Verizon identifies tech perception gaps between managers and staff

US telco Verizon has highlighted that the higher a person climbs up the corporate ladder, the harder it is for them to see what’s happening down at the bottom.

In partnership with Omdia, Verizon surveyed 1,100 so-called business decision makers (BDMs), IT decision makers (ITDMs), and employees. The results won’t make for particularly pleasing reading for those in more senior roles.

According to Verizon, nearly half of employees cite outdated business systems and technology as barriers to success. Unfortunately for these workers though, more than a third of BDMs don’t view technology as a strategic investment.

There are also worrying differences in opinion between BDMs and staff when it comes to having the tools and flexibility needed to work effectively, whether that’s in the office or remotely.

The survey revealed that 87 percent of BDMs think their contact centre technology is up to scratch, compared to 67 percent of employees. 93 percent of BDMs think their organisation has deployed sufficient collaboration and communication technology, but only 76 percent of employees share that  point of view. Similarly, 94 percent of BDMs are satisfied with their business systems and technology, but that drops to 74 percent for employees.

Flexible working is a particularly hot topic at the moment, with some companies keener than others to have staff working in the office. In Verizon’s survey, 91 percent of those working in a company’s upper echelons think they offer the flexibility to enable staff to work from wherever they are most productive. That falls to 76 percent for those further down the food chain.

Verizon describes this perception gap between managers and staff as ‘organisational myopia’, which must be addressed by greater engagement across the business and targeted investments in new technology and processes.

Nowhere in the survey is corporate short-sightedness more pronounced than when it comes to levels of personal productivity, employee well-being, and customer satisfaction, and how they compare to the pre-covid era. According to Verizon, 74 percent of BDMs versus just 25 percent of staff think customer satisfaction is higher now than it was pre-covid. 75 percent of managers think personal productivity has improved, whereas only 38 percent of employees think it has. And as for employee well-being, 71 percent of BDMs think it is better now compared to pre-covid, but only 35 percent of employees share this sentiment.

“Leadership all too often falls into a trap of viewing the business through rose-coloured glasses, which can result in a disconnect between enterprise expectations and employee sentiment around the solutions and disciplines necessary to stay competitive and drive workplace transformation,” said a statement on Tuesday from Massimo Peselli, CRO, global enterprise and public sector, Verizon Business. “The more closely aligned business leaders and employees are, the more successful they will be transitioning during this period of ‘great experimentation.'”

Of course, the point of all this is to encourage enterprises to get a move on with their digital transformation strategies, preferably by bringing in Verizon as their trusted partner.

“Verizon’s deep portfolio of unified communications and collaboration (UCC) and customer experience (CX) solutions and expertise are purposefully designed to meet the needs of every customer, particularly those with diverse and hybrid workforces,” said Peselli.

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