The digital revolution has impacted on more than just companies’ information and communication technology (ICT) departments; it has also changed people. This is why a digital workplace strategy must involve the entire organisation, from human resources to directors. Today’s workers are increasingly demanding, more informed and better at multitasking and multiplatforms. They prefer mobility, transparency, collaborative environments, streamlined tasks and digital tools, and value a work–life balance.
The new digital workplace concept suits both parties, as companies achieve gains in productivity and efficiency and employees enjoy a more streamlined, enriching work experience. To put it more simply, a digital workplace involves a number of practices and technologies that enable people to work together from anywhere in the building, at any time and on any device. It enables new, more effective ways of working and raises employee engagement and agility. How? Because it is an always-connected environment that provides instant access to everything employees need to get work done. Nonetheless, this technological cocktail will never succeed without social and cultural change in companies, especially those that believe in a more traditional, layered, closed way of working.
The advantages of the digital workplace make themselves felt in different spheres of the business ecosystem.
- For companies, the digital transformation of the workplace and traditional resources results in higher productivity, innovation, communication and involvement on the part of employees. A more digital office breaks down the physical barriers, favours creative, collaborative work and eliminates limitations on devices and connections. It not only offers employees more flexibility but also greater job satisfaction. A more satisfied employee is motivated, a team player and actively contributes to the business’s growth and success. If the digital workplace concept has been properly instilled in a company, it is more able to attract and keep talent.
For this to happen, companies must develop a strategy and adopt solutions that allows them to create a working environment built on smart controls, smart management, sustainability, optimization, communication, interaction, the right tools and services.
The digital workplace also enables companies to exploit platforms’ potential to the full, especially mobile ones. In-house mobility facilitates and streamlines work, improves quality of service and offers substantial competitive gains in the market. Here, employees find all of the information and processes they need to work successfully. They can share their knowledge quickly and with ease, and acquire help and information from colleagues.
Mobility on premises also fosters the creation of new management models focusing on virtual and dynamic environments. Generally speaking, thanks to its positive impact on people, the digital workplace eventually leads to strategic changes in processes, routines, models and workflows, and makes companies simpler, more effective and more efficient.
- For employees, the digital workplace means a more positive work experience that theoretically places a greater value on their contribution to the growth and development of the business. The definition of a digital office involves a profound change in the traditional work model. The days of cubicle farms and compartmentalized solitude are simply gone, but an open space isn’t necessarily a good thing if it’s use in a random way. The office must be utilized more as a hub for people to physically come together to interact with each other or bounce ideas off one another.
The members of the so-called digital native generation that is now joining the workforce do not like an inflexible, unchallenging work environment that is closed to new ideas and has no room for growth. They want to work in a place that brings people together. These employees want to use multiplatforms and their own personal devices to get the job done. Regardless where they are in the building – the meeting room, their work desk, the hallway, the showroom, etc – the laptop, tablet and mobile phone are seen and used as work tools. They have a global vision of the future, regard technology as a basic necessity and are more daring and impatient. When combined with digital workplace tools, this immediatism fosters constant improvements and more effective work, which in turn creates a massive competitive advantage for companies.
But this digital office is not just for millennials. Employees born in the analogue age who are keeping up with the whole digital revolution realise the advantages of the digital workplace better than anyone. They too want to get their hands on these digital tools that enable them to enhance their skills, improve their quality of life and, without a doubt, enjoy more flexibility in their work. In fact, the workplace today is one of the main factors in decisions for jobseekers or anyone wanting to attract and retain talent.
- For customers, a state-of-the-art workspace that uses new technologies generates more flexible, helpful teams. In other words, they are closer to the customer. Digital tools also ensure better quality of service and faster, simpler, more effective support mechanisms. Multiple platforms facilitate communication and speed up response times. They simplify the whole company–customer relationship, regardless of location.
The digital workplace brings with it the concept of a modern workspace. Here, factors such as ergonomics, happiness, wellbeing and career progression go hand in hand with mobility and countless technological solutions that facilitate employees’ everyday tasks and enable organisations to improve their productivity, creativity and, of course, success rates. These are essential factors that help companies competing on a global scale to make their mark. If these workspaces are to constitute a real competitive advantage, they have to be set up successfully throughout the company.
The company also has to address the needs and limitations of employees in different age groups and with different skills, ambitions, expectations and abilities. It has to ensure that they have tools that meet its business needs and help improve its teams’ standard of work, continuously measure the return on its strategy, and identify and deal with weak points.
The best way of guaranteeing that a business is the ideal digital workplace is by finding a partner specialising in creating perfect workplaces where the company and its employees, tools and technologies get together. InnLink by InnoWave is about delivering a seamless employee and visitor journey in an integrated digital workplace. How? By connecting the building to users and to an A.I engine that enables smarter decisions and interactions. This helps customers balance all the necessary technological changes with concerns for comfort, health and wellbeing in a cost- and energy-efficient environment.
The new generation of employees is not attracted exclusively by a workplace’s design or comfort. If the space does not have working conditions that foster their success and professional growth, then it is out of the running. A partner with the right know-how and references in the field can guarantee the expected return for all members of the business ecosystem.