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Digital Employee Experience

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Digital Employee Experience Digital Employee Experience

What is DEX?

T here are several ‘experiences’

that are focused on in

business. User experience

(UX) and customer experience (CX) are

already big priorities in business. But

more recently, the attention has turned

to employee experience (EX), and

more specifically the digital employee

experience (DEX).

This spotlight on the employee's

journey facilitates new ways of

understanding the impact of the

digital interactions amongst the

workforce every day.

Once we analyze and understand

these interactions, we can optimize

each individual's experience. When

this happens, we have a framework of

improvements that can be made.

The idea behind the value of the

experience was defined in 1998 by

B. Joseph Pine II and James Gilmore.

They predicted that businesses would

begin to orchestrate memorable

events as sooner or later, the memory

itself would become the product: the

"experience".

Organizations know that they are

no longer defined by what products

and services that they provide, but

how they provide them. This has

seen more thought taken on the

experiences of the customers, and

now, the employees who deliver the

goods.

The workplace is no longer a place

where people turn up to get paid.

Work is providing a far richer

experience than ever before. The

boundaries between work and home

are now blurred, and the ‘always on’

environment is creating a new reality.

Employees now see work as a place

to learn, to nurture friendships, to be

inspired, to swap ideas and to make

positive change.

Through integrated technology,

people feel more empowered, more

in control, and more able to shape

their position in the workplace. If

organizations can improve what

people encounter, observe and feel

throughout the working day, it goes

a long way to enhance productivity,

satisfaction and retention.

And so, the digital employee

experience as a descendant of EX,

encapsulates the relationship that

the employee has with the digital

workplace. It enhances an individual's

journey in an organization and

improves business overall.

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No matter the industry, we’re seeing a move toward

human-centric places as enterprises strive to meet rapidly

changing expectations of how people want to work. This

depends upon combining advances in technology with

the cognitive sciences to help people engage with work

in new ways. This will not only mean singular, premium

experiences for individuals, but also the opportunity for

organizations to attract and retain the best talent.

The digital workplace has changed

the way we work - automating

office processes, improving ways

of communicating with people

anywhere in the world, and using

the latest digital tools to support us

in our roles. A seamless relationship

between employees and tech is the

essence of the digital workplace

experience.

With four different generations –

the most ever - coexisting in the

workforce, organizations know that

in order to get the best out of each

individual, they must accommodate

work styles to fit these different

ages and personalities. Now, more

than ever before, organizations are

meeting the expectations of their

workforce.

Joseph White

Director of Workplace Strategy, Design & Management at Herman Miller

With the increase in digital services

on offer, companies are aware of how

their technology infrastructure is

impacting on the working life of the

employee.

This, in a nutshell, is the basis for

DEX. From cohesive relationships

with remote workers to sourcing

the best digital tools for the job, the

working lives of your employees

need to be analyzed. It is only then

that we gain a true understanding of

what can enable higher productivity,

increase workplace happiness, and

improve efficiency.

The digital employee experience

touches on different levels: the

physical, sensorial, emotional, and

rational. What makes an employee

choose one communication platform

over another? Why are people more

drawn to sharing information over

one exchange than the next? What

is the impact of people having quick

access to the information they need

to do their job?

In this guide, we will be exploring

DEX in the workplace, and why

it should be a priority in your

organization.

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Contents

01. The workplace 8

02. Leadership 12

03. Training 16

04. Collaboration 20

05. Customers 24

06. Tools/IT 28

Conclusion 32

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Workers have found that incoming tech has

helped create a situation where they control their

environment, contrary to tradition.

Office spaces reflect how we

work, a concept otherwise known

‘Bürolandschaft’ or office landscape.

This was a term created in the mid

20th century, by Eberhard and

Wolfgang Schnelle, consultants

brought in to help Germany with

their fast rate of growth after

the Second World War. Gartner

resurrected the term in their 2016

paper 'Top 10 Technologies Driving

the Digital Workplace' to describe

the role of the physical office in the

digital workplace.

The workplace

01

The 21st century has spawned the

digital workplace which is now

compromising the role of a bricks-

and-mortar office space. With so

many tools available to aid work

remotely, there is less focus on

commuting to a physical space in

order to work.

This has created a plethora of

opportunities for individuals and

organizations alike. Workers have all

the tools to work remotely and avoid

time-consuming commutes.

Organizations can connect employees

across different locations. Without the

hindrance, restrictions and overheads

that an office building presents,

businesses are able to harness the

digital workplace and enjoy more

fluidity and agility in their interactions

with each other.

The future will continue to see how

we can recreate a productive, flexible

working environment anywhere, and

create a DEX that is unique to every

worker.

Digital technology and flexible

working have meant the “office

landscape” has had to adapt

accordingly. New developments have

impacted not just how we work, but

where we work.

In the past decade, the creation of

the digital workplace has meant that

the current working population has

found themselves in a flux of new

apps, tools, and ways of working.

The workplace is no longer,

necessarily, a physical space. The

digital workplace is alive and well in

people’s homes, local coffee shops

and on the move. The impact this has

had is profound, allowing workers to

enjoy flexibility, do their jobs more

efficiently and enable businesses to

grow in unprecedented ways.

A physical and digital work environment designed for a collaborative, integrated employee experience enables the delivery of more complex customer solutions.

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-10-technologies-driving-the-digital-workplace/

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/top-10-technologies-driving-the-digital-workplace/

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The IRC story

The International Rescue Committee

(IRC) helps people whose lives and

livelihoods are shattered by conflict

and disaster and has 11,000 staff

working in more than 40 countries.

Because of this diverse and dispersed

form of work, staff members do not

work in traditional methods. In fact,

many of them do not even have a

desk, leaving them cut off, and out of

communication with their peers and

organization.

Staff working for the organization

speak 19 different languages and

many fall into the category of non-

desk worker as their day jobs involve

constant travel or on-the-ground work

in refugee camps.

Despite these difficulties, the

organization has used digital tools to

ease communication, incorporating

translation services, wider internet

bandwidths and a social intranet to

connect its people, wherever they are.

The result delivers a DEX that

has broken down silos between

departments, provided better

access to digital tools for remote

workers and increased engagement

across the workforce. People have

greater insights into the work of

their colleagues, whether they are

in an office in London or a refugee

camp in Yemen. The impact on

workers has been massively positive

and provided an experience that

lifts the organization to operate

successfully in the most challenging

of environments.

The mobile and languages capabilities of RescueNet mean

many more members of staff can access our intranet, and

documents and tools can be found quickly on devices while

in refugee camps. From accessing documents in Arabic for

clients recently resettled to the US, to branded PowerPoint

overview templates for last minute donor meetings in

Bangladesh… RescueNet has really been a game changer.

- Kelsey Parsons, Global Communications Officer at IRC

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Improved communication

The digital workplace offers a richer way of communication for leaders.

From blogs, to comments, to input in online discussions, photos and video

– senior level is now able to communicate in a far more profound way,

allowing them to reach out to people.

Approachability

Organizations know that the age of a faceless C-suite is over. Employees need

to not only recognize their leaders, but have the ability to share ideas with

them, ask for advice and work alongside them. This can allow businesses to

really galvanize and increase engagement amongst the workforce.

02Leadership

In a large organization, it’s easy for

key figures to lose visibility. However,

within a digital workplace, leaders

can harness a range of services and

devices to provide an outstanding

employee experience. With its rich

and varied streams, senior level has

access to digital tools which can not

only provide them with a platform to

be seen and heard but also help make

the organization work efficiently:

faster, quicker and more productive.

The digital workplace can act as

an enormous benefit to business

leaders. From being able to be seen

as a knowledge leader (or at least

pointing employees in the right

direction) to being able to inspire by

leading by example.

The digital workplace is the perfect

place to practice transparency,

integrity and accountability. These

crucial behaviors in turn improve the

experience that employees receive as

a result.

One of the ways that leaders can

provide a great digital employee

experience is through the company

intranet. This keystone of the digital

workplace forms a connection

between top level and the rest of the

workforce, meaning management

can still present leadership qualities

in even the largest of organizations.

And in the globalized workplace, this

has clear advantages.

Through the intranet, leaders can create a digital employee experience that enables:

More presence

Of course, executive level cannot be visible at

all times. Schedules and globally dispersed

organizations mean that leaders can often

become faceless entities. Thanks to tools

that enable live blogging, video calls, mobile

intranet and more, the digital workplace allows

connections to all members of the workforce

without ever needing to meet them in person.

Even if they never interact face-to-face, they

can foster good ties with people across the

organization. This enhances the relationship

between the individual and the leader and

increases their presence without close physical

proximity to their organization.

An intranet can facilitate all these

experiences by allowing a port of call

to contact all staff, whether they’re

senior or newcomers.

Within the digital workplace, leaders

can empower employees, articulate

their vision, and demonstrate

integrity, authenticity, and service.

The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.

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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) story

By harnessing the communication

tools of your digital workplace, senior

leaders can provide an unparalleled

DEX. Chief Executive Julie Lilley's role

in the day-to-day use of FSB's intranet

– with her blogs and interaction

with staff and members – has huge

benefits for the entire workforce.

When FSB carried out an internal

communications survey last year, it

was Lilley’s activity on myfsb that was

one of the highlights of the feedback.

When it comes to introducing any

type of change to a company, this

level of leadership has an invaluable

impact on the organization.

Thanks to the drive, persuasiveness

and enthusiasm of leaders like Julie

Lilley, employees learn about the

governance of the organization,

allowing them to see those key

figures in the business and create

pathways to establishing contact

with them. Through vlogs, blogs

and updates, senior figures lead by

example: showing the workforce the

work that they do, their dedication

to the collective vision and inspiring

others to do the same.

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Training

03

Stats have shown that companies that

use e-learning technology receive an 18%

boost in employee engagement.

Whilst vital to the growth and

development of the business, training

can be considered a rather dry,

mandatory process. It can also be a

burden on an organization who has

not properly implemented a structure

yet. HR departments can struggle to

implement efficient training, and the

ever-limited time and resources act

as obstructions.

In short, the employee’s encounter

with training is rarely regarded as a

five-star experience. Long sessions

that interrupt the working day,

revision which needs to take place

out of hours and modules that lack

cohesion – there is a major friction

between what needs to be achieved,

and how it is achieved.

The digital workplace can change

all this, however. E-learning has

developed to become an incredibly

sophisticated method by which to

train employees. Based entirely

online – through an intranet or

separate dedicated platform –

training can be weaved into the

working day, more easily than ever

before.

This flexibility enables the user to

carry out their day-to-day duties whilst

studying. Workers can fit it into any

scenario, whether it’s on the road, at

home or on scheduled breaks, and the

results feed through in real time back

to the relevant departments.

Depending on the structure, workers

can be alerted to any wrong answers

and go back to study the specific

module. Or they can be awarded

badges which can be displayed on the

social areas of the site to recognize

their progress and achievement.

This style of training allows the user

to progress at a pace that suits them,

at any location. And when you have

an employee who is learning and

exploring, they’re better at their jobs,

helpful to fellow colleagues, and

able to provide a better customer

experience.

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The Magic Memories story

Magic Memories is an example of

a digitial training experience done

well. They launched their leadership

development program by creating

a virtual learning college (VLC)

through their intranet, Click.

Using team pages, they made a

private team page for each cohort

going through the program and

used the functionality in that to

resemble a VLC. For someone going

through the leadership program, the

first module is done in-house, where

a program can be built around their

needs. The remaining modules

are completed through distance

learning at the pace of the user.

All modules are video episode

learning and accessible from any

location via Click.

Essentially, we are able to execute a global

leadership program through Click that has really

high user engagement and results.

As Nick Holmes, Head of

Organizational Development,

says: "We are able to execute a

global leadership program through

Click that has really high user

engagement and results."

"Users can access what they need

from any device or location – ideal

in an industry where a lot of people

may not have a laptop at home, but

can watch videos on their tablet,

for example. With our leadership

programs, 60% of people have gone

through it and have been promoted

to a new position within the first

six months. That’s pretty huge,

especially seeing as a year ago this

didn’t exist."

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Collaboration

Collaboration has many advantages

in the workplace. It eases the burden

on individuals, makes sure work gets

distributed evenly, makes employees

more responsible, and increases

motivation levels across the various

teams. Not to mention the problem-

solving, silo-breaking and learning

benefits which come along with a

successful collaborative process. In

short, in order for an organization to

work efficiently, it needs to know how

to collaborate well.

Businesses know that talent lies in

unexpected places. When you have a

dispersed workforce, it is important

that you can reach expertise wherever

it is. If you can develop a workforce

where collaboration is a default setting,

great things can be achieved.

Of course, the leading enabler

for modern day collaboration is

technology. The digital workplace is

based on tools that ease and enhance

collaborative work, from video

conferencing and instant messaging

to task management software. When

your digital workplace has a focus on

communication and collaboration,

users can experience virtual

communities, breaking down the

barriers of time zones, geographies and

different languages. This, of course, is

essential for globalized businesses.

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Great things in business are never done by one person.

Now, collaboration can take

place anywhere in the world.

Communication is no longer heavily

weighted towards face-to-face

interactions, and individuals don’t

have to sit next to one another to work

on a shared document simultaneously.

With the movement towards digital

collaboration, endless possibilities

have opened up for businesses. No

longer restricted by distance, time

zone or language, collaborative tools

within the digital workplace have

broken down boundaries and given

unprecedented freedom to employees

all over the world.

The focus on digital employee

experience has seen online digital

workplaces cultivate ways to connect,

communicate, and collaborate with

others and enable colleagues to

share knowledge and expertise from

wherever they are based. Centrally

hosted content keeps employees

connected, regardless of where they

are in the world. Even for those who

do work in the same office with

one another, digital collaboration

platforms such as intranets can

empower employees by breaking

down team or departmental silos,

connecting them with other skillsets,

and providing a searchable, centrally

located knowledge base.

The result is an easy, intuitive space

where distance, language, and

hierarchy are no longer obstacles.

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The IIE story

With over 200 programs from

19 offices worldwide, serving

more than 42,500 enrolled

participants and benefitting 1,400

member institutions, creating a

digital experience that promotes

collaboration is no mean feat for an

organization like IIE.

With the complexities that such

a globalized workforce brings, IIE

needed to overcome the absence

of a positive digital experience.

With the organization’s previous

systems failing to create a sense of

community across its international

regions, IIE was looking to create an

experience that would unite all staff

in pursuit of its core vision.

“Our old intranet was static and felt

very corporate, with no features for

social collaboration or knowledge

sharing,” Sandra Roldan, Intranet

Specialist at IIE, observes. “What’s

more, there was no way to search for

key procedural documents, which

was a barrier to effective working”.

Realizing that social communication

and collaboration would be

integral to operational success,

the organization partnered with

Interact. IIE’s new digital workplace

platform provided them with virtual

communities, which would break

down the geographical barriers

facing the globalized workforce.

Individual team ‘sites’ now provide

dedicated spaces for working

teams, who can communicate and

collaborate easily with immediate

members. Team members can also

upload content or documents specific

to their projects or programs. Forums

within each team provide the social

element where peers can ask, answer,

and resolve questions within a

simple, yet effective interface.

Individuals and teams can come

together as a collective to share

knowledge and collaborate freely and

easily, regardless of location or role.

Our Houston office sees what colleagues are working on

in Mexico City and Hong Kong, giving us all a sense of

pride in the organization and the work we do together.

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05Customers

Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.

The experiences between customers

and employees is inextricably linked.

You cannot achieve great customer

service without your frontline having

a great employee experience.

There has been much focus on

creating an incredible experience

for customers – from the design of

the packaging to the welcome they

receive on walking into the shop.

Today, businesses want to deliver

these experiences to their own

customers to deepen engagement,

improve user satisfaction and build

brand loyalty. And the best way of

improving the customer journey, is by

improving the employees' experience.

Employees play such an integral

role in the customer’s interaction

with the brand. Organizations can

only guarantee as good a customer

experience as frontline workers are

capable of delivering. With this in

mind, it’s imperative that businesses

focus on the delivering the best

possible experience for their staff

members. That’s why companies who

are mindful of their customers are

now turning their attention to every

employee experience—in person

and on screen, throughout the whole

employee lifecycle:

More efficient training

The digital workplace has revolutionized

training. Gamification and e-learning, for

example, are popular methods of interactive

learning which boost employee engagement and

the ability to take on large or complex batches

of information more easily. This more efficient

training allows the employee to become more

engaged with their role and provide a better

experience to the customer.

Better tools to recognize success

As an organization progresses with training and

developing, performance management should

go hand-in-hand. Implementing performance

appraisals, evaluations and employee recognition

programmes gives each member an idea of their

progress. This not only helps to retain the worker

but also ensures continued development in their

role and understanding of the job.

Faster access to information

These days, your employees expect a consumer-grade

tech experience. Anything less will cause frustrations,

resentment and confusion – which of course affects

the customer experience. Allowing the workforce to

access one source of truth increases your competitive

advantage, builds trust, drives productivity and

improves customer service.

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The Avon & Somerset Police story

Avon and Somerset Police needed

to build an experience that focused

on speed and reliability, giving

access to correct data quickly. For

example, a procedure so they can

charge a suspect, or the process

when supporting a victim of crime.

With their intranet, Pocketbook,

employees are able to perform their

duties quicker with a reliable source

of information.

Pocketbook is the primary resource

for information for their 5,000

frontline officers and 3,000 support

staff, many of whom access the

information strictly via their

smartphones.

The intelligence they access includes

information on missing persons and

advice on how to handle suspects

from other officers who have dealt

with them before.

An officer in the field, or a call handler, quickly needs

to have access to a large amount of information. For

example, a procedure so they can charge a suspect,

or the process when finding a victim of crime. Now

with Pocketbook, employees are able to perform their

duties quicker with a reliable source of information.

In addition, the unique challenges

and needs of its dispersed front-line

are a priority. Tailored content and

streamlined task workflows save

valuable time and effort. The result is

a truly useful and inclusive platform

that supports those individuals doing

critical and difficult roles out in the

communities they serve.

Pocketbook is now fully embedded

as a critical information platform

for officers and staff out in the field.

Thanks to the system, staff no longer

experience any waiting, frustrations

or delays in the access to vital

information. This, in turn, ensures

the best possible support and service

to the public.

- Scott Fulton, Head of Strategic Digital Services

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Tools/IT

06

One of the most important aspects

of DEX is the digital tools that

the employee interacts with. As

workplaces progress, the IT ecosystem

has become more sophisticated.

Which means that it’s imperative

that today’s IT considers the bigger

picture of what tomorrow’s plans

have instore. Today, employees

expect their workplace IT to closely

resemble the simplicity and ease of

their digital experience at home. If

the cracks in your IT are showing

now, the workforce will lose faith in

their workplace ever matching their

growing needs.

Employees are now the consumer;

and as such, workplaces are working

hard to match the workplace

experience of digital tools with the

at-home experience. Sluggish, slow or

outdated tools will not only result in

poor adoption and reduced ROI; they

also decrease morale, engagement,

and productivity.

Staff are demanding technology that

is quick, intuitive, easy to use, and

utilizes functionality they’re already

familiar with – such as @mentioning

or #tagging.

How can you prepare for tomorrow’s workplace, if you cannot manage today’s?

Meanwhile, personalized

consumer digital experiences are

considered standard: whether that’s

recommendations based on our

purchase history, or content tailored to

our likes and interests. As AI advances,

this will become increasingly

individualized and sophisticated.

Employees will no longer accept or

engage with internal content that isn’t

tailored to them as individuals.

With the rise in personal devices,

businesses also need to apply the

same level of attention to mobile and

tablet as there is with desktop digital

experiences.

No roadblocks, no slow processes, no

frustrations: the level of expectation

amongst your staff is high. Your

organization’s IT needs to meet this

and maximize productivity.

Today, employees expect their

workplace IT to closely resemble

the simplicity and ease of their

digital experience at home.

IT can achieve this by having these questions at the forefront of all they do:

The challenges that organizations face

in getting their digital infrastructure

up-to-date and constantly improving

are great. But in the 21st century, it

is a necessity to be at the forefront of

digital workplace developments. It’s up

to each individual organization to keep

striving forward.

Do we offer a simple, intuitive, and employee-focused experience?

What tools do our employees need, want, and use?

Do these tools support our business objectives?

How do employees work together in terms of integration, authentication,

and the user journey?

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The Royal College of Nursing story

An organization can no longer

survive with lacklustre IT. With an

influx of content and data, those

businesses who can’t keep up with

the pace face real problems.

The Royal College of Nursing’s digital

workplace was a huge obstacle in

their progress to stay up-to-date

and relevant. Their old intranet

lost users through its poor search

function, which was criticized as

slow and inefficient. There were

also 4500+ documents which were

overburdening administrators.

But dumping the obsolete system

and replacing it with an intranet

from Interact has changed the way

the organization functions, creating

massive savings across the board.

Even the smallest improvements

have made a huge difference. For

example, thousands of pounds a year

have been saved in just providing a

quicker search function alone.

Adopting the Interact search and in

particular, the Best Bets feature, now

not only saves time and money but

leads to increased productivity and

more motivated staff.

It’s clear that using a functional and

effective search mechanism on a

company intranet is a no-brainer.

In terms of employee engagement,

easy-to-use navigation is critical.

When staff find exactly what they

want, their trust in the software

increases. One of the easiest ways

to boost intranet usage is to deploy

intelligent search, and see the rates

of adoption, engagement, and

productivity increase.

One of our staff 's main complaints (there were many)

about our old intranet was the search. It was slow and

the results didn't contain what you were looking for.

I set myself the task of figuring out how much time the

Interact search is saving us… seven seconds on every

search. Just the search improvements from our new

intranet is potentially saving us £2,868 a year.

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Conclusion

As we become more reliant on

technology, it is vital that organizations

get a handle on the relationship

between tech and employees.

We are working harder, faster and more

competitively than ever before, so we

need the right technology in order to

progress. Tech makes complex tasks

easy; it helps us solve problems more

quickly, it can process large amounts of

data faster than a human can. And in

order to benefit from all of this, we need

to be creating a seamless relationship

between technology and the workforce:

the essence of DEX. The impact this has

on all areas of business offers boundless

benefits to the individual and the

company – as well as on customers and

the community on a wider scale.

For businesses today, there is no

alternative. Organizations must

embrace tech and keep up with its

evolving landscape to stay ahead.

Simply, DEX is a necessity, not an option.

@IntranetExperts

Interact Software

@IntranetExperts

interactsoftware.com

About Interact

Interact is a global enterprise software company that serves intranet software

to over one million users across more than 850 organizations with our digital

workplace solutions. We specialize in solving internal communication and

collaboration challenges by combining our sophisticated intranet software

with outstanding professional services, focusing on developing long-term

strategic partnerships with our customers.

Interact has offices in Manchester and New York, and

operates across the whole of the US and Canada, EMEA

and Australia.

Why the digital employee experience is a necessity, not an option.

With DEX, management can focus

on building a cohesive relationship

between tech and the workforce.

By meeting employee expectations,

creating a human-centric working

environment and catering to the

four generations currently in the

workplace, businesses can ensure

every individual’s interactions with

technology is designed to benefit

the worker. And when the worker’s

experience is enhanced, productivity

increases, the customer journey

improves, and your business thrives.

Station House,

Stamford New Road, Altrincham,

Cheshire WA14 1EP, UK

+44 (0) 161 927 3222

[email protected]

21 W. 46th St. 16th FL,

New York

NY 10036

+1 (646) 564 5775

[email protected]

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