For most of us, the workplace is wherever we plug in and connect to the Wi-Fi. We are all digital nomads now, even if we’re mainly traveling between the sofa and the kitchen, with excursions between meeting rooms to hot desks to the office canteen maybe a couple of times a week. 

This means that while bean-bags, breakout areas, and a human-centric HQ are nice-to-haves, the way we actually experience work—and the quality of that experience—is highly dependent on the hardware and software we use to do almost everything. 

The hardware and software that are out in the field largely determines employee engagement, satisfaction, and performance. And there’s nothing woolly or indulgent in accenting employee engagement. 

Early this year, Microsoft mapped engagement against financial performance as part of a Work Trend Index Special Report, having surveyed three million employees at 200 companies across a range of industries. The findings were stark: companies with highly engaged workforces had better financial outcomes. On average, each additional point of engagement reported by employees correlated with a +$46,511 difference in market cap per employee. Engagement directly impacts productivity and performance, and creates value.

That direct correlation is crucial in thinking about investment and incentivization. Investment in better hardware and software is a winner on multiple fronts; it is understood as a reward and recognition of value by employees, and increases engagement and productivity. 

Screen and keyboard quality, processing speed, high quality cameras and mics, the reassurances offered by an object designed and made with care and attention to detail—these things really matter. Hardware and software that’s absolutely aligned by design reduces fuss and friction, and lets employees fully focus on their work.

All of this is not lost on IT department heads. According to a new research report from Microsoft Surface, over 80 per cent of IT decision-makers (ITDMs) in the UK say premium laptops are worth the investment because they increase productivity, and 76 per cent agree they keep employees satisfied and happy. Over 80 per cent believe that empowering employees with premium laptops results in fewer security problems. And, crucially, 73 per cent of UK ITDMs say employees now expect to receive premium devices. In the battle for talent recruitment and retention, premium hardware and software is a critical selling point.

The revolution in work culture means that companies are still investing heavily in new hardware. More than four fifths (81 per cent) of the UK’s IT leaders are planning to increase their enterprise hardware spending over the next 12 months. IT budgets, however, aren’t limitless and IT decision-makers have to ensure that they are getting maximum engagement, satisfaction, productivity, and all-round morale-boosting bang for their buck. 

The vast majority of IT decision-makers, taking a holistic view on “Total Cost of Ownership”, understand that investing in premium hardware makes for long-term savings. Microsoft’s Surface range has been designed to maximize return on investment in every sense—and the numbers bear evidence to this. 

Microsoft commissioned independent research to investigate the ROI of Surface devices running Microsoft 365. The researchers surveyed 700 organizations, all of which use at least 150 Surface laptops, and found they delivered an ROI of 2.8 over three years. Surface devices have a 31 per cent higher residual value than other PC devices, 24 per cent lower third-party support and security costs, and require less in the way of peripherals.

Microsoft’s Surface range has also led the way in device consolidation, combining the functionality (and cost) of a desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphones in one beautifully compact package. 

All of this positively impacts the bottom line but, again, also enhances employee satisfaction and engagement. Nothing can ruin your flow like faltering software or hardware and a time-consuming trudge to IT support, especially if you are not actually in the office. 

The deployment of premium hardware and software also ensures that employees can fully take advantage of the ongoing application of generative AI into enterprise software. Microsoft recently announced the launch of Microsoft 365 Copilot, an always-on AI assistant that can fetch and carry essential information, streamline workflow, smartly suggest next steps and far more. 

Copilot is essentially a highly-skilled, high-speed intern. It can create a five-slide presentation based on a Word document and include relevant stock photos; it can draft a two-page project proposal based on the data from a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet, and then consolidate that presentation into a three-slide summary; or summarize a Teams meeting you couldn’t make, boiling down the key points and creating personalized action plans.

According to Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index, some 64 per cent of workers say they struggle with having the time and energy to do their job, so the next wave of AI promises a profound shift in the way we work. It will lead to a radical freeing up of our time, energy, and imaginations—but only if you have the kit to run it on. 

Investment in premium hardware and software, exemplified by Microsoft’s Surface portfolio, delivers real returns on multiple fronts. Crucially though, it delivers on a human level, helping employees focus on the more creative, rewarding, and engaging aspects of their work, while ensuring that as generative AI advances, they can use it to all but eliminate time-consuming drudgery and create new and better ways of working.

To find out more, download the new Microsoft Surface research report—Hardware Total Cost of Ownership Concerns Driving a Flight to Quality. 

This article was originally published by WIRED UK