In September 2016, Workplace commissioned Deloitte to find out how leaders are thinking about the future of work. Deloitte interviewed 245 executives and identified six major themes.

Culture is critical

More than two thirds (69 per cent) of C-suite executives believe that company culture, especially transparency in internal communications, is critical to their organisation's ability to realise its mission and vision.

Lesson 1: Pay attention to culture; help leaders to actively participate in its development and dissemination.

Communication, collaboration and connectivity are transforming

Only 14 per cent of leaders are completely satisfied with their organisation's ability to communicate and collaborate.

Lesson 2: Companies need more transparency in communications, new systems and policies. They need to move rapidly towards a digital-first culture, or they risk losing employees, productivity and customers.

Millennials drive the pace of change

By 2020, millennials will constitute 50 per cent of the workforce. However, only a third of them feel that their organisation is making the most of their skills and experience and 66 per cent expect to leave their employer in less than five years.

Lesson 3: To keep millennials, companies should place greater emphasis on nurturing and developing their people and creating interesting and purposeful work. They should build an environment with career flexibility and tools that enable employees to collaborate and exchange ideas transparently.

Business benefits are real

When asked to identify the most important benefits from greater collaboration, 57 per cent of executives cited identifying and exploiting new business opportunities, while 48 per cent cited increasing rates of innovation. These were followed closely by accelerating time to market (42 per cent) and improving customer loyalty (41 per cent).

Lesson 4: Be clear about the benefits that you're targeting and regularly check leading and lagging measures of progress.

New digital tools are dramatically changing how we use our screen time

The future working environment will require a shift in how we communicate and collaborate. 76 per cent of executives predict a move away from email and towards more sophisticated digital tools. These digital tools will be critical enablers for cross-cultural teaming.

Lesson 5: Start the shift to new collaboration tools, but help ensure workplace practices and employee expectations are aligned with new capabilities.

Just over 40 per cent of respondents expect they will place more focus on facilitating the flow and exchange of ideas, providing greater autonomy at team and individual levels.

Lesson 5: Leaders need to be educated in how to use collaboration tools for improved communication and connectivity.

Digital technology is changing the way we work, where we work and how we communicate and collaborate. Through all this change, one thing remains the same – people are still the heart of every organisation. Companies need great leaders, managers and employees at all levels to get things done.

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• Companies need great leaders, managers and employees at all levels to get things done.
• Digital technology is changing the way we work, where we work and how we communicate and collaborate. Through all this change, one thing remains the same – people are still the heart of every organisation. Companies need great leaders, managers and employees at all levels to get things done.
• Through all this change, one thing remains the same – people are still the heart of every organisation.