As people have settled down to remote work that became a norm following the nationwide lockdown, a global survey found that 52 per cent employees and 64 per cent C-suite executives interviewed in India prefer to continue with the new ways of doing business or work.
Almost overnight, the business world shifted to remote work, unleashing a more agile workforce and a period of experimentation and innovation at work. About 52 per cent employees and 64 per cent C-suite executives in India are seeing just how effective remote work can be and embrace the new ways of working, according to the 'The Work Survey' by cloud-based company ServiceNow.
The survey was conducted during September 1-10 among 900 C-suite executives and 8,100 office professionals from companies of 500 or more employees in countries including the US, the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
In India, The Work Survey was conducted amoung 100 C-suite leaders and 1,000 employees from various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, telecommunications and public sector.
Further, the survey showed that in India, there is a strong appreciation of digital transformation and also an appetite for more.
Both executives (69 per cent) and employees (55 per cent) interviewed acknowledge the need for further investment as the top priority for organisations seeking to leverage any pandemic-induced cost savings.
There is likely to be funds for this purpose, with 91 per cent of India's executives interviewed agreeing that cost savings will be derived by changes to company operations, brought on by COVID-19, it added.
The survey also showed that India holds the number one global standing when it comes to utilisation of digital workflows.
While the trend at first seems encouraging, there is still a long road ahead, it stated.
"Seventy-four per cent of India's executives said their business continues to use offline workflows, the lowest among all other countries surveyed (US 89 per cent, UK 98 per cent, Australia 98 per cent)," said ServiceNow Managing Director (India and SAARC) Arun Balasubramanian.
While the figure indicates greater adoption of digital workflows in India, there is clearly a plenty of scope for greater utilisation of digital work processes, he added.
The pandemic has helped companies forge new and better ways of working, something India's executives (97 per cent) and employees (93 per cent) firmly agree on.
However, one of the biggest challenges for India to overcome is transforming the many old processes that remain disconnected across systems and departments.
Less than half of Indian employees (49 per cent) and executives (42 per cent) believe they have a fully integrated system for workflow management across business functions.
"The appreciation for digital workflows in India is among the highest in the world but there is still a long road ahead for the sub-continent. We are on the cusp of an unprecedented wave of workflow and workplace innovation and there's no going back," Balasubramanian added.
