Several interesting pieces of research were published this week. Sage published its 2022 Closing the book report and found that many organisations have adopted cloud-based accounting and are not considering the relevance of AI in their solutions.
Jitterbit published a short but well-written report on hyper-automation that explains what it is and the link between hyper-automation and integration. Leapwork revealed that 69% of UK (US 85%) CEOs believe it is acceptable to release software that hasn’t been properly tested. Some of the results are quite shocking from this report and should be a wake-up call to many.
Anaplan
Anaplan has published a new playbook, The Advancing Belonging in Organizations. The 42-page ebook was created by The Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership at the Haas School of Business (University of California, Berkeley).
In a blog post, Sherika Ekpo, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Ekpo, explains why they created this eBook. It aims to answer the question, “How can companies move from activity to impact and unlock the bottom-line outcomes that only diverse and inclusive companies can achieve?”
The book provides a series of best practices, and perhaps surprisingly, it is ungated. The content includes an executive summary and five sections, followed by a call to action:
- Why does belonging matter?
- What does it take to foster belonging?
- What are the strategic plays to enhance belonging?
- How can belonging be measured?
- What future research is needed?
Genesys
Genesys published its 2021 Sustainability Report detailing how the company is progressing against its ESG goals. Key findings include:
- 22% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in 2022
- Achieved Silver Rating from EcoVadis, progressing from Bronze Rating in just one year.
- Double-digit year-over-year growth in diverse representation across the majority of underrepresented groups in North America, increasing overall representation from 8% to 21.6% and 18.9% to 20.4% in leadership roles.
- Increased the number of women in leadership roles by 12% year-over-year across the Genesys global workforce.
- It has positively impacted more than 244,000 lives through partnerships with organisations that provide crisis response.
Bridgette McAdoo, Global Sustainability Officer at Genesys, commented, “The progress we’ve made in our first year is a testament to the culture of action and empathy we have at Genesys. Every Genesys employee, regardless of level or location, has ownership of our path to a more sustainable future. Together, we’re committed to embedding sustainability into the core of our business to be a catalyst for the change we hope to see in the world.”
iCIMS
iCIMs published its UK State of Talent report. The report looks at key topics in the world of world, including:
- Where to work: Home, Office or Hybrid
- Wages and the pressures of the cost of living increases
- Concern about other emerging trends
On where to work, northern workers typically want to return to the office. (Manchester 51%), those in London, the least (26%). However, there is no qualitative element that explains why. Possibly the commute?
Money is the top concern of workers, and with commuting costs rising rapidly, especially in London, perhaps this is a reason. Also, younger workers are finding it tougher. 46% of Gen Z’ers and 47% of millennials live paycheck to paycheck and worry they won’t be able to cover their expenses.
Laura Coccaro, chief people officer at iCIMS, offers three pieces of advice for employers:
- Provide clear, visible growth opportunities
- Offering mental health support matters now more than ever
- Don’t forget to support all generations in the workforce
IFS
Research from IFS has indicated the impact that supply chain disruption has had on inventory levels and supply chain complexity. In a survey of 1,450 senior decision-makers at large companies in France, Germany, Nordic countries, US, UK and United Arab Emirates, 66% have more inventory on hand and 70% more suppliers. Interestingly 72% are buying more from domestic suppliers. These enforced changes have had a negative impact, with goals affected at 60% of respondents.
Maggie Slowic, Global Director of Manufacturing Industry at IFS, said: “Large companies are likely to incur much higher costs and other negative financial impacts due to the measures they are taking to mitigate disruptions.
“Supply chain onshoring often leads to having to invest in more expensive raw materials or product components, especially as inflation rises, while keeping inventory on hand ties up significant sums that might otherwise be ‘working’ for business. ”
The disruption is not limited to the supply chain with 65% of respondents saying their organizations are finding it difficult to fill open positions.
Slowic added: “Companies urgently need to find a solution that can help them manage this disruption, which with increasing price volatility, make the transition to a circular economy and deal with the complexities of the supply chain. supplies that we are dealing with today.
“To do that, especially when skills are in short supply, they will need to invest in technology that offers the agility and speed of insight they need to better predict demand. By addressing the issue now, efficiently and cost-effectively, they will put themselves in a great position to not only survive but also thrive long into the future.”
Ivanti
Ivanti announced the results of its State of the Digital Employee Experience (DEX) study. It worked with global digital transformation experts and surveyed 10,000 office workers, IT professionals, and the C-Suite to evaluate the level of prioritization and adoption of DEX in organizations and how it shapes the daily working experiences of employees. The report revealed that 49% of employees are frustrated by the tech and tools their organization provides, and 64% believe that how they interact with technology directly impacts morale.
- 26% of employees are considering quitting their jobs because they lack suitable tech,
- 42% have spent their own money on better tech to work more productively,
- 65% believe they would be more productive if they had better technology at their disposal.
Steve Brasen, Research Director with Enterprise Management Associates, commented: “Ensuring positive employee digital experiences is the new cornerstone of modern business IT management. The improvement of workforce productivity helps attract and retain essential talent, accelerates business agility and competitiveness, reduces operational costs, and drives organizational success and profitability.
“Understanding DEX requirements is the key to adapting related technologies and practices that will support each organization’s unique environment.”
Pipedrive
Pipedrive announced the results of its annual State of Sales and Marketing report examining sales and revenue trends across businesses globally. 70% of respondents saw an increase in revenue in 2021 despite the pandemic, and 40% exceeded their revenue forecasts. Despite this, only 64% of salespeople made their target. The reasons cited include lowered budgets (43%) and smaller teams (43%). Other findings included:
- 71% of respondents said their company grew more in 2021 than in 2020
- Respondents who adopted technology and automated their sales and marketing tasks were 16% more likely to hit their sales targets.
- Nearly 40% of respondents who didn’t reach their sales target last year (and never or rarely hit their regular sales quota) believed that leadership and management in their company require improvement.
- Companies with well-integrated sales and marketing were 26% more likely to say their revenue exceeded forecasts.
- 78% reported an average, good or very good return on their marketing investment in 2021.
Dominic Allon, CEO of Pipedrive, commented: “Small businesses are the foundation of our global economy. In the US, they make up 99.9% of all businesses and account for the majority of jobs, according to the SBA. Economic uncertainty and volatility is bound to happen – what matters most is to set your business up for success by implementing the right infrastructure that will pay dividends long-term.
“Technology has the ability to help small business owners gain valuable insights so they can reduce costs and create operational efficiencies when needed. Not only can that go a long way in getting that competitive advantage in the market, but it can simultaneously alleviate internal pressures within organizations which is especially important when times are tough economically.”
Qualtrics
Qualtrics published some research that revealed 59% of marketers see the metaverse as the most successful channel they advertise on. Michel Feaster, Qualtrics Chief Product Office of Research, commented: “During times of uncertainty, marketers and CMOs need data to back their decisions.
“It’s clear that marketers are overwhelmed with the complexity of reaching and engaging with consumers. They need better tools to navigate the noise and show proof that their efforts are driving impactful results on every channel, including the metaverse.”
While other channels such as YouTube (58%), Facebook/meta (43%), TV (36%), and Instagram (30%) outranked the metaverse (9%), 62% of consumers are open to purchasing on the metaverse.
Change is coming, with 97% of marketers saying they will likely be advertising more on the metaverse five years from now. The question is, who is using it? Currently, males (63%) and consumers aged 26-41 (59%) spend the most time there. The report has some interesting findings that trends marketers ignore at their peril.
ThoughtSpot
A report by Product Led Alliances and ThoughtSpot found that companies that embed analytics with a differentiated user experience increase engagement and revenue. There is a perception that embedding analytics is difficult. Challenges highlighted include:
- 47% of respondents cite budget constraints
- 39% are concerned with slow time to market
- 39% believe that they cannot keep up with change requests when launched
The report highlights the views, benefits and challenges of embedded analytics. Sumeet Arora, Chief Development Officer at ThoughtSpot, commented: “This research makes it clear, the rules for building great products have changed, and the right data and analytics UX is critical to building sticky, differentiated applications. Software has eaten the world, and now, too, is data. Companies that aren’t thinking about ways to make this data available to their end-users are going to leave customers and dollars on the table.”
However, a customer quote pushed home the advantages: Chris Mann, VP Product Strategy, Ledger Bennett, said, “In designing Cortex, I wanted to create a revenue intelligence solution to give business leaders real-time insights that would enable agile decision-making based on their specific needs.
“I knew right off the bat that we needed to collect our customer data and integrate it into our system as quickly as possible, and wanted the ability to rapidly provide an intuitive and personalized way to interact with that information. To best serve our clients, we needed to partner with a business already established in analytics UX. ThoughtSpot Everywhere was an obvious choice to augment the Cortex tech stack.
“Instead of wasting time and money to build the components to visualize complex business intelligence data, we got up and running quickly with a partner already on the cutting-edge of these capabilities.”
UKG
The Workforce Institute at UKG released survey results for manufacturing HR leaders. 87% of the respondents believe that the skilled labour gap has worsened.
Kylene Zenk, director of the manufacturing practice at UKG, commented: “Volatile demand has been a hallmark of the pandemic era, affecting 83% of manufacturers in the past year alone.
“This variability exacerbates staffing troubles, impacting people’s livelihoods and wellbeing. Looking ahead to positively manifest the future state of manufacturing, more concrete strategies and people-first tools are needed on the frontlines to forecast demand and satisfy the needs of all employees, with respect to real-time market conditions.”
Key findings included:
- Manufacturers estimate production lines are under or overstaffed 62% of the time, on average, leaving just 11 days per month when facilities are staffed appropriately.
- Supply constraints and the skilled-labour shortage impact nearly every manufacturer’s bottom line. Two in three labelled these financial impacts “mild” or “moderate,” while close to one in three described them as “severe.”
- Although production demand holds strong, the number of hourly shifts worked in manufacturing has degraded slowly but steadily since February 2022. It’s driven by a widening labour gap and a shortage of parts and materials forcing plants to cut employee hours.
The Workforce activity report for June indicates that the US labour market is strong. There were 0.8% more shifts worked than in May, with retail, hospitality and food service growing 2.9%.
Dave Gilbertson, vice president, UKG, commented: “June’s increase in workforce activity makes it unlikely we’ll see a downside surprise in the next employment report. We saw slight, though broad-based, workforce gains across sectors, with retailers showing particular signs of strength to kick off the summer hiring season.
“We also observed synchronous growth across all U.S. regions, for only the second time in the past 12 months, and ultimately expect a slight increase in job gains compared to May. It’s also worth mentioning the progress we’re seeing in organizations recognizing Juneteenth.
“For the first time, it caused a noticeable downswing in workforce activity as more organizations formally recognized the holiday. For comparison, Juneteenth is nearing one-third the size of Presidents’ Day in terms of the number of employees given the day off to observe it.”
Wrike
A report by Wrike entitled “Dark Matter of Work: The Hidden Cost of Work Complexities,” looks at the hidden work that companies do not have visibility of. It found that 55% of the work occurring within an organization is not visible to key stakeholders. It can cost organizations up to $60 million in wasted time, delayed or cancelled projects, and employee churn. The survey investigated the dark matter of work and found that:
- Knowledge workers spend 18 working days a year in meetings
- 65% of business leaders encounter problems with projects at least every week that could be avoided with real-time insight into project status
- 59% of business leaders say it is impossible to say how well everyone is progressing because so much of the relevant information is in a black hole
Alexey Korotich, VP of Product, Wrike, commented: “Left unchecked, the Dark Matter of Work has the potential to devastate organizations. We are on a mission at Wrike to shed light on these work complexities, bringing all forms of work, no matter where it originates, into a single source of truth for organizations large and small.
“We have taken steps over the years to innovate in the areas of AI, ML, workflow automation, integrations, and more to keep up with the pace and changes in modern work environments.”
The report is comprehensive and based on nearly 3,000 responses with interesting insights.
