The workplace has fundamentally changed over the last couple of years. Hybrid work, combining in-office and remote working, has become the new norm, and flexibility is at the core of every business decision. In this new world, organisations are being forced to reconsider the steps required to enable, empower, and enrich the workforce.
When the pandemic first began, the focus seemed to be on embracing technology first and figuring out goals later. Unfortunately, this frequently led to poor investment decisions and security issues. To truly survive, and thrive in the new world, the evolution of the digital workplace shouldn’t start with technology, but with a definition of what your organization hopes to achieve.
Xavier Martin of ALE believes business leaders need to move beyond simply embedding new technologies into their landscape. They must set specific objectives and implement the solutions most likely to accomplish those goals. I caught up with Xavier to learn more about how ALE is supporting the future of the digital workforce.
How Important are Business Objectives Today?
Xavier told me that in today’s digitally-transforming landscape, everything needs to begin with finding the right objective. Understanding where you want your digital transformation strategy to take you makes it easier to map a path to success.
There are three broad directions companies appear to be considering at present, according to Xavier, starting with the least successful option, “Status Quo Maintenance”. Xavier told me a lot of companies seemed to embrace this strategy in 2020, when we were all struggling to find our footing in the face of lockdowns and social distancing. “With the status quo strategy, you’re not trying to change, improve, or evolve – you’re simply surviving. This often leads to silos, shadow IT from teams looking to transform, and missed opportunities for growth.”
The two more effective solutions, in ALE’s opinion are Selective Growth and Global Evolution. With selective growth, companies focus on finding immediate problems to fix with their digital transformation efforts. “The strategy isn’t to transform universally, but to tackle specific problems, like improving the supply chain, human resources, or customer service strategies.”
With global evolution, the plan for transformation is much broader.
“With a global approach, you recognise the world has changed, and you resolve to change with it. Though this often requires a phased approach, the overall aim is to transform the company on a significant level, assessing the potential impact of evolution in every part of the business operations”
Xavier acknowledges that most companies in ALEs customer base right now seem to be focusing on the “selective” route as they move cautiously into the future. “A selective approach seems to align with a lot of the uncertainty in the market today. Though we don’t recommend the Status Quo method, choosing between selective growth or global evolution can both be beneficial – the key is knowing where exactly you want to go.”
How Should Companies be Preparing the Workforce?
Following the successful development of a clear vision, ALE says a careful consideration of the workforce is essential. “Humans have a naturally reptilian mindset and are often more attached to their environment than it seems. This makes implementing change challenging in any space. I think companies investing in digital transformation right now need to ask themselves how they’re going to empower their teams, while keeping risk low.”
Xavier told me that companies moving into a remote or hybrid work still need to maintain relationships between people who used to connect face-to-face. Similarly, voice shouldn’t be overlooked. “I think teams need to avoid falling into the mindset that suggests digital workplaces need everything to be dematerialized and digital. Warehouse workers may still need mobile DECT devices, and more traditional tools can still be essential in certain workflows. Even And indeed, desk phones can still have a place.”
A phone can be a strong link to the rest of the organisation, contributing to the recreation of an office atmosphere for remote workers. It also provides quality and comfort in many cases. As Martin notes, “The sociological impact of digital transformation shouldn’t be overlooked.”
Beyond deciding which digital services to deploy, teams will also consider which functions require the most attention to drive the best results. “We recommend a phased approach to transforming the workforce experience, starting with a hybrid cloud strategy where existing telephony equipment can be leveraged. Existing technology combined with cloud-based services like Rainbow UCaaS helps to future-proof the business, while minimising risk.”
How Does Transformation Influence Business Processes?
Finally, I asked Xavier how a strategy for digital transformation will influence everyday business processes. He told me that cloud-based collaboration platforms are now mandatory in the digital workplace – but they shouldn’t be considered the “end game”. Rather, cloud is a foundation the enterprise can use to build out additional components of a digital strategy.
In most cases, employees need more than just a chat with colleagues, they need to interact with customers, peers, and partners, while having access to the correct information. Communications and business processes therefore need to be linked correctly.
“The path to the future requires the integration of real-time communications with customer management systems (CRMs), ERPs, human resource applications, learning management systems, and so on. This empowers employees with conversations in “context” and has a positive impact on efficiency and goal management”
From a technology perspective, Xavier said the IT department should ensure extensive integrations are available, either at a cloud level with off-the-shelf connectors, or APIs delivered by CPaaS platforms, or on-premises to complement existing communications servers.
What lies Ahead for the Digital Workforce?
According to ALE, a digital workplace can be rapidly enabled by the combination of existing equipment (such as a telephony server) and cloud-based collaboration tools, but long-term strategies need more consideration. Businesses looking to thrive in the years ahead need to define their business objectives, ensure a superior workforce experience, and determine which tools to place in the centre of business processes.
“Success will require a solid cloud-based collaboration platform and complete openness towards the existing IT and communication environment. At ALE, we propose the hybrid cloud model protects past investments, minimizes disruptions in employee workflows, and enables organisations to finally place real-time communications at the heart of the business.”
The path to the future can be part of a phased approach, but it’s important to know your vision and track your performance along the way, to ensure you’re taking the right steps.
