New Work

The hybrid workplace increasingly decides the competition

New Work service providers are developing solutions for the hybrid workplace at full speed. This is reported in the new provider comparison study "ISG Provider Lens Future of Work - Services and Solutions Germany 2022" published by the market research and consulting company Information Services Group. The provider comparison examines the competitive strength and portfolio attractiveness of 30 service providers active in the German market for future-of-work services and solutions.

"Hybrid working in today's dimension is a new topic even for service providers in the new-work market. Sustainable success stories have therefore been few and far between," says Roman Pelzel, Principal Consultant at ISG. That's why service providers could still gain major competitive advantages in the market if they demonstrate successful implementations of hybrid work solutions. "Mobile working is by no means a new phenomenon," Pelzel continues, "but the way the work culture is changing right now - service and solution providers have to find answers to that."

According to the ISG analysts, the digital and technological aspects of hybrid working have so far been the main focus of new-work initiatives in companies, triggered primarily by the covid pandemic. Now, the people-related and cultural aspects, as well as office design issues, would increasingly take center stage. Therefore, in addition to the IT department, the HR department as well as facility management should be involved when introducing hybrid working solutions.

Facility Management

"Building management and office organization have so far come into play primarily when it came to opening up new office space," adds ISG analyst Pelzel. "This will change significantly in the coming years. Because facility management experts will have to sit down at the table with IT and HR managers to develop offices into smart places." In this context, the future of working will increasingly become a component of corporate strategies and digital transformation in general, he added. According to the ISG analysts, German companies are also showing initial interest in mixing reality and virtuality to increase the benefits for customers and their own employees. Expensive and cumbersome hardware such as VR goggles are still limiting the new technologies, such as the Metaverse. But there are initial successful use cases, such as training courses or the onboarding of new employees, where immersive technologies have increased effectiveness.

In general, innovation leadership lies with the international new-work service providers. According to ISG, they have the greatest resources, for example in the form of innovation centers, also on site in Germany. The "ISG Provider Lens Future of Work" study examines the capabilities of 30 providers in four market segments (quadrants): "Workplace Strategy Transformation Services," "Managed Workplace Services - End User Technology," "Digital Service Desk & Workplace Support Services," and "Managed Employee Experience Services."