How to Create Effective Digital Workplace Transformation?

Truthfully, big data can lead to overload and disengaged employees. In fact, over 60% of workers in the United States feel burned out in their jobs. These disillusioned, disengaged employees result in up to $550 billion in lost productivity each year. One important way to fight against this issue is to promote a digital workplace transformation.

What is digital workplace transformation?

Digital transformation is the process of overhauling business strategies and procedures to incorporate digital solutions. Most companies today have some form of a digital workplace already. However, standard applications such as email may be outdated and lacking the robust capabilities that modern employees need.

Why is digital workplace transformation important?

Other than the aforementioned aspect of keeping up with the pace of change that the modern business landscape is experiencing, there are other reasons why the adoption of digital transformation policies is important. These include:

• More empowered employees: According to a survey by Microsoft, companies that promote a strong digital culture have employees who are six times more likely to feel empowered in their jobs. In consequence, empowered workers are more likely to be engaged, which is crucial to job satisfaction and overall productivity.
• Better customer experience: An engaged workforce has an interesting link with improved customer experience. Research says that the firms with highly rated customer experiences have employees that feel up to 60% more engaged than the competition. It’s pretty intuitive when you think about it. Happier employees go the extra mile to serve their customers.
• Higher levels of security: Digital workplace transformation is more than improving employee engagement, however. Modern security protocols are an important aspect as well. Those on legacy systems that haven’t upgraded in years leave themselves open to hackers, malware and other destructive agents. With data breaches becoming the norm, every business needs to invest in digital security more than ever.
• More informed decision making: The massive increase in data collection mentioned above necessitates more comprehensive digital analysis systems. These applications can collate and evaluate vast amounts of information and present it in a more digestible way. This leads to insights that otherwise would have been impossible to see. Smart companies use these insights to make better, more informed decisions on many operating procedures.
• More agile companies: An agile company is one that is better able to adapt to evolving market conditions. Whereas in the past when blue-chip businesses could go decades without undergoing major changes in their objectives, today it is not possible to be successful without adaptation. In fact, it is estimated that over 80% of organizations now utilize agile teams to achieve business goals. With a modern digital workplace, you can embrace the evolving market knowing that your technology and employees are equipped with the necessary skills.

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How can you improve digital workplace transformation?

Now that you have a greater understanding of what digital workplace transformation is, you are likely wondering how your organization can enact such change. While no two companies will have the same exact roadmap for digital workplace transformation initiatives, there are basic guidelines that you can follow. These steps for transformation include:

1. Assess your current digital workplace

Before a worthwhile transformation can take place, you need to understand your current system and its strengths and weaknesses. Coordinate with all of your departments (not just IT), and survey employees regarding the tools they use every day. Ask for opinions as to what would make their jobs easier and interpret the data for common issues. Then evaluate which of these issues are the biggest contributors to productivity loss and job dissatisfaction. Ensure these problem areas are high priorities of your digital workplace transformation plan.

2. Set a clear vision

Once your assessment is complete, work with leaders throughout the company and solidify a coherent, unified vision. If your proposal is muddied or otherwise unclear, it runs the risk of employees not buying in because they don’t understand the benefits. A digital transformation needs to be championed from the top down. Currently, over 50% of transformation efforts are led by either the CIO or CEO. These C-level executives should unify and sell the program to lower management, who then need to sell it to their teams. Each employee should be able to see exactly how the initiative will help them.

3. Foster communication, collaboration and connection

These are three of the main issues that digital transformation seeks to improve. The modern workplace requires that employees are seamlessly able to communicate and collaborate. Your transformation plan must put these considerations at the forefront. The days of emailing all company information are long gone.

Your solution should encompass messaging applications, internal wiki pages to spell out policies or provide updates on projects, and social media-inspired toolsets that increase engagement and connection. These tools should run on different platforms, such as mobile and desktop across common operating systems. The LumApps social intranet is one such solution that incorporates all of the functions listed above and presents them in an elegant central user interface that’s easy to understand.

4. Provide the necessary training

Any workplace change is stressful for employees. In fact, data suggests 55% of workers going through a change to business processes suffer from prolonged stress. Stress can lead people to resist necessary change because the fear of the unknown lies at the heart of many types of work-related stress.

This means one of the most effective ways to alleviate these anxieties is to provide the proper training on new tools and business processes. Break down the tools, and explain why they are being implemented. This allows employees to come to grips with the change and get comfortable with it. Once they’re more comfortable, the resistance should dissipate.

As such, it’s very important to ensure that any new technology solutions you utilize are well-documented by your IT department or the third party vendors that created them. Most social intranets were designed with ease of use in mind. Combined with detailed documentation, a social intranet can be a powerful ally during your transformation project. Your training team can develop a targeted curriculum of training for all of the teams that will be using it.

5. Be transparent throughout the process

Transparency is important because it allows employees to feel like they are part of the process. People will know where the company is on its roadmap, and everyone can work together to overcome common obstacles. Hiding problems may seem effective at reducing panic, but rumors and gossip can break through and undermine it. It’s best to be truthful about issues along your journey and reach out for feedback regarding how to get past them. This builds camaraderie and team spirit as well. In fact, corporate transparency has been shown to have a host of beneficial effects, and the old adage of “honesty is the best policy” rings true.

Follow these guidelines and adapt to your specific business needs as required so that your digital transformation projects succeed. In the modern business world, organizations without rich blueprints for their technology solutions will find themselves at a significant disadvantage. All industries are becoming increasingly digitized, so embracing this shift will help your company prosper.