At the London Gartner Digital Workplace Conference, one message stood out loud and clear: the future isn’t waiting—and neither are your competitors. By 2028, over 20% of digital workplace applications will rely on AI to deliver adaptive and personalized experiences. Advanced digital dexterity won’t just be a competitive edge; it will be a baseline requirement for success.

The urgency is real. Two-thirds of executives already regret recent technology decisions, and change fatigue is taking its toll—60% of employees report dissatisfaction with new systems. The takeaway? Organizations must act now. Investing in future-ready strategies, from AI adoption to cross-functional collaboration, is no longer optional—it’s essential for staying ahead.

This article distills the most actionable insights from the conference, offering strategies to overcome digital overload, boost engagement, and build a workplace that’s not just efficient, but truly future-ready.

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When Too Many Tools Create Too Much Chaos

Today’s employees interact with 16 to 20 different applications daily. At first glance, you might think this level of tech proliferation should simplify work. But often, the opposite is true. The time wasted switching between platforms, hunting for information, or navigating unproductive loops creates what experts call “digital overload.” No wonder 70% of employees rate their work experience poorly, with 77% reporting disengagement.

The instinctual reaction may be to slash the number of tools. Yet, data presented at the conference offered an intriguing twist. Employees who use more connected apps are actually more productive and engaged. The real issue? A lack of integration. It’s not the number of tools—it’s how seamlessly they work together.

So, rather than eliminating tools, organizations should focus on building a unified platform approach. By connecting systems, streamlining workflows, and integrating data, companies can transform scattered software into a cohesive action system—one that reduces friction while enabling employees to thrive.

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The Power of Connection and the Platform Advantage

Aristotle’s idea, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” perfectly encapsulates the magic of workplace integration. A true digital workplace isn’t just a patchwork of tools; it’s a well-oiled machine where every gear moves in harmony with others.

Imagine employees accessing the information they need instantly, opportunities for collaboration appearing naturally, and intelligent automations smoothing out repetitive tasks. This isn’t technology for its own sake—it’s technology that propels clarity, innovation, and momentum. And this is exactly the kind of environment LumApps helps enterprises create.

How LumApps is Shaping Workplaces: LumApps bridges digital gaps by acting as a central employee hub where tools, workflows, and learning meet. It’s not just an intranet—it’s the connective tissue of the enterprise, designed to bring clarity and order to the chaos of unconnected apps. Through features like personalized learning curves and hands-on integrations, LumApps helps organizations foster employee engagement, drive productivity, and build dynamic, adaptive ecosystems that thrive in the digital era. Think of it as transforming a collection of tools into an ecosystem of action.

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Why Employees Must Build the Future With You (The IKEA Effect)

Beyond platforms and integrations lies another piece of the puzzle—ownership. Research highlighted at the conference underscored a behavioral truth often referred to as the “IKEA effect.” When you assemble that wobbly bookcase yourself, doesn’t it seem a little more special? The same principle applies to workplace tools.

When employees have even a small hand in shaping how a workflow is set up or how their tools interact, their sense of emotional investment skyrockets. Ownership is empowering—and it’s entirely attainable through techniques like no-code solutions and process customization. These can allow employees to adapt systems to their unique needs without relying on IT experts.

The advice: equip your employees with intuitive platforms that empower them to personalize and adapt their digital tools. When employees take part in shaping their experience, they’re naturally more engaged and willing to adopt new technologies.

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Measuring Success in the Digital Workplace

But getting the most out of your digital investments starts with clarity around what matters most. At the conference, a series of data points surfaced some familiar hurdles—and practical solutions—organizations face on the path to driving meaningful outcomes.

Take productivity. Only 32% of HR leaders have a clear definition of what productivity actually means, making improvement tough to measure or even agree on. Narrowing in on concrete business outcomes and aligning on what you want to achieve lays the groundwork for success, turning ambitions into results that stick.

Another outstanding point: 72% of IT professionals believe they shouldn’t be solely responsible for determining the return on technology investments. The most successful organizations create cross-functional teams, collaborating across business units to capture the why, how, and where of tech impact. Pinpointing which metrics are meaningful—not just measurable—brings the entire organization along for the ride.

Tracking application adoption is another piece of the puzzle. With 42% of digital workplace teams not monitoring application usage, there’s real potential being left on the table. Fortunately, most tools now include default tracking mechanisms that make it easy to start—just focus on a single metric to initiate meaningful change and build out your measurement program from there.

How do you determine digital success? Data shared during the conference emphasized the importance of measuring both immediate and long-term value. Two metrics stood out:

• Return on Employee (ROE): This tracks human-centered impacts such as reduced work friction, improved engagement, and better retention.
• Return on Future (ROF): A forward-looking measure that reflects strategic value contributions.

However, defining productivity isn’t always straightforward. Start by agreeing on measurable business outcomes, then layer in cross-functional collaboration to collect and unify data. Tracking tools like Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) and employee engagement surveys can connect the dots between digital investments and business results.

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Driving Value- Action Plan

To cap off the conference’s learnings, here’s a concise action plan every organization can use to align digital workplace strategies with both employee satisfaction and business outcomes:

1. Connect Your Tools: Move beyond isolated apps. Focus on integration to simplify workflows and enable faster, more informed decision-making.
2. Prioritize Employee Ownership: Offer no-code and low-code solutions to give employees a personal stake in their digital experience.
3. Commit to Future-Readiness: Begin experimenting with AI-based tools and solutions that can evolve with employee needs.
4. Define the Metrics That Matter: Establish clear productivity expectations upfront. Use tools to track ROE and ROF, blending IT metrics with behavioral insights.
5. Listen and Adapt: Build a robust digital employee experience listening strategy. Combine telemetry (application health), sentiment (employee feedback), and incident response (IT service quality) to continuously improve.

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Mapping Work Beyond the Basics

Understanding work in modern organizations goes far beyond simple task completion. People juggle delivering outcomes, coordinating with teammates, planning, learning, and building community—often switching contexts many times a day. This reality means digital workplace strategies must support not just ‘doing’ work, but also ‘enabling’ work, removing friction, and supporting well-being and connection.

Context switch & digital friction: from 'core work' to 'work-support/adjacent' areas Employee View on What They Do at Work

1. Work:
   Employees engage in core tasks such as producing deliverables, following cases, responding to requests, resolving issues, completing orders, executing jobs or series of tasks, and coordinating with others.
2. Work to Do Work:
   This involves activities that support core work, including planning, setting goals, reporting progress, tracking time, participating in communities of practice, learning or training new job skills, undergoing performance reviews, and receiving coaching or mentoring.
3. Work to Be Able to Work:
   These are supportive tasks that enable employees to function effectively, such as managing expenses, handling HR and administrative tasks for job or personal changes, ensuring compliance, managing IT equipment, and addressing facilities-related needs.
4. Work to Feel Connected:
   To foster a sense of belonging, employees participate in activities like volunteering or giving back, joining Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), engaging in well-being programs or workplace communities, receiving social recognition, building relationships, and even training for fun.

Aligning digital employee experience goals to these multi-layered needs calls for the right toolset and mindset. Collaborative work management, bots and assistants, employee hubs, engagement platforms—each serves a different piece of the employee journey, from mastering complex deliverables to sparking new connections. The right blend lights the path forward, creating clarity and momentum across every layer of work life.

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Building a Listening Strategy for Employee Experience

Finally, no strategy hits the mark without listening closely to the people who power your business. Modern organizations need a digital employee experience listening strategy built on three pillars:

• Telemetry: Track signals from your apps and infrastructure—performance, reliability, utilization, incidents—to immediately spot issues or room for optimization.
• Sentiment: Capture the voice of your employees—feedback, friction points, skills, preferences—through regular pulse surveys, engagement metrics, and even ambient listening.
• Other Signals: Gather feedback from support channels and service interactions to monitor ongoing satisfaction and change fatigue.

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Combining these elements, you can tune your digital workplace in real-time, ensuring tools and experiences stay aligned to support both business goals and employee expectations.

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Selecting the right solution

The London Gartner Digital Workplace Conference underscored a powerful truth: connection is the cornerstone of a thriving digital workplace. It’s not just about tools or technology—it’s about creating an ecosystem where workflows are seamless, employees are empowered, and innovation is second nature.

The future of work demands more than efficiency; it requires organizations to foster meaningful experiences that align with both employee needs and business goals. By integrating platforms, prioritizing employee ownership, and embracing AI-driven solutions, companies can transform their workplaces into adaptive, future-ready environments.

But the time to act is now. By leveraging platforms like LumApps and adopting future-ready strategies, organizations can design digital ecosystems that aren’t just about work efficiency but also about creating meaningful, impactful experiences for employees. The time to act is now because the future of work isn’t on the horizon anymore. It’s here.

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