The digital workplace is a term that many organizations use, but how many actually know exactly what it means?
How do you know whether your workplace is truly digital and what are the benefits of adopting a more digital approach?
This post addresses these questions and explains why you need to adopt a digital workplace to improve the experience of your employees and customers.
Defining the Digital Workplace
A digital workplace is an environment that allows employees to quickly find the information they need, regardless of their physical location or the device they are using. It’s a self-service environment, where employees can quickly search for and find information they need for their work, whether that is an important document, the office number of a colleague they need to speak to in person, or the company template for writing reports. A digital workplace is a system that removes the barriers to accessing this information. It consists of both physical elements — the devices that people use to access information — and virtual elements — the software applications running on those devices.
The Problem With an Analog Workplace
In an analog workplace, people waste a lot of time searching for the information they need. For example, an employee needs to find a certain document or template but doesn’t know how to access it, or even who to ask to get that information. The employee then spends several minutes emailing a handful of colleaguesand then wastes even more time waiting for a response. Meanwhile, his colleagues are disturbed by the email and must break from their work to find the required information or pass the query on to someone else. Imagine this happening multiple times a day within a large organization — it’s easy to see how much time can be wasted.
Saving Time With a Digital Workplace
Now imagine, instead, that the employee can log onto the company intranet and search for the information he needs, locate colleagues that can help and see their availability and search a repository of knowledge. If the workplace is truly digital — with all important documents available online — then the search will quickly deliver the results the employee needs, with no need to disturb anyone else. It’s similar to what is happening in the consumer world: rather than having to drive to a bookstore, ask an employee to locate the book you want to buy in the catalog, and then physically go to that section of the store to find it, customers can conduct a quick search online and have the book they need delivered to their door or instantly download it onto their e-reader.
Improving Employee Engagement
A digital workplace makes employees’ working lives easier and can improve morale. In particular, many employees enjoy the opportunities for flexible working that the digital workplace can open up. When employees can access the information they need via their smartphone or laptop, they can efficiently work from home or continue to work on projects while traveling for business. According to the study “Workplace Flexibility in the 21st Century,” two-thirds of organizations report that flexible working has a positive impact on employee engagement and morale.
Digital Workplaces are the Future
When you understand what a digital workplace is, you begin to see how it could make your organization run much more smoothly. A digital workplace is essentially a system that delivers the information people need, when they need it, without requiring them to waste time hunting for it or asking others for help. If we all embrace digital workplaces, then many of the frustrations of everyday working life can be eliminated, leading to happier employees who are better able to serve the needs of customers.
Learn more about helping your organization leverage today’s digital workplace capabilities by downloading our free e-book, Your Roadmap To The Digital Workplace: A Step-By-Step Guide For Professional Services Firms.
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