Introducing Slack’s Australia State of Work report

To uncover the human experience of today’s workplace, Slack partnered with market research firm GlobalWebIndex in 2019 to survey 17,000 knowledge workers across 10 countries. We captured the deep insights from the survey in our global State of Work report.

While international trends are instructive, country-specific results shed light on local operating conditions and offer points of comparison, which is why Slack set off on a second journey to understand the unique forces at play within individual countries.

Today we’re pleased to present the Australia State of Work report, which offers a deep dive into our survey results for 1,250 knowledge workers in Australia.

These findings will help you understand the conditions in Australia that engage knowledge workers and drive alignment—and those that do the opposite.

The data from our global survey shows that alignment in the workplace is beneficial for innovation, productivity and business growth. The data for Australia mirrors this finding. In fact, we discovered that workplace trends in Australia—digital transformation, a widening skills gap, and growing workforce diversity—underscore the importance of alignment.

As work becomes more complex and companies more diverse, Australian employers must find ways to help employees collaborate effectively and achieve shared goals. This is where alignment comes in.

Our new report paints a full picture of alignment in Australia, detailing how it affects business outcomes and the factors that drive and undermine it.

Here are a few highlights that we’ve captured from our data.

Aligned workers feel supported with the right tools and systems

Our research revealed the subset of behaviours and organisational practices that make alignment possible. Unaligned and aligned workers experience the workplace in profoundly different ways, and their organisations set the tone with the strategies and tools they provide to their employees.

Aligned workers are four times as likely to say their company is structured to keep up with industry changes. Not only that; they are seven times as likely to report that their employers provide the tools, systems and information necessary to keep up with the pace of change.

The power of alignment

When workers feel aligned, they’re more likely to rate their company highly across a wide range of factors. Case in point: A majority of aligned workers rank their companies favourably for things like collaboration, productivity and communication, all key indicators of a successful workplace. Unaligned workers, on the other hand, are more likely to rank their companies poorly for these same factors.

Investing in alignment makes business sense

Innovation is essential to growth as businesses evolve. Not surprisingly, aligned workers are four times as likely as unaligned workers to say that their company is open to new ideas and processes. In other words, investing in alignment can have a positive impact on innovation and cultivate a feeling of openness among employees. More than half of aligned workers in Australia anticipate revenue growth for their companies, while only 29% of unaligned workers expect the same result.

The benefits of alignment are readily apparent. Companies want and need workers who understand their purpose, are engaged in their work and are willing to take action.

Fortunately, alignment is not a finite resource. It’s available to companies across Australia and worldwide. The solutions are fairly simple, especially considering the complexity of work today. We’ve included actionable steps in the report to help you achieve alignment at your workplace.

Download the full report for:

• More insights into why alignment matters and how it affects innovation, productivity and growth
• How alignment in Australia compares with global and regional rates
• Real-world examples of multinational companies, such as Iress and Seek, that nurture alignment
• Best practices for driving alignment across your own organisation