How to Up Your Operational Game to Stay Competitive and Profitable

What, if anything, do you think are the benefits of working in a global team?

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Less than a year 1 year, up to 2 years More than 2 years, up to 3 years More than 3 years, up to 4 years More than 4 years, up to 5 years More than 5 years

How long people expect to stay in their jobs

Team diversity More creativity

Global insights into other markets Cost-effectiveness

Responsiveness to clients

Morale

I don’t think there are any benefits to working in a global team Other

Source: Work Trend Index: Microsoft’s latest research on the ways we work

Improved perception of employers

The changes adopted by companies during the pandemic had a positive effect on the perception employees had toward their jobs. According to the global employee survey results, 48 percent of employees felt happier since they started working remotely, and 34 percent sensed that their voices mattered more in the company.

Surprisingly, compensation was not in the top three factors that contribute to a better work experience globally. The first aspect was a better work-life balance, followed by being part of a team, and having the right tools/equipment for the job. Workers realized, after a year at home, the value of wellbeing—and employees want to hang onto this learning. Companies that understand how their workforce feels about their worklife balance can enhance talent retention.

Diverse teams nurture retention

According to those surveyed, diversity is the main advantage of remote work. This has a direct correlation with talent retention: 58 percent feel that diversity is the most important benefit of global teams, followed by more creativity (51 percent), and global insights into other markets (49 percent). Moreover, people who plan to stay in their current job for more than four years declared that diversity was the main advantage of their team. It’s no coincidence that teamwork and the ability to express opinions influence people to keep their current positions.

Happiness with the reporting line also correlates with retention: 44 percent stated that their perception of company leadership improved in the last year. From this group, 50 percent plan to stay at their companies for more than three years. Retention can be promoted by leadership – by setting goals and objectives that encourage healthy work habits, and empowering middle management to do the same.

Leaders’ ability to steer their teams through a crisis correlates strongly with employee loyalty. In fact, response to the Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted teams’ loyalty towards those in charge, suggesting that transparency is more valuable than appearing calm and collected. At times when they perceive their leader stretched and stressed, and seeing how stress is handled among leadership, workers become either more convinced of their loyalty or more set in their unhappiness with current leadership.

Retention boosts opportunities

Diversity and leadership build up employees’ trust, but other findings signaled different areas of opportunity that, if tapped into, can boost talent retention. For example, 32 percent of the employees surveyed felt less connected to their coworkers. The three biggest challenges global teams face are scheduling across time zones, process speed, and lacking communication methods. We can surmise that technology plays a key role in connecting people in different countries—if done in an efficient and nonintrusive way, employees will be more likely to report happiness and, therefore, stay longer in their roles.

One thing that both surveys clearly revealed, when interviewing employees as much as CFOs, is that remote hiring is not the future; it is our present. Companies that understand this shift and adapt will have a competitive advantage in employee retention. But the message from the workforce is clear: A healthy work-life balance is more important than compensation. If that means that employees need to quit their jobs and find a new remote role, they will.

Companies that listen to their employees and take measures to value their global teams, and keep them connected and happy, will see a boost in their productivity—motivating their talent to continue working for them. //