A digital workplace has never been more necessary. As companies have undergone digital transformations over the past several years, one thing is certain. It is here to stay and will continue to evolve for three reasons:
- the internal workplace must become more flexible, must improve communication, needs to reduce its operating expenses, and must provide streamlined and fully convenient experiences for internal employees as they work
- more than half of the U.S. workforce is working remotely, at least part-time. And of those who are working remotely, 41.8 % are doing so full-time. Granted, COVID-19 has been a factor, but organizations are now finding that it can be more cost-effective to continue that relationship into their futures.
- as organizations continue to outsource work products, they are employing services of foreign individuals and concerns. Those individuals must become part of that organization’s digital workplace so that they become productive and satisfied.
Unfortunately, digital transformations have occurred rather haphazardly. Innovations have been adopted and implemented without an overall strategy in place. And many of these adoptions relate to HR functions. What HR managers need to do is develop a comprehensive digital workplace strategy that will apply to all employees, in-house or remote. That will improve their work environment and foster communication, collaboration, and productivity, along with job satisfaction.
What is a Digital Workplace?
In its simplest form, the definition of a digital workplace provides employees with the tools they need to manage and complete their work tasks. Ideally, there is a unified overall platform that allows employees to access the tools they need, to communicate with their peers, subordinates, and superiors, and that provides for streamlined collaboration among employees that need to work together.
In the face of all of this, HR managers/directors must also ensure that the workplace “community” and culture provide a stable and comfortable environment as digital transformation continues to occur, and employees must continue to learn and adapt. This requires an overriding strategy with key elements. Let’s unpack those elements in the following space.
Guide to Creating a Digital Workplace Strategy
- Craft the Vision
A vision is futuristic. What do you see your digital workplace looking like in a year, three years, perhaps even five years? You can’t foresee innovations in technology, but you can know what you want any technology that is out there to do. Any possibility must meld into that vision.
- Set Your Goals
You will probably have short- and long-term business goals. Some of these relate to employees; others relate to the business itself. Examples of these might include the following:
- Adopting and implementing technology that lets employees work from anywhere, especially important to younger and talented hires.
- Technology that will allow employees access to all files and documents they may need from anywhere. This will require security measures, either through the cloud or established within the in-house IT infrastructure.
- Project management software that will enable collaboration among all team members, that will track progress, encourage creative problem-solving, and access through all device types.
- Training and development resources for both the use of any new technology and personal growth. This will ease employee anxiety and demonstrate your commitment to their success.
- Data science technology so that key business decisions can be made, including staffing needs.
- Increase employee productivity and generate company cost-savings through employee remote work environments, freeing up funds for business growth/expansion.
- Craft Your Roadmaps
Each goal must have a “roadmap” for completion. If, for example, you intend to acquire and implement project management software, you will first need to research the products, make a decision based upon your specific needs and the support you will receive in the way of employee training, etc. Once you have made a decision, you will then introduce that product to relevant employees, promote its value, and establish a calendar for training and implementation.
If, for example, you intend to save the organization money through the implementation of technology, your roadmap will include a comparison of staffing costs prior to the transformation and afterward.
- How Success Will Be Measured
Metrics can be a scary word because it means collecting data to analyze how things are going. But if these analyses are not conducted, there is no way to gauge if the goal achievements are on track. You will need to determine what your KPI’s will be and how they will be measured.
For this, you need to return to your goals and roadmaps. And for each of them, you should determine what measures will designate success. Here is an example:
One of your goals is for employees to master and utilize the collaboration tools you have chosen. Your KPI’s might be as follows:
- Email traffic among employees, especially those with attachments related to collaborative projects, has dropped by a specific percentage. (This means they are using the meeting software (Zoom, Go to Meeting, Skype, etc.) that you have adopted.
- Records and surveys of employees provide actual figures of their use of those tools.
- Employee Feedback
Change is not always easy for employees, especially those who have been used to an in-house environment in which all employees are on-site, meet face-to-face, and have not become accustomed to new methods of doing things. These individuals will require more nurturing than those who have been accustomed to using technology in their career positions and embrace its value and the flexibility it provides.
As new technology is adopted and implemented, it will be necessary to garner employee feedback on their experiences. For those who provide negative feedback, it will be your task to delve into the reasons, make plans to resolve their issues, and provide any support they may need to achieve the comfort level you want and need. Resolving those issues is critical to productivity, morale, and employee retention.
Crafting a Digital Workplace Strategy is not a Simple Task
Each of the aforementioned elements must be reduced to writing so that all stakeholders are aware of the change vision and goals and exactly how those are to be accomplished. Both employees and the organization as a whole will be experiencing change. And getting “buy-in” will require a crafted strategy that makes sense. It’s easy to become so enamored with the technology that employees become secondary priorities. Never let that happen. Focusing on employees first will mean a far better success potential.
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