Workplace persona: Are you a collaborator or a tech-savvy leader?

Forget all that but about being an introvert or a people’s person. Even the bit about having all the credentials to be a leader. A US-based firm, Poly, has come up with six distinct workplace personas, each with their own character traits.

Office collaborator | This type makes up the largest proportion of the workforce at 27 per cent, and have a traditional office-based work style that is highly collaborative in nature and open to new technology. The Poly findings predict a stark decline in this type of worker persona in the future underpinned by a desire to work more flexibly in the future.

Flex worker | Splitting time between the corporate office, ‘home office’ and travel, 20 per cent of the workforce is now having to be flexible and adapting their communications channels due to their frequent remote and on-the-go work. They risk having difficulty collaborating with colleagues and missing important information in the office. To compensate, they need to be “always-on,” and communicate across several devices to minimise this risk. The size of this group will likely grow as office collaborators who want to work more flexibly adapt to work at home, in the office and elsewhere.

Remote collaborator | With fewer opportunities for in-person meetings, the 15 per cent of the workforce who are remote collaborators face challenges, including productive collaboration. This persona will grow, likely from office collaborators who choose to work remotely following the pandemic.

Office communicator | Office communicators, who make up 13 per cent of the workforce, are most comfortable with familiar systems and devices such as a desk phone. More traditional workstyles went through a change during the pandemic, and this persona will be stable in the short-term given their anxiety to return to office.

Connected executive | These tech-savvy business drivers make up 12 per cent of a typical workforce. They go wherever needed to make decisions and solve problems. Versatile in their work style, they use more communication tools than any other persona. Executives’ need to connect will continue to be persistent, due to which there will be a negligible effect on this persona type in the future.

Road warrior | Accounting for 5 per cent of the workforce, road warriors are always on the move working outside of the office more than 50 per cent of the time. This group size will remain stable as those who were prevented from travelling during COVID-19 get back out to see customers.

The remaining 8 per cent of employees not covered by the six personas fall under the ‘office independent’ type. This includes people operating in self-directed roles with limited communication and collaboration technology needs.

“Whilst this study was conducted during COVID-19, we believe that the behaviour shifts observed in the workplace will remain long-term,” said Jennifer Adams, senior sales experience and enablement director at Poly. “Identifying these and ensuring that everyone has the correct tools and devices to maximise efficiency and productivity is the key to a successful and efficient workforce, now and for years to come.”