Employee turnover has increased by 16% across all sectors in South Africa, indicating a delayed form of the Great Resignation witnessed elsewhere in the world. Old Mutual’s reward channel, Remchannel, revealed this statistic. Its survey also showed that 69% of employers struggled to attract new talent or retain what they have.

Among commonly cited reasons are the lack of hybrid work, inflexible work arrangements and policies that attempt to force employees to return to offices.

Some well-known global and local organisations have implemented hybrid work models as a direct result of the after-effects of Covid-19 and newfound mobility in the workforce.

Deloitte Africa, Nedbank and several other South African companies have established hybrid work policies. In fact, news reports cite Colliers International, a commercial property business, that surveyed 80 companies worldwide and learnt that 86% of managers and decision makers expect people to work between one and four days from home this year.

While the trend to convert commercial spaces into residential units existed prior to Covid-19, it has now accelerated, according to a news report citing FNB’s commercial property finance division.

But many organisations will contribute to the great resignation, losing valuable employees and productivity with them. Ricoh commissioned research on 3 000 workers in Europe. Just 19% said their workplace has a hybrid work policy. Less than half (45%) experienced more meeting room technology to help them collaborate. Almost a quarter (23%) have seen office collaboration space reduced.

Collaboration

It’s arguably short-sighted. It’s one of the things we do as Ricoh: helping businesses lead the change by unleashing the potential of their people through technology.

For example, Ricoh helped easyJet, a low-cost airline based in Switzerland and operating in 35 countries, at 154 airports, and flying 981 routes. It’s a substantial business.

As more of their people returned to the office, partly because they missed the healthy social aspects of in-person collaboration, they sought to collaborate more effectively. Ricoh helped them create a structured platform for desk booking. It gives more than 1 500 employees options to select desks close to colleagues, which helps them be more effective.

We all know that even the best technology in the world fails if people don’t use it or don’t use it the way it was intended. And we know, from the type of projects we did at easyJet and many others around the world, that hybrid work fails if you don’t support it with the proper policies.

Without the clarity of policy, hybrid work arrangements simply don’t work. But with them, you gain many advantages, including a much better chance to retain your top talent and help your people be more productive. That’s great news for all of us in what can best be described as generally difficult operating conditions across the board.

About Ricoh
Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services that enable individuals to work smarter from anywhere. With cultivated knowledge and organisational capabilities nurtured over its 85-year history, Ricoh is a leading provider of digital services, information management, and print and imaging solutions designed to support digital transformation and optimise business performance.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group has major operations throughout the world and its products and services now reach customers in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2022, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of about US$14.5-billion.