Survey Report Part 2: The Productivity Paradox

Key Findings at a Glance:

• 84% of leaders believe they effectively communicate business goals
• Only 23% of employees feel educated about company objectives
• 42% of the workforce uses 5+ workplace applications daily
• 38% feel pressured to respond to work communications after-hours
• 70% of employees report feeling overloaded at work

According to a press release, Dean Guida, author of When Grit Is Not Enough, entrepreneur, and CEO of Infragistics and Slingshot, said, “We’re living in an exciting era, a time where builders, leaders, and entrepreneurs are using data and AI to fuel unprecedented growth, create groundbreaking products, and drive meaningful transformations in their industries. We can all learn from each other, and I’m looking forward to using my platform to speak with and amplify the knowledge of some of the brightest minds in the industry.” ¹

Introduction: The CEO’s Challenge in the Digital Workplace

Technology can easily become the driving force behind growth, fostering innovation, and maximizing productivity. But it can also be a potential source of friction. How can you be sure your technological investments translate into tangible results across your organization?

Our report covers the most important gaps between executive perceptions and employee realities, including perceived lack of transparency in company goals, digital fatigue, app overload at work, workload perception differences among generations, and expectations of availability after work. This white paper will help you define these challenges and provide actionable suggestions to help you start creating a data-driven culture of experimentation and learning to create a more connected, data-driven,  and productive organization.

“The digital workplace is no longer just about technology adoption—it’s about creating integrated experiences that drive productivity, foster collaboration, and enable data-driven decision-making,” said Guida. “Organizations that understand and adapt to these trends will be positioned to outperform their competitors.”

The State of Digital Work Moving into 2025

Current Landscape

Several key developments characterize the digital work landscape in 2024:

1. Integrated Work Management: Businesses are moving away from disconnected tools and toward more holistic integrated platforms.
2. AI-Driven Productivity: Artificial intelligence automates processes, gets insights, and improves decision-making.
3. Remote and Hybrid Work: As remote and hybrid work arrangements become the norm, more complete digital solutions have become essential for business.
4. Data Democracy: More employees have access to data analytics tools, and knowing they are using the right data is critical to drive proper growth.
5. Security and Compliance Integration: Security features are embedded into workflow tools.

“We’re seeing a clear shift from tool proliferation to tool consolidation,” notes Guida. “Organizations recognize that too many disconnected tools create friction and reduce productivity. The future belongs to platforms that combine multiple capabilities in a cohesive experience.”

Market Analysis

The market for digital work tools continues to grow rapidly. According to recent research:

• The global digital workplace market size was estimated at USD 48.81 billion in 2024 and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 22.8% from 2025 to 2030. ²
• Organizations are consolidating their digital toolsets, with Gartner predicting that by 2025, 70% of organizations will consolidate the number of applications they manage, focusing on apps that can serve multiple purposes. ³
• Investment in AI systems is soaring, with IDC’s Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Spending Guide forecasting global spending to reach $154 billion in 2023, an increase of 26.9% over 2022. ⁴
• A report from the World Economic Forum indicates that AI-driven productivity gains can amount to an additional $15.7 trillion in global GDP by 2030. ⁵

Are You Getting Through?

84% of organizational leaders believe they communicate company goals, objectives, and key results effectively, but only 23% of employees agree. This 61-point disconnect can significantly affect organizational alignment and effectiveness.

It’s not enough to view your digital transformation as an IT initiative. It needs to be a holistic change across your organization. Remember, 51% of CEOs said digital changes boost revenue. The technologies you bring into your business need to drive business success, and when employees lack a clear understanding of company goals, several negative consequences can arise:

• Reduced Motivation: Employees who don’t see the big picture may feel like cogs in a machine, leading to decreased motivation and engagement.
• Misaligned Efforts: Without a clear understanding of priorities, employees may focus on tasks not aligned with strategic objectives, wasting valuable time and resources.
• Siloed Thinking: Lack of transparency can reinforce siloed thinking, hindering department collaboration and innovation.
• Reduced Sense of Purpose: Employees desire to know their work is meaningful. They will lose that sense of purpose if they don’t understand how their work contributes to the overall company purpose.

The Symphony of Distractions

Technology has delivered incredible advantages and efficiencies and introduced an entirely new set of challenges. Our study reveals that one in three employees suffer from digital fatigue, with the time spent on digital devices overwhelming them. All the usual suspects—email, chat apps, and standalone analytics platforms—are the prime causes of this. Without a more holistic approach to integrating your tech stacks, you’ll end up creating businesses that only operate in silos, barriers to efficiency, decision-making, and execution.

The report reveals that nearly half (42%) of employees and leaders use five or more workplace applications daily, with 12% using seven or more.

• The App Switching Cost: Switching between apps constantly can decrease concentration and increase the probability of making mistakes. Each application has another interface, alerts, and workflows, and employees need to adjust how they function and think every time.
• The 8-Hour Screen Day: On average, employees spend eight hours on screens for both work and leisure activities, which can lead to burnout and shorter attention spans.
• Managerial Exhaustion: Our study discovered that managers suffer from digital exhaustion more than workers (39% compared to 31%). This could be because managers have a greater need to communicate, coordinate, and manage their teams in digital environments.
• The Notification Overload: The report further highlights how the continuous flow of notifications from multiple apps diverts everybody’s attention and disrupts productivity. 24% of teams report app notifications distract daily tasks.
• The Productivity Killer: 41% of teams experience burnout from digital fatigue, the report says, and 18% acknowledge not paying full attention to tasks, which can lower the quality of deliverables.

The Generational Divide

Our results show that employees of different generations have different workloads and experience digital fatigue differently. The older workers (Boomers) feel less burdened with work and less digitally exhausted than their younger counterparts. 52% of 60+-year-old workers indicate that they are not overwhelmed with work, as opposed to only 16% of Gen Z workers. Likewise, 53% of Gen Z-ers are digitally drained, whereas only 18% of Boomers report the same.

It implies that varying work styles, technological savvy, and work-life balance expectations can cause differences. The always-on culture has dissolved the lines between work and personal life. More than one-third, or 38%, of workers and leaders feel compelled to reply to work-related messages outside of work. Research by Deloitte reveals that 78% of Gen Z workers prioritize work-life balance, contrasting with 45% of Boomers.⁶

The report also highlights that employees want leaders to set clear expectations for after-hours availability. Specifically, they want employers to:

• Encourage them to unplug at the end of the workday (67%).
• Not expect employees to be available after hours (55%).
• Not ask employees for deliverables after work hours (45%).

Strategies for Unlocking Productivity and Keeping Staff Engaged

Our report shows that you and your executives play a pivotal role in creating a culture of learning. This means introducing new digital tools is not enough. Fostering a culture of learning means you need to integrate opportunities for skills development. It could be as simple as rewarding staff who demonstrate innovative thinking or sponsoring courses or workshops that keep employees on the cutting edge, ensuring your business is always evolving with the digital landscape and not just reacting to it.

A Solution: Balance Innovation and Control

So, what can you do today to build a tech-forward business that keeps employees engaged and creates a data-driven learning culture? Too many processes will destroy creativity and innovation, while too much freedom can lead to chaos and employees’ focus on things that won’t drive exponential growth.

Dean Guida states, “The organizations that will thrive over the next couple of years can effectively blend people, process, and technology to deliver work experiences that are productive and meaningful. It’s not a matter of embracing new tools—it’s about profoundly rethinking how work gets done.”

The following are some measures you and your leaders can implement to bridge the gap between employee experience and executive vision to build a learning organization:

Reimagine Goal Communication:

• Implement an Open Goal-Setting System: Utilize a system like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and post it for everyone to view in the organization.
• Share Progress Regularly: Report regularly on progress toward goals, highlighting important milestones and reasons to celebrate.
• Solicit Employee Feedback: Encourage employees to provide feedback on goals and how they can contribute to achieving them.
• Use Visual Communication: Communicate goals and progress using visual aids, such as dashboards and infographics, in an engaging and easily digestible format.

Combat Digital Fatigue:

• Promote Digital Wellness: Encourage employees to take breaks from screens, practice mindfulness, and engage in physical activity.
• Establish “No Meeting” Days: Assign certain days or times as “no meeting” zones to allow employees to focus on deep work.
• Optimize Communication Channels: Streamline communication channels to reduce the number of notifications and distractions.
• Offer Training on Digital Ergonomics: Train workers on ergonomically setting up their workstations and using technology to reduce strain and fatigue.

Tame App Overload:

• Conduct an App Audit: Evaluate your business’s applications and find opportunities to merge or remove similar tools.
• Merge Systems: Integrate different applications so workflow becomes more manageable, and context switching is minimized.
• Provide Training on Effective App Usage: Train employees on how to use the applications effectively and efficiently.
• Develop App Use Guidelines: Create clear guidelines for app use, such as communication, collaboration, and notification management best practices.

Set Limits for After-Hours Availability:

• Set Clear Expectations: Talk about after-hours availability and encourage employees to disconnect at the end of the workday.
• Lead by Example: As a leader, don’t send emails or messages outside work hours.
• Respect Time Off: Respect employees’ time off and avoid contacting them unless necessary.
• Have “Do Not Disturb” Policies: Encourage employees to use “Do Not Disturb” features on their devices and apps to minimize distractions during off-hours.

Show Appreciation for Generational Diversity:

• Understand Generational Differences: Learn about different generations’ work styles, preferences, and expectations.
• Tailor Your Approach: Adapt your communication, training, and management styles to suit the needs of different generations.
• Foster Collaboration: Provide opportunities for employees from various generations to work together and learn from one another.
• Promote Inclusivity: Develop a culture of inclusivity where everyone is valued and respected, regardless of age or origin.

Conclusion: The Key to a More Productive and Committed Workforce

Identifying and addressing the gaps identified in the 2024 Digital Work Trends Report can result in an enlightened, engaged, and productive workforce. Implementing strategic initiatives to empower communication, handle digital workloads, and optimize tool usage will be crucial in responding to the evolving digital work environment.

Slingshot is a digital work management platform built to solve these problems by unifying project management, team collaboration, and analytics under a single AI-based platform. Contrary to other work solutions comprising a variety of disparate tools, Slingshot brings work execution and business intelligence into a single interface, granting immediate access to data and seamless collaboration to eliminate tool-switching frustrations—helping you achieve exponential growth.

To learn more, you can find the complete report here. For even more insights, don’t forget to read Survey Report: Unlocking AI’s Potential in the Workplace – Part  1.

Survey Methodology and Source of Data

The insights and findings presented in this whitepaper are based on data from Slingshot’s 2024 Digital Work Trends Report, which was conducted in partnership with Dynata, a global leader in first-party data collection and insights. Dynata surveyed 253 full-time U.S. employees and managers across a range of industries and demographics, gathering critical insights on how AI is being implemented and utilized in today’s workplace.

The survey respondents were selected to ensure a balanced representation of different age groups, roles, and organizational levels to capture a comprehensive view of AI’s impact on both employees and employers. Data was collected from respondents located in all 50 states, providing a broad view of the current landscape of AI adoption and its associated challenges.

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Footnotes:

1. Dean Guida Spotlights The Innovators Shaping Tech’s Future in New Podcast ‘AI & Data Driven Leadership’
   
2. Digital Workplace Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component (Solutions, Services), By Organization Size, By End-use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2025 – 2030
   
3. Gartner Says 70% of Organizations Will Shift Their Focus From Big to Small and Wide Data By 2025
   
4. Spending on AI-Centric Systems to Hit $154B in 2023
   
5. Can artificial intelligence actually increase human productivity?
   
6. The postgenerational workforce