A “digital workplace” is a virtual workplace, equivalent to traditional workplaces. Employees may work from anywhere, on any device, at any time, with the help of the data, apps, and collaboration capabilities offered by the Digital Workplace experience. Digital workplaces use mobility services and digital technologies to adapt to user actions and help increase employee engagement.
The digital workplace “enables new, more efficient methods of working. Boosts employee engagement and agility, and leverages consumer-oriented styles and technology”.
Paul Miller, the founder of the Digital Workplace Group, coined the phrase “Digital Workspace” in 2009 to refer to the expansive ecosystem of office technology. As a natural progression of workplaces in general, a digital workplace plan incorporates a variety of technology and tools to meet business objectives, some of which include:
- Applications and tools for communication
- Platforms for social interaction and collaboration
- Systems for managing content and information for internal and external sharing
- Tools for sharing and storing documents on the cloud
- Platforms for intranets and portals
- Document libraries
- Management of mobile devices and mobile integration
While maintaining a strong emphasis on the entire user or employee experience, we must adopt a digital workplace transformation to the precise needs of each firm. No matter where they are, what device they use, or what time of day, employees can execute business operations and communicate more efficiently in a digital office environment.
Why are Digital Workplaces crucial for businesses?
Businesses must know their assets’ return on investment (ROI) in digital workplace technology and solutions. Here is a summary of the main advantages a digital workplace offers.
Increase adaptability
Nowadays, businesses are not restricted to their physical sites. Thanks to digital workspaces, access to time-sensitive information have become much more accessible, regardless of location or device.
Due to a digital workplace, businesses and employees are no longer restricted to their physical office space. Instead, workers can choose a mixed work pattern, work from home, or work overseas, depending on what suits them and the team the best.
Cooperation and communication improvements
Digital workplace tools promote and facilitate horizontal and vertical communication among employees and between employees and management. Ideas that may not have been heard otherwise may flourish as a result. Employee input using messaging tools may boost morale and increase job satisfaction. Messaging solutions allow employees to communicate swiftly.
Performance improvements
Key performance metrics identified with new digital technologies can enhance employee and external user experiences using digital workplace solutions.
Increased productivity
Cloud storage data that can access with a single keyword search and mouse click have replaced physical storage. Employees have more time to work productively due to the ease with which they can obtain the information required to complete their tasks.
Not to mention that everyone is always informed since they can share resources and information across the organization in real time. As a result, nobody wastes time hunting down individuals for information.
Increased income
Innovative market research tools are accessible in digital workplaces. The results are posted on a public intranet or platform so staff members can actively work on adopting them. The capacity of businesses to filter and concentrate their plans to improve their income rapidly is directly impacted by this in-depth access to research.
Lower costs for operations
Organizations can achieve significant yearly savings in flight, accommodation, meals, vehicle rentals, and similar expenses by substituting virtual meetings and conferences using interactive whiteboards for in-person events. Additionally, fewer on-site workers mean cheaper monthly cooling, power, and real estate costs. Furthermore, choosing managed services or SaaS for digital workplace platforms might eliminate the requirement for on-site servers, storage, and IT personnel.
Employee satisfaction
Employee morale increases due to having more control over their work schedule thanks to employers offering opportunities for remote or hybrid working. Employees who enjoy their jobs and desire to work there are also more inclined to put in the necessary effort to support businesses in their growth.
Experience enhancements for employees
No matter the position in the organization. The organizational hierarchy motivated individuals to utilize social profiles, directories, activity feeds, and collaboration tools to communicate and work together, deepening their relationships and building a “family” culture for all employees. In addition, a decreased turnover rate can result from this better user experience, which boosts profitability by cutting down on the time needed to educate new hires or replace lost skills.
What are the effects of a Digital Workplace on the employee experience?
Digital workspaces assist businesses in creating strong cultures and stronger interactions that boost output, enhance profitability, and promote customer loyalty. In addition, this new digital experience surrounds employees’ job tasks, placing workers directly at the center of company development.
Digital workplace collaboration and communication technologies considerably enhance management’s capacity to hear company workers’ concerns and can strengthen interactions between management and staff. For example, employees are more inclined to offer ideas that influence a single client or the entire firm when they feel they are being heard.
Delivering an outstanding employee experience helps everyone, from task workers to executives. Because employee happiness and engagement are essential to organizational success.
The Evolution of the Digital Workplace
Since modern industrialization, the definition of the workplace has changed frequently. However, the digital workplace is a relatively recent development, driven by the quick advancement of Internet-enabled devices. The expansion of data, the need to analyze it, and the shifting needs of a younger workforce. Let’s see the reasons that are making digital workforce advancement and how.
Technology
Over the past 20 to 30 years, innovative new technologies have developed quickly, giving workers endless potential. Workspace is no longer required. Over thousands of kilometers, communication is possible instantly. Near real-time access, storage, and sharing of information are all possible. As a result, there has never been even a shorter gap between production and people.
Data
The Internet-connected workspaces helped us to create and gather enormous volumes of workspace information from smartphones and computers, which is eventually processed by artificial intelligence and machine learning (e.g., Big Data).
Further use of Advanced tools for digital workplaces is helping to use these data and making digital workplaces more reliable, convenient, and adaptable for evolution.
People
The evolving requirements and attitudes of a younger and emerging workforce are another driving reason behind the digital workplace. For example, later generations want more freedom in their work choices, in contrast to Baby Boomers, which has led to more widespread use of hybrid work arrangements (i.e., when employees can work from their homes or other offsite locations on a predetermined or as-needed basis). In addition, employees may easily communicate with teams and get whatever information they want from a server or application hosted in the cloud.
How to Implement a successful Digital Workplace?
An organization should consider the following when developing its digital workspace.
Vision
Think about how the digital workplace fits with the objectives of the digital transformation and the current company. Is there a compelling cause to revamp and reinvent the complete work environment? Before the organization, including stakeholders, HR, and facilities management comes to a clear consensus on the purpose and intent of the platform, it should not implement the digital workplace.
Strategy
A digital workplace plan should be developed to direct activities and changes in R&D, production, marketing, sales, customer support, IT, and human resources. To do this, a business must comprehend how its personnel now complete their task and how a digital workplace may enhance these procedures.
Employee experience
Think about how a digital workplace may enhance the staff experience for the business, which will improve customer service.
Personas of employees
Recognize the numerous technologies used by the firm’s various sectors. For example, the technology developers utilize significantly different from the technologies used by HR. Personas also consider aspects like an employee’s usage of mobile devices while at work, technology consumption, organizational knowledge, collaboration requirements, and content production duties.
Wrap Up
A digital workplace is not a novel idea. However, the concept of a workplace boundary is gradually disappearing as businesses continue their digital transformation. Users require these workspace components wherever and whenever they need them. Even though, as part of the modern desktop shift, IT companies are decoupling user data and apps from the OS and its device. Due to this digital workplace, employees are given the flexibility to be more productive and collaborate more successfully when data is liberated from the underlying software platform.