Featured article by Dinesh Varadharajan, Vice President at Kissflow
Organizations that implemented digital workplace platforms were able to see an increase in productivity by 67 percent along with a 53 percent rise in employee engagement and 43 percent growth in revenue.
For future-forward enterprises, integrating digital workplaces is not an option anymore, it is a necessity for improving the productivity and efficiency of their employees. Though, to achieve a truly unified digital workplace, companies need to focus on aligning their employee requirements and business goals with technology because just choosing the latest technology tools is not enough.
What is a unified digital workplace?
A digital workplace is a unified platform that is the operational system of record for an organization. It shows what work was completed and integrates all the core business processes and applications into one platform, making it easier for employees to communicate and perform their work responsibilities.
The idea behind digital workplaces is to give employees access to a complete set of digital tools that they need to perform their work in the most efficient way possible, regardless of their location or device.
Some of the many features of a digital workplace include:
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Automating and streamlining workflows
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Integrating existing business applications
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Offering an intuitive and user friendly interface
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Securing business data according to the industry standards
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Making it easy for employees to communicate and collaborate
The role of a unified digital workplace in enterprises
Combining disparate workforces
The internet has changed the way that we work and the tools that we use to get the everyday work done. Every organization wants to digitally transform their business processes in order to save time, increase revenue, and get ahead of their competition. At the same time, it is also important for businesses to remember that digitizing and streamlining work operations comes with challenges of its own.
We now have two different types of employees in the workplace:
– The more experienced employees who have been working even before emails and digital work tools became a norm in offices.
– Millenials who have grown up with technology and the internet. They are all set to make up for more than half of the global workforce by 2020.
Future-forward enterprises need to implement unified digital workplaces that can bridge the gap between these two types of employees and improve the overall productivity of the organization.
After all, integrating a digital workplace in a company is less about the technology and more about the employees who will be using that technology on an everyday basis. By taking a people-first approach, companies are able to implement digital workplaces that can actually improve the employee experience by helping them perform their work responsibilities in a more seamless manner.
Connect and streamline different company verticals
When each department of the company works separately, it becomes difficult for employees to collaborate. Not to mention, it also creates bottlenecks in processes because one department may not know what is going on in the other department.
With a unified digital workplace, organizations are able to connect all of their difference verticals seamlessly. It gives employees access to all the information, processes, and projects within the context of the project or task at hand.
Digital workplaces are able to help companies achieve:
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Process automation
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Business process management
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Seamless collaboration
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Content management
–Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Workflow management
More control and management
When you give your employees a centralized access to business tools and applications, you are able to better track how those tools are being used across the organization. You are also able to analyse which applications are increasing the productivity of employees and which ones are raising issues that need to be replaced or removed as soon as possible.
Constant control and monitoring of company applications as well as data optimizes security and efficiency in the company. That is because it creates a more transparent work environment across the organization by making it easier for employees to track the progress of any project that they are involved in.
Choose the right unified digital workplace platform
Just introducing a digital workplace platform in your company and hoping for the revenue and efficiency to increase isn’t going to cut it for companies. Future-forward enterprises need to choose the right platform that can digitize processes, cases, and projects in exactly the way that your employees prefer. And all of that starts by understanding the varying requirements and expectations of your employees.
About the Author
Dinesh Varadharajan is the Vice President at Kissflow. He leads the product management team that looks after the company’s flagship workflow automation product. Dinesh is a hands-on executive with a wide range of experience working with bleeding-edge technologies, developing great products. He has profound knowledge in design and technical implementation of BPM solutions.
