
Key Findings
• Productivity, innovation, and talent management are the biggest
winners from the adoption of agile working strategies. This is true
regardless of industry or country, but only possible with a holistic
approach that has the backing of both the executive branch and
broader workforce.
• Organisations that have adopted a flexible working approach such as
activity based working (ABW) note that digitising their processes is a
key step to success. They also reduce paper use by up to 90% with the
help of a managed print service (MPS) provider.
Recommendations
• There is no one correct vision of the future of work. But understand
that all organisations in all industries and locations will likely need to
adjust current strategies. A variety of forces will need to be addressed,
including: change in physical places like the office, technology
adoption and use, morphing processes and practices, and leadership
of people and culture. Follow the steps outlined in this document to
get started.
• Deal with the paper trail in your organisation early and make sure
you, or your chosen partners, continue to optimise, secure, integrate,
mobilize, automate, and simplify your environment. Getting this right
can have a significant beneficial multiplying effect on employee
engagement and productivity. It is a foundation for flexible working.
The
Dashboard
Topic: The Future of Work
for Asia Pacific
organisations
Organisations: All
Industries: All
Countries: Asia Pacific
Key Result:
100%
of organisations with the
most flexible, mobile and
progressive workplace
strategies – i.e. Activity
Based Working - TRA has
interviewed have an
advanced form of managed
print services (MPS) in
place
Future:
The future of work in the
Asia Pacific region is one
of diversity, dynamism,
and flexibility. Greater
independence of time,
place, and technology will
become common. But how
employees work will depend
on the seeds sown today

Work is always changing. Are you staying ahead?
If you step back 10 years and place yourself in 2005, do you think you could predict the disruption
that is about to explode over the decade to 2015? It’s a great question to ask yourself as a business
or IT leader because there has been a frantic and frequent set of new, or more intense forces
affecting the way that our employees operate on a daily basis. Nobody predicted what has happened
and not everyone has adapted well. It has, and continues to, for better or worse, affect the bottom
line. This is happening in four key areas of the workplace:
While the disruption of the past decade is now well understood and appreciated – although typically
in a siloed fashion via one of the above pillars of the workplace – do you think you can predict the
next 10 years and are you prepared to adapt? Whatever your concept of “work” is today, it will
change in future and we can either passively let it happen to us, or actively navigate our own path.
The question isn’t “if” disruption will happen, but to what degree. But as business and IT leaders, we
retain a high level of influence and agency in setting our own course. This is what establishing an
intelligent workplace is all about: Putting your organisation – across its physical spaces, technology,
processes and operations, and culture and people – in the best possible position to profit from its
efforts today, and those disruptions on the horizon. In other words, a holistic workplace strategy with
flexibility at its core.
Physical Places:
*Change has come via
combining
contemporary
architecture and interior
design to offer
engaging, inspiring, and
environmentally
sustainable office
spaces.
* While taking a smaller
footprint, improving the
utilisation rate and
scalability of various
spaces within the office
through embracing the
concept of anywhere,
anytime working
* Moving from desks
and hierarchy to
productive collaboration
and outcomes.
Technology:
* Change has come
through mobility, cloud,
social, and teleworking
through the deployment
of secure, manageable
devices and applications
along with ubiquitous
connectivity and IP
telephony.
* Striving for less
dependence on paper
documents and a
reduction in waste
through smarter
printing practices. I.e.
going "digital".
* Boosting the potential
for productivity gains
through greater
collaboration both in
person in a variety of
meeting spaces and
virtual spaces.
Process and
practices:
*Change has emerged
by attempts to reduce
risk through more
flexible office spaces for
times of growth and
contraction in
headcount.
* Increasing
governance, compliance
and collaboration with
content via deeper
digitisation of existing
documentation and
workflows.
* Striving for best
practices and boosting
cross-business unit
collaboration,
innovation and selling
through formal and ad-
hoc interaction.
Culture and
People:
*Generating a corporate
culture that focusses
more on team outcomes
over hierarchy or
individualism and one
which delivers higher
brand awareness and
equity is one key focus.
*Improving the ability to
retain existing talent
whilst recruiting the top
available individuals.
*Creating better
engagement with
customers through a
more innovative,
responsive and flexible
workforce.

Work today and tomorrow is more flexible
Over the past three years Tech Research Asia has interviewed and
advised over 100 organisations from across the Asia Pacific region
on flexible working strategies along with undertaking multiple
research projects and quantitative surveys. While some firms
continue to support traditional desk-based working and others look
to mobile devices or apps, the most progressive – and we argue the
most successful and adaptable – work style being pursued is activity
based working (ABW).
The following data points are derived from in-depth interviews
conducted in 2014-15 with 25 of these Asia Pacific organisations that
have adopted ABW. Interviews were conducted in-person or over
the phone, and lasted between one and three hours. Participants
held roles ranging from human resources director, and chief
information officer (CIO), to chief executive officer (CEO), managing
director, and facilities manager. TRA has also toured many of the
workplaces in person and authored multiple case studies.
Adopting ABW or other highly flexible/mobile work styles
requires the input of the executive office. Those adopting
ABW are twice as likely to nominate the CEO as their key
decision maker than any other role. However, as any
workplace change involves all employees, having a multi-
stakeholder team – from HR, finance, operations, IT, and
service delivery teams – is critical to ensuring support and
success.
Real estate-related factors top the list of drivers for adopting
ABW. TRA believes most organisations are initially attracted
to the work style due to the lure of lower office costs from a
potential decrease in floor space per employee, along with
increased flexibility in the utilisation of that space. Following
these drivers is the desire to use the new ABW offices and
strategy as a showcase for the organisation. Improved talent
management and productivity are the other common drivers.
The top ABW challenge is related to culture and people. As
adopting the work style involves fundamentally transforming
the way that employees do their jobs on a daily basis from
the traditional desk-oriented approach, it is to be expected
that hurdles will emerge. This can be anything from
employees not wanting to lose their sense of place in an
organisation as embodied by their own desk, to a straight
out refusal to embrace the different way of working.
What is Activity Based
Working or ABW?
Activity Based Working (ABW)
is primarily concerned with
office-based employees and
offers a new approach to
workplace strategy, building
on previous approaches like
hot desking. However, ABW
should be viewed as a unique
work style in its own right.
At a base level it removes set
seating in the office and the
hierarchy this entails by
offering a broader variety of
shared spaces (including
teleworking) where
employees can choose to
work depending on the task
at hand and outcome desired.
Essentially it provides
employees with time and
place independence. It is the
most flexible and agile of all
workplace strategies or work
styles being adopted today
and is proving highly
successful.
**********

The technology changes involved in ABW include:
Why greater flexibility in the workplace works
Getting a return on investment from ABW depends on
how you measure success, but it is worth the effort and
some returns from low hanging fruit (such as reducing
paper use) will be immediately obtainable. However, 75%
of ABW organisations note that they don’t expect to
optimise the full results of their workplace strategy until
at least one year after adoption, with many suggesting
the cultural change involved means it could take more
than three years (see chart to right).
TRA also asked these business and IT leaders to rate the
outcomes they had achieved across a range of common
business objectives on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being
a very successful result. Productivity, Talent Management,
and Innovation received the highest average rating of
eight out of 10. This was followed by Growth, Customer
Engagement and Cost Management with seven out of 10.
Following this, Risk Management and Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) attracted average ratings of six out of
10. All in all, ABW is considered a highly successful
workplace strategy that contributes to many common
business goals.
0-6
months,
12.50%
7-12
months,
12.50%
13
months -
2 years,
37.50%
2-3
years,
25%
3+ years,
12.50%
Time to ABW Benefits
Source: TRA Activity Based Working One-On-One In-
Depth Interviews with CXOs at ABW Organisations
Across Asia Pacific in 2014/15. N = 25
Integration of Audio Visual tools
such as projectors, interactive
whiteboards and displays along
with meeting room booking
systems were considered critical
to an ABW environment.
90% of ABW organisations
removed all desktop computers in
their offices in favour of mobile
devices – laptops, tablets, and
smartphones. This required
ubiquitous Wi-Fi connectivity and
phone number portability.
Digitisation and automation of
processes is a critical step. On
average the use of paper reduced
from 50-90% within 6 months of
adopting ABW. Follow me printing
was deployed by 90%, while 8 in 10
removed all desktop printers. All
had an advanced MPS in place.
One in two ABW adopters decided
to deploy new document
management and editing solutions.
Unified Communications and
Collaboration tools were also
adopted by 70%.

Specific examples of ABW adoption and results include:
 In New Zealand, the bank, ASB rated ABW’s contribution to Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) as 10 out of 10. The ASB ABW office requires 20 percent less built workspace than a
typical office and is therefore perceived to be a more sustainable proposition with less built
footprint and less building to support on an on-going annual basis.
 In Singapore, American Express rated Talent Management nine out of 10. American Express
has seen an increase in retention with 87% of respondents to an internal survey stating they
are satisfied with the way the internal workplace strategy is heading. This is the top outcome
for American Express.
 In Australia, Fortescue Metals Group rated ABW 10 out of 10 for Growth. Its CIO said ABW
was critical to helping support a fast-growth period for the company.
 In Japan, media and digital creative agency, (The) One of Them, rated its adoption of ABW to
talent management, productivity and innovation 10 out of 10.
It is also noteworthy, that six in 10 ABW organisations intend to expand their strategies to additional
locations, including as global policies. None are looking at moving away from the work style. However,
the best results are achieved by those who address all forces introduced earlier holistically, with a
robust change management program, and also by enabling employees to freely choose where and
when they work by eradicating manual processes.
0
2
4
6
8
10
Productivity
Talent Management
Innovation
Growth
Customer
Engagement
Cost Management
Risk Management
CSR
ABW Business Outcomes: On a scale of 1 to 10, where
10 is a very successful outcome, how would you rate
ABW's contribution to the following goals?
Source: TRA Activity Based Working One-On-One In-Depth Interviews with CXOs at ABW
Organisations Across Asia Pacific in 2014/15. N = 25

Recommendations
How we work has and will continue to change. There is no doubt that further workplace disruption is
coming. Adopting a flexible workplace strategy like ABW will offer benefits today and allow your
organisation to adapt to the disruptions of tomorrow. However, mobile and flexible working
approaches require a holistic approach, and in particular demand that the paper trail is dealt with
early and optimised frequently. TRA offers the following steps organisations can take to help set their
own unique strategy:
1. Set a vision and long-term plan. Make sure this includes all stakeholder views and is done
after visiting the offices of those that have already done it. It must also be unique and long-term.
2. Establish a multi-stakeholder project team and leadership for any workplace strategy.
Don’t leave it to one department. Your approach must also have total executive support and
include external partners with experience. Change management and continual optimisation of
the working environment to help employees move from static, manual work styles where they
are tied to a desk with paper workflows, to a fluid and flexible work day where information is
securely accessed in digital form and from multiple locations is of the upmost importance.
3. Evaluate emerging technologies and consider leveraging 3rd
party services including
next generation managed print services (MPS) providers to help fast-track your project.
Make sure the print services provider understands flexible working and can offer greater ongoing
and/or increasing value. Critical steps they should take include evaluating your processes and
then digitising, securing, integrating, mobilising, automating, and simplifying your environment
to make sure there are no analogue barriers to employee access to information.
4.Pilot and prepare to adapt in future. Work is diverse, dynamic and increasingly
flexible. Whatever you are addressing today, you need to now add in newer technologies such
as robots, AI, drones, 3D printing, IoT devices, and wearables. And then there are changes with
demographics, space design, customer expectations, regulatory change, and so on and so forth.
Work is in constant change, and the pace of disruption is increasing. Adaptability will be essential.
But plant the seeds of an intelligent workplace today to reap the harvest tomorrow and long into
the future.
This report was commissioned by Fuji Xerox.
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Getting the Future of Work Right - TRA

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