Elaine Murphy, Senior Vice President for LiveTiles in EMEA shares her four key insights on the future of work. 

Let’s look at how best to create incredible employee experiences and unleash productivity using digital workplace platforms that can be effectively governed.  

One figure stood out for me when researching how to create unforgettable employee experiences within technology stacks. We waste 1,500 hours a year working ‘old style’ on projects. Doing things like version control, isolating information exchange (also known as emailing), jumping between local and shared drives, worrying about file naming conventions and so on. All in all, 61% managing work and 39% doing work. This is a stat that needs to change. 

The proliferation of applications and platforms available in the market has led to a strong reductionist desire to accelerate our shift towards a singular, seamless workplace experience where employees have everything they need to do their best work.  

Here are my top four insights on creating incredible employee experiences from a business operations perspective. 

Work Smarter. Not Harder.

Employees will build their own portfolio of ‘new work nucleus’ applications and supplement them with personal preferences and role-based applications. You’ve heard of FOMO (the fear of missing out)? Well, make way for JOMO, the joy of missing out! (Something that appeals to me!) Improved ‘intelligent’ technology solutions underpinned by artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation are predicted to reduce the noise and pave the way for the resurgence of community and the creation of digital experiences which give the user everything they need to do their job.  

No longer will we anxiously wish for more or bemoan the bedlam of information overload, because personalised, fully integrated digital workplaces are now starting to empower employees and strengthen communities, giving us all we need to do amazing work. And, much of this is employee driven. Employees are demanding a seamless digital, physical and human workplace experience.  

Collaboration, Productivity, Governance in business operations

Governance will be the new normal if we are to realize the potential that the modern workplace holds for collaboration and productivity. To reach this promised land of JOMO, one of the most important prerequisites will be to put in place systems that prevent the explosion of multiple channels, turn down the noise of disconnected applications, and set businesses up for success as they accelerate their digital workplace journeys.  

The necessary bedfellow of effective collaboration and productivity is governance whereby businesses and their IT departments can easily employ structures, governed by pre-determined rules of engagement, that mitigate the proliferation and duplication of channels and activities. Governance will therefore become increasingly significant for CTOs and heads of Digital Workplace to get results in the most streamlined and efficient way possible.  

It’s about Content Services, not Intranets

While the term ‘intranet’ is still broadly understood by a diverse range of professionals and verticals it understates its strategic value and role within the modern workplace. Especially when we consider a workplace that is set to go through the biggest changes in content management that we have seen in more than 20 years.

More and more Gartner Analysts and customers are referring to ‘content services platforms’ when speaking about the evolution of the intranet. This speaks to the ever-growing importance of content as a driver of engagement and the critical need to ensure content is delivered, distributed and measured through the optimum digital channels, enhancing engagement and leveraging metrics for constant improvement. 

It is crucial to always be people-focused and inclusive when working with business operations

While the discussions around technology solutions are at the fore, the issue of implementation and adoption is often the biggest challenge for enterprise clients. This accentuates the crucial importance of involving employees from the earliest stages so that digital transformation and collaboration are positively perceived and fully part of the employee experience.

It is understandable that some colleagues may negatively perceive the introduction of new technologies or that siloed teams might see collaboration as a threat. This can be mitigated by better understanding and addressing the ecosystem of employee workplace influences and touchpoints. Employees are allies in business transformation but only if the effort is made to ensure they are involved, listened to and empowered from the earliest phases of planning. 

We are already thinking about creating engaging employee experiences for 2022 

At LiveTiles we are building the world’s most forward-thinking platform that is fully focused on employee experience, collaboration and productivity. We make it about people, make it powerful and make it engaging. We are passionate about talking to our customers, always learning from various digital transformation challenges to evolve our vision and our product suite, and to deliver amazing user experiences to future-proof your business. 

Part of the LiveTiles roadmap includes developing the Reach employee communications app to enable workers from all industries to communicate, stay in the loop on company news and policies, and to formulate unforgettable employee experiences.