Why Digital Workplaces Are Always a Necessity, Even Before the Pandemic

The last year has propelled the notion of digital workplaces to new heights. But it is a misconception to believe that the trend rose in a vacuum simply due to the pandemic. On the contrary, in my analysis of the gradual evolution of collaboration patterns and tools, there has been a steady rise in digital workplace e adoption — or at least in demand when the resources for implementation were missing. Specifically, three trends necessitate a large-scale pivot towards digital workplaces even before the pandemic, which will outlast this period. First, workers are now much more mobile, tech-savvy and geographically dispersed, and they expect to use devices of their choice from any location. Second, employees demand simple, fast and flawless interactions with the company whether they are online, on the phone or using collaborative technologies such as chat or messaging. Third, if the organization doesn’t deliver a quality employee care experience, employees will go elsewhere — and fast. Finally, effective real-time collaboration with employees and contractors is also part of the new norm.

1. Technology is linked to top talent acquisition

In 2019 the developed world saw record-low levels of unemployment, causing a sort of war for top talent. Despite economic uncertainty and an unpredictable labour market, talent in areas like sales, advanced customer support, application development, artificial intelligence, etc., continues to be in high demand.

Unfortunately, compensation was never enough to attract top talent, and the current budgetary climate means employers must look at other alternatives. So, it is helpful to know that a digital workplace that offers the freedom to choose one’s work location is an essential priority for candidates. Moreover, 64% would even prefer this over a higher salary.

2. Employees continue to spend unacceptable amounts of time on routine admin tasks

The lack of digital workplace capabilities could be causing resource waste in the most surprising of ways. Happy and productive at work: article by Microsoft states, for example, the act of looking up information, documents, and assets to support business activities is a significant portion of daily work.

It is estimated that the average knowledge worker spends a whopping 20% of their workweek — that’s 1.5 hours in an 8-hour workday — on tracking internal documents or asking peers to help them find the requisite information/assets. Not only is this resource waste completely avoidable using most digital workplace technologies, but it also leads to poor business outcomes — like when an employee needs urgent access to customer information to deliver CX excellence.

3. Technology has a positive correlation with employee retention

It might sound far-fetched, but the digital maturity of an organization is tightly correlated with workforce retention. Employees at “technology laggard” organizations are 6x times more likely to quit when faced with outdated technology compared to their digital-first counterparts — and it is easy to gauge why.

Without a digital workplace, there will be duplication of efforts, an unnecessary degree of manual dependence, and fewer opportunities for adding value, whether by completing an extra sale that adds to one’s compensation or by freeing up time for upskilling. 54% of CIOs attest to this, reporting that accessing business applications easier made the workforce empowered and thus reduced attrition among the crew.

In 2019–2020, we gradually moved towards an employee-centric world where EX matters just as much as CX. The last few quarters have only accelerated this trend, given that employees are now at the centre of the rebound and doubly responsible for growth. In this context, digital workplaces are a permanent business imperative, and companies must consider it as a forward-looking investment and not a reactionary one.

To know more about this, you can drop me a line at arvind@am-pmassociates.com.