Are You Taking Full Advantage of the Digital Workplace?

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Organizations today need many things to be agile and successful, and high on the list is an effective digital workplace platform. Over 87 percent of senior executives say implementing a digital workplace is now a priority. Moreover, 62 percent of them are already introducing initiatives to digitize business processes throughout their companies.

However, merely implementing a digital workplace in your organization is not enough. To reap the greatest benefits from the digital workplace, you need more: You need the right strategy, the right approach, and the right culture in place.

People Are More Important Than Technology and Tools

When you are focusing on instituting a digital workplace, it can be easy to put all of your efforts into technology. After all, a digital workplace won’t succeed without the right technology. But the people who are using the technology—your employees—are more important than the technology.

Digital transformation is driven by people. The aim of introducing new digital technologies at work is to deliver real value to employees. New technologies should make it easier for them to manage their work. That, in turn, will improve productivity and efficiency.

That is why, when you’re deciding which digital tools to adopt for your organization, it’s crucial to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Instead of throwing new tools at every issue that arises, think more holistically. Think about which technologies can help you achieve your overall organizational goals.

Understand that more tools do not always lead to better results. In fact, when different teams and departments within the company use different tools, it can create data silos. This can make cross-team communication and collaboration a nightmare.

Alternatively, a unified digital workplace for the entire organization confers simplicity and efficiency. Employees will have access to all of your organizations’ digital tools through a central dashboard. This will streamline projects, processes, tasks, communication, and collaboration. More than anything, it will reduce dependency on numerous disjointed applications with overlapping features and will thereby improve productivity.

What Are the Top Benefits of a Digital Workplace?

The benefits of a digital workplace include:

Improved Productivity and Efficiency

A digital workplace platform allows employees access to all the required tools through a centralized dashboard. It automates repetitive parts of business processes, saving employees crucial time and allowing them to focus on their core work responsibilities.

In fact, companies that have installed a digital workplace have seen a 67 percent increase in productivity and a 53 percent increase in employee engagement.

A More United Workforce

A digital workplace is a virtual replacement of the physical office space. It allows employees to stay connected even when they are working from outside the office. This reunites the workforce by supporting both hybrid as well as remote teams.

It will also create a more transparent work environment. Employees will always be in the loop about what’s happening within their team, making collaboration easier.

Enhanced Employee Experience

When your employees are not engaged, both productivity and revenue decline. In fact, 85 percent of employees are disengaged on average, leading to massive loss of revenue.

But when employees have access to the tools they need to automate parts of their responsibilities and manage their work efficiently, their job satisfaction improves.

More Flexibility

Employees will enjoy more flexibility in their work environment and in their schedules.

They will gain the freedom to work from any device in any location, staying connected with their team through the internet. This helps organizations support a more flexible workforce in which not every employee will need to work from the office every day. Instead, many employees can go completely remote or only occasionally come to the office.

Reduced Operational Costs

If your organization is like most, you’re currently paying for multiple digital tools separately. But implementing a digital workplace will allow you to replace all of those tools with one centralized tool and one simplified subscription fee. Similarly, a digital workplace will reduce overhead costs associated with managing multiple digital tools and supporting them with on-premises servers.

Greater Ability to Retain and Recruit Top Talent

When organizations have the flexibility to hire employees without geographical limitations, they can choose from a wider pool of candidates. They can therefore recruit the best possible talent.

Moreover, when you allow employees to work flexibly and offer remote working perks, they are more likely to stay with the company for a long time. Companies that support remote work have more than 25 percent lower employee turnover rate than other companies.

Real Estate Cost Savings

A digital workplace gives employees the freedom to choose their work environment. In other words, employees won’t always have to be physically present in the office all the time. It also means that organizations don’t need big offices to accommodate their entire workforce all at once.

Instead, companies can maintain smaller office spaces. They can therefore save on real estate costs by keeping their offices just big enough to accommodate the maximum number of employees they expect in the office on any given day.

Learn How to Harness and Build an Effective Digital Workplace Strategy

In order to implement an effective digital workplace, you need to first establish a strategy for the necessary initiatives across the different departments within your organization.

Start by creating councils within the company’s various teams and departments. This approach will help you to better understand your employees’ expectations and challenges. Additionally, this can help to ensure that your digital workplace strategy aligns with your company’s goals and its current circumstances.

When creating a digital strategy for your organization, here are some questions you should focus on:

How digitally mature is your organization right now?
What are the main digital challenges employees face while managing their everyday work?
Can your company culture seamlessly support the digital workplace strategy?
How can you set up a process for continuous improvement of your digital workplace?

A Digital Workplace Will Bring About Organizational Change

Implementing a digital workplace can bring considerable changes to a company’s culture, its departmental structure, its internal business processes, and its incentives. Therefore, it’s important for organizations to thoroughly assess the competencies and skills required for the successful implementation of a digital workplace in order to take complete advantage of it.

About the Author

Dinesh Varadharajan is Vice President of Product Management for Kissflow. A hands-on executive, he has a wide range of experience in working with bleeding-edge technologies, developing great products, and mentoring highly productive teams. He has profound knowledge in design and technical implementation of solutions related to business process management. He was recently named one of the Top 100 Great People Managers 2020 by Great Manager Institute & Forbes India. To view his LinkedIn profile, go to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dineshvaradharajan/