Data from shadow IT reveals importance of hybrid working

Before hybrid working became established, Shadow IT has plagued organisations for years. With sudden shift to working from home, the use of personal devices and applications that fail to adhere to corporate standards has expanded, even for companies that have accelerated the deployment of Unified Communications (UC) solutions over the last couple of years.

Yet, the security risks associated with shadow IT are well known, raising questions like how many companies are actively considering the implications for employee productivity? Are employees using new corporate solutions while working from home, or still preferring their own methods? Are they frustrated because performance drops or feeling isolated because the new corporate platform lacks feature they have previously become accustomed to.

Without the ability to monitor the entire infrastructure, including working from home, a business will be blind to the true extent of shadow IT and key factors of employee engagement.

Jason Barker, SVP EMEA & APAC, IR, insists that while the right for remote work is becoming recognised in UK employment law, employees experience management is increasingly low, and businesses need to understand and improve the quality of the hybrid working system.

According to Elon Musk, staff should return to office, but the reality for most UK businesses is that employees now expect hybrid working, despite large businesses not meeting the needs of hybrid working employees.

Data shows that almost 60% of women who work in hybrid environments feel they have been excluded from the important meetings; with stress levels and burn outs rising. Despite popular 'acting their wage,' trends on TikTok amongst the Gen Z, there is a problem of lack of productivity and engagement amongst younger remote working workforces.

Going forward with hybrid working

Business need to address the operational challenges to create hybrid working model that works for all employees. But some have recognised the impact of shadow IT and company's lack of control over the UC tools preferred by diverse individuals across the business.

Over the past few years, employees have taken a proactive approach to working from home, and while companies have fast tracked UC deployments to improve employee experience; zoom, Dropbox, and WhatsApp might still prefer the 'emergency,' options to the new corporate standard.

The potential results are significant problems for shadow IT in terms of security but also a lack of corporate understanding of employee activity. According to CBI, access to labour and skills continue to top business labour market concerns, and the hybrid working experience is becoming a critical part of employee engagement.

Monitoring every aspect of the system enables IT to rapidly understand and resolve issues that are affecting workers in any location. But this also highlights issues with UC adoption and shadow IT that could impact employee experience. According to Cisco, 85% of businesses use two or more platforms, and if employees are not using these preferred platforms, questions can be raised about the training process.

Furthermore, understanding of UC usage can help the IT Operations team prioritise investment and drive strategic investment.

Monitoring the structure of the UC environment also provides information for other parts of the business including Human Resources Facilities and Management. For example with Human Resources, early detection of issues that could be affecting employee morale can enable prevention methods. In addition to analysing information sick as geography and age, it enables Human Resources to understand how different generations are engaging with hybrid working.

In addition to many companies offering desk options, providing Facilities Management teams with fast insight to usage information will give early indications of problems and allow essential infrastructure change.

Moreover, the UK is still suffering a significant lack of skills (72%) and access to labour (75%), worrying business' labour markets. According to CBI, the hybrid working experience is fast becoming a critical component in employee engagement and retention.

Ultimately, hybrid working is here to stay, and organisations must ensure the quality of the employee experience to encourage productivity.