Have you heard of the Digital Workplace? The necessary (and hasty) business digitization caused by the demands of the new economic and social scenario, the proliferation of new business models, the exponential increase in teleworking and mobile work, and, of course, the COVID effect has generated in recent months a revolution in terms of the work environment is concerned.
Undoubtedly, it is a new paradigm that will change how we work. A reality in the face of which the so-called Digital Workplace is essential for any company that wants to remain competitive, not only enabling the employee a new digital experience but also providing him with the tools and resources necessary to communicate with anyone and access information and services from anywhere and at any time, thus improving your productivity, your conciliation, your commitment, your collaboration.
Moreover, according to Carolina Castillo, Director of Companies and Partners at Microsoft, “the new work culture is bringing about fundamental changes when it comes to working, where not only productivity is important, but also creativity, a collaboration between employees and flexibility and well-being at work.”
An Imperative For the Present and for the Future
Driven by significant technological advances but also by essential changes in the habits and behaviors of the workforce, the truth is that the Digital Workplace is now a reality that has become imperative for a large number of companies seeking to enhance their way of working and make the most of the opportunities that technology can offer them to apply them to their business strategy.
According to data provided by Vodafone Business, 36% of employees currently spend at least one day a week working outside the office. Of these, 51% admit to disagreeing with corporate policies that restrict the use of their own technology, and more than 66% admit to regularly sending company files to personal email to work from home.
For Cristina Martinez, Director of HRBP of the multinational telco, “technology generates autonomy, efficiency and increases the capabilities of employees and organizations, but above all, it must be at the service of people. New solutions emerge daily, and it is important to have the ability to analyze use cases and connect them with real needs or opportunities to gain efficiency.”
Unquestionable Advantages of the Digital Workplace
According to analysts, more connected employees, better operational agility, and more significant commitment to the client are positioned as the three main competitive advantages of the Digital Workplace. Three gifts that, however, are accompanied by many other benefits:
- At the organizational level: collaborative teams, real-time decision-making, agile methodologies.
- At the operational level: reduction of operating costs, greater agility and flexibility in processes, increase in information security.
- And on the commercial level: more significant innovation, faster time to market, better customer experiences.
However, the application of the Digital Workplace also has many other truly positive implications at the present time to values that are increasingly demanded by new profiles: the sustainability provided by teleworking and mobile work; engagement, and added value in terms of attracting talent and conciliation; and, of course, the empowerment of the employee.
In ‘Digital Workplace’ Mode To Go to the Next Level
Undoubtedly, preparing technologically is today an ‘essential’ to continue leading the market. In fact, this is one of the characteristics of ‘Future Ready’ Companies -those prepared to face the challenges of the future- identified by Vodafone in the study ‘The Vodafone Business Future Ready Report 2020’.
In the opinion of the Vodafone Business director, “5G allows you to work from anywhere without needing a fixed connection; The IoT will enable you to manage your spaces more efficiently and securely, controlling in real-time, for example, the occupation of your physical spaces.
Thanks to secure collaborative tools, the activity continues without being connected to the corporate network. With AI, we can have chatbots that provide 24/7 support to employees or manage the organization’s knowledge”.
Along these lines, it is necessary to highlight that to successfully move towards the Digital Workplace, a series of essential factors must be taken into accounts, such as a commitment to mobility hardware and software, collaboration and communication solutions and tools, solid connectivity, security that guarantees the absolute protection of data and cloud infrastructures.
Precisely about the cloud, Castillo highlights that “it is the catalyst that democratizes access to productivity and collaboration tools for companies of all sectors and all sizes.
On top of it, tools are committed to integration, regardless of the device you use to work, be it your laptop, your tablet or your smartphone, virtual desktop or any environment from which you do it”.
Technology and Connectivity are Absolute Drivers
The development of the digital position has been the only option during these months, and it has been shown that it is possible to maintain productivity while being relocated and without going to a work environment in person.
This situation has reopened the debate on mobile, remote or intelligent working work as a critical element to guarantee balance in organizations and the loyalty of talent”.
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