The digital workplace has had a massive impact on how employees now work. This technological change has also had a big influence on the productivity levels of businesses today.
What is the digital workplace?
An environment where people have instant access to the digital resources they need to function, such as: laptops, tablets, smart phones, data, documents and services. The digital workplace is in essence a virtual equivalent of the physical workplace.
Gartner also has a definition that emphasizes a consumer-driven viewpoint:
“The digital workplace is an ongoing, deliberate approach to delivering a more consumer-like computing environment that is better able to facilitate innovative and flexible working practices”.
3 reasons why productivity will increase:
More Accessibility
The workforce has become more mobile, driving the need for greater flexibility in the workplace. Traditional working hours of 9-5 are in the past. People can access their emails through their mobile and tablet, meaning people have the ability to work on their commute and from home. The work-life balance has shifted, how and when people work is now much more flexible. IT are streamlining processes, strengthening security and creating more accessibility to cater for this type of worker. All of which is making it easier for people to access files, and giving employees the freedom to work from whatever environment they choose.
More Channels
The digital workplace has transformed the way that people now communicate. New apps and programs have opened up a variety of channels for communicating both in and out of the office. This has contributed to the uprising of the agile workplace. People can collaborate better, no matter where they are situated. Tools like video conferencing and internal platforms like Yammer have enabled companies to find and share more ideas globally – creating a much more aligned business, with clear goals and beliefs.
More Resources
Consumerization has just begun to trickle into the workplace. People have higher expectations about what tools are available to them and presume they’ll have good equipment to work with. With digital advances like IoT and cloud-based technologies, IT can provide greater diversity in applications and equipment, while retaining a high level of security and streamlined processes. Policies such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) increase productivity by simply allowing people to work on their choice of device. People are connected almost all of the time to one device or another. Work resources need to be on demand so people have the flexibility to tap into information as and when they need to.
This is just 3 of many reasons why the digital workplace is transforming and improving business performance.