If you're an IT leader, it's a good idea to take a step back and look at your company's priorities. In many ways, the digital workplace is no longer just about your organization's technology infrastructure—it's also about people. Your employees need to feel comfortable using technology in every aspect of their daily lives, and they need access to the tools they need at all times. It is the responsibility of every leader in business to create an incredible work experience in the digital workplaces for their employees. This is because a report by Lakeside showed that 36% have thought about leaving their work due to a bad digital experience. The good news is that there are things you can do now to ensure that your employees enjoy their roles, which may in turn increase the overall productivity.
The world is changing. Technology has advanced at an exponential rate, and we have seen several major changes in our economy and society as a result. In this digital age, companies are looking to adopt digital workplaces to provide employees with a better work experience and ultimately improve performance.
Digital transformation can be defined as the process through which organizations adopt technologies such as cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), etc., to increase efficiency while reducing costs
1. People are at the forefront
Employee engagement is a key metric for IT leaders to measure the success of their efforts. If you want your employees to be engaged, they need to understand the value they're adding by working in your company and be able to measure that value. They also need to feel like they're being heard, understood, and respected by management—all things that can only happen if you create an environment where people feel valued and heard.
People are at the forefront of your digital workplace. They are your most important asset, and they play an integral role in how you succeed or fail.
- People are key to success: You can’t innovate without people, but you also can’t get people involved if they don’t feel engaged or supported by the company culture. This means that if your employees feel like their voices aren't being heard and their opinions aren't valued, then this will impact how well things go for them at work—and ultimately how happy they are overall as a result of working for you!
- Data is the new currency: In today's world where data has become so valuable (and often misunderstood), companies must start thinking about what kind of data they collect from their employees' activities within their organizations so that they can use those insights later down the line when making decisions related to everything from hiring processes through performance management systems.
2. Defining Digital Workplace & the Corporate IT Strategy
A digital workplace is a set of technologies and processes that provides employees with the tools they need to be productive at work. It's one of the best ways to support business goals, especially when it comes to improving employee engagement, increasing productivity, and reducing time spent on paperwork.
The benefits of having a well-defined digital workplace strategy include:
- Better employee retention and satisfaction;
- Reduced costs associated with training new hires;
- Improved communication between employees (e-mail);
- Increased collaboration among teams through chat rooms or video conferencing software;
3. Transforming the Culture & Organization
Importantly, culture change is not a short-term project. It requires leadership and support from the top, as well as buy-in from all levels of an organization. For culture change to occur, there must be a strong sense of purpose and a clear vision for the future. This can only happen through a shared understanding among employees, leaders, and managers:
- What are we trying to accomplish?
- How will we do it? (Are you using technology or people?)
Culture is made up of shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that define how people work together. Culture includes both formal structures like policies or bylaws (e.g., processes) but also informal ones such as common language between colleagues who use similar terms when talking about work issues like “bugs”.
4. Automation for Better Data Protection and Security
IT departments are responsible for protecting the data that is critical to business operations, but they often struggle with how to do so. At the same time, they need to ensure that their security measures are compliant with regulations such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Automation can help IT departments reduce costs by reducing manual workloads, improving compliance, and streamlining processes. It also allows them to focus on more strategic priorities like customer experience—in other words: automation means better outcomes overall!
5. IT Leaders have a new role, to shape digital transformation.
The role of IT leaders has changed. In the past, they were focused on providing technology solutions that enabled organizations to meet their business needs. Today’s digital workplace is a very different beast: it requires an entirely new mindset from those in charge of it.
The first step in this transformation is understanding how your organization can use technology as a tool for improving productivity, collaboration, and employee satisfaction. You should also seek out ways to integrate data into every aspect of your business so that you can make better decisions with real-time information at hand (think artificial intelligence). Finally, don't forget about culture and process—these are just as important as technology when it comes down to creating effective digital workplaces!
6. Data is the new currency
Data is the new currency. It’s not just a buzzword or marketing ploy—it’s an essential part of your business strategy. You need to understand what data means for your company, how you can use it effectively, and how you can plan for growth in this area over time.
Data is a form of information that represents facts about something (such as numbers). Data is used throughout our daily lives; we use it when we shop online or order food from restaurants via apps on our phones. But there are many more ways than just shopping directly from an app where businesses gain access to valuable information about customers—for example:
- Consumers provide their details through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter so companies can target ads based on demographics or interests;
- Businesses collect customer reviews online using tools like Yelp! which allow users to give feedback so others know what they think before making purchases;
7. AI is ready for primetime
The use of AI is expanding across all industries, including the IT industry. Here are just some of the ways AI can improve your business:
- Customer Service: AI can be used in customer service to automate activities like providing answers and tracking issues so you don’t have staff spend time on repetitive tasks. This will help you provide better service while reducing costs as well!
- Cybersecurity: Using machine learning algorithms, cybersecurity will become even more effective than it already is today by identifying suspicious behavior or fraudulent transactions before they occur so that both parties can take preventative measures rather than reactively after a breach has occurred.
- Data Analytics: By using advanced analytics techniques such as machine learning, we can uncover patterns within large amounts of data that allow us to identify patterns within individual users (e-commerce purchases), groups (e-commerce buyers), organizations (employer/employee), etc... This allows us to not only understand but also predict future behaviors based on past ones which help us make better decisions about how best to allocate resources towards different initiatives over time."
Conclusion
The digital workplace is the future of work. The digital workplace is going to be a place where people can meet, collaborate and do their best work. It’s a future that will change the way we work and live our lives. A digital workplace is not just about technology, it's also about people and how they interact with technologies to create value for themselves and their organization. To make sure that your organization takes advantage of these new opportunities, you need to ensure that you have some strategic priorities set regarding IT strategy as well as other key elements like budgets, staffing levels, etc...
The role of the IT leader is changing. In this digital age, IT leaders are no longer only responsible for technology. They now need to focus on how they can use their skills and resources to help transform their organizations into more efficient, innovative, and customer-centric organizations. This trend will continue as more businesses turn to cloud computing, Big Data analytics, and other advanced technologies. It’s time for IT leaders to take on a new role as digital transformation partners with their companies—and it will require them to embrace change early in order to make sure they are prepared for whatever challenges lie ahead
