When Does Work Prevent Innovation?

I think everyone can agree that they want their workers innovating. After all, Innovation is the champion of success. A new study shows that workers are just too busy to dedicate enough time towards innovation.

A report recently released by Workfront^® finds that while a majority of workers say their workplace regularly asks them to innovate, a full 58% say they’re so swamped with day-to-day work that they don’t have time to think about the future. And this work is important to employees, as enterprise workers say 61% of the work they do matters to them personally.

The results point to a major opportunity for companies worldwide: unleashing the passion and capacity for innovation that often lies trapped within their workforce. Today, enterprise workers say they spend just 40% of their workday on primary tasks. Emails and unnecessary meetings topped the list of things that keep knowledge workers from getting work done.

Workers are looking for new solutions, too. Eighty-three percent of workers believe that the rise of automation will help people and teams think of work in new and innovative ways.

Workfront has included these findings in its fifth annual State of Work report. The report captures comprehensive quantitative feedback on how professionals view their work at present, what challenges they face, and how they see current workplace trends playing out in the future. The report also provides practical recommendations for businesses to address untapped opportunities. The 2018 Workfront State of Work report surveyed 2,010 office workers in the US.

Alex Shootman, President and CEO of Workfront commented:

“As companies race to digitize across every aspect of their business, from human resources to finance to sales, people and the work they do each day has been left behind in legacy productivity solutions and antiquated tools, trapping innovation. Today’s workforce wants and needs a new platform for collaboration and digital work, one that connects people to get things done and enables leaders to see, support, and measure their entire enterprise. These results demonstrate how much the modern workforce wants and needs a new approach.”

The full report can be downloaded here.

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted online by Regina Corsco Consulting between June 14-28, 2018, among 2,030 U.K respondents, all of whom are employed by a company with at least 500 employees, work on a computer, and collaborate with other people on projects.