How IT Simplification creates a superior Digital Employee Experience

by • Company news

Digital Employee Experience refers to the quality of employees' interactions with technology in their work environment, and as remote work becomes the norm, a seamless DEX is crucial. The workplace continues to evolve rapidly, with the shift to hybrid models now featuring heavily in employees’ expectations. Indeed, a recent global study of workers from 11 countries, including the UK, shows 44 percent of employees prefer hybrid work. This new chapter in workplace dynamics could explain Gartner’s recent research, which has shown a growing focus on the Digital Employee Experience (DEX). The findings revealed that by 2025 half of IT organisations will have a DEX strategy, up from just 20 percent in 2023. DEX refers to the quality of employees’ interactions with technology in their work environment, and as remote work becomes the norm, a seamless DEX is crucial.

The modern work environment, whether office-based or remote, is increasingly dominated by digital interactions. Employees now seem to spend more time than ever navigating complex digital ecosystems, often leading to information overload and decreased productivity.

Overly congested email inboxes now go hand-in-hand with countless instant messages from collaboration tools, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. The seemingly endless cycle of notifications combined with that sense that you can never catch up is placing employees in so-called “digital debt”.

This shift is reshaping how we work and also raising important questions about employee well-being and organisational efficiency. We believe businesses should engage with their employees to understand the root causes of their digital overload.

Often the answer lies in IT simplification and improving the DEX. More often than not, going back to the drawing board to simplify a complex IT infrastructure will result in a more engaged, productive and unburdened workforce.

It is also important to bust the myth that businesses are purely looking to modernise their IT infrastructure. It isn’t solely about investing in the latest technology; the aim is to procure new IT systems that have a truly measurable and positive impact on employee productivity and well-being.

Here, we explain why improved access, better communication, personalised interfaces and smarter workflows help to create a truly successful DEX.

 

Simplifying IT systems to unlock the digital work focus

At Workspace 365, we believe DEX should be central to business operations. By focussing on creating an exceptional digital experience, companies can keep their people engaged and efficient in this new era of work.

The key to this is simplifying the organisation’s IT infrastructure, giving technologically burdened staff time to breathe, to refocus and feel less pressured to use an overwhelming number of applications.

IT simplification is an integral part of improving the DEX in a workplace. In short, simplifying the IT landscape can enable employees to carry out more business-critical, value-added activities so that they can unlock their ultimate digital work focus, rather than being bogged down by juggling countless software programmes and applications.

 

Simplified and personalised digital workplaces

One of the standout features of Workspace 365 is its ability to streamline access to various applications and tools to create a simplified and personalised DEX.

Through Single Sign-On (SSO), employees no longer need to remember multiple passwords or spend time logging into different systems.

It’s also vital to foster an adaptive digital workplace that is tailored to meet the unique needs of each employee, with each user’s preferences displaying information and tools relevant to them individually.

There is nothing worse than clicking through labyrinthine servers to look for a long-buried document you need to complete a task. Creating a personalised workplace can ensure that employees have immediate access to the resources they need, reducing the time spent searching for information.

With Conditional Access, businesses can customise access conditions based on their specific requirements. Employees can be given permission to access all the apps, documents, and information relevant to their individual role with a single log-in.

Conditional Access can also maximise security by customising access conditions based on devices, networks, location, and more.

By simplifying, centralising and customising access, businesses can eliminate the time spent on administrative tasks, allowing employees to dive straight into their work and be more productive.

In short, a customised DEX can help to tackle the “digital debt” head on and is step onwards producing a more efficient, modernised digital workplace for everyone.

 

Improved communication and optimised workflows

In today’s fast-paced and increasingly remote business environment, effective communication is vital for success. A single platform that brings all communication channels together in one central place can make it easier for employees to collaborate and stay connected. It can also help to improve employee engagement and strengthen the bond between different teams within the digital workplace and beyond.

Businesses should also get ahead of the advances in automation and optimised workflow integration. By using Artificial Intelligence to automate processes and routine tasks, such as data entry, scheduling, or document management, employees can be freed from repetitive activities, giving them more time to focus on high-value collaboration, communication and tasks.

AI can now step in to sort your emails, schedule meetings and even update project statuses in real-time, reducing the administrative burden on people. It’s also possible to identify the most-used apps per device for every user automatically, and group them under ‘Frequently Used Apps’ so people can easily find them.

The Global Search function uses AI to study company information sources during live searches, allowing users to swiftly access the data that only they need, reducing time spent searching through irrelevant information.

AI algorithms can analyse usage patterns and workflow efficiency within the digital workplace, offering actionable insights that can be fed into operational and HR teams to help businesses optimise their operations. The shift to automation should be about improving efficiency, while keeping one eye on improving job satisfaction as employees feel empowered to do more meaningful and impactful work.

Overall, by understanding how employees interact with various tools and identifying bottlenecks, companies can make data-driven decisions to reduce “digital debt”, enhance productivity and untangle complicated processes. Hybrid working is here to stay, so now is the time to invest in a truly simplified Digital Employee Experience to help your people stay in control of the ever-complex digital world.