4 Ways Technology Has Elevated The Employee Experience In A Hybrid World

Today’s emphasis on remote and hybrid workplaces, where employees demand more flexibility to work from home or other locations outside of the traditional office setting has forced many businesses to quickly adopt new ways of managing teams.

According to McKinsey, companies have accelerated the digitisation of their customer and supply-chain interactions, and of their internal operations by three to four years. Additionally, the share of digital or digitally-enabled products in their portfolio has accelerated by seven years. 

Yet, implementing hybrid workplaces comes with its own set of challenges, such as ensuring that employees are able to stay connected and collaborate effectively with their colleagues, while maintaining similar levels of employee engagement as before. 

How tech is redefining employee experience

In shifting to a hybrid workplace, there was a real need to enable employees to work from home and provide them with the tools and resources they need to be productive. 

In the early days of the pandemic, employees working from home faced challenges such as social isolation, difficulties in communication and collaboration, and the blurring boundaries between work and home.

Yet, the past three years have shown us that digital transformation in human resource management can help circumvent the challenges of hybrid work and, in some cases, even elevate the employee experience.

Here are some ways that technology has changed the way we work:

1. Communication

Communication is the foundation for workplace interaction and collaboration. The rise of messaging platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams allow employees to communicate with each other in real-time effectively. 

Virtual conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Google Meet have also enabled employees to meet virtually regardless of their location. Clear communication is critical to understanding projects, setting expectations and meeting goals. As such, being able to connect with any employee, whether at home or in the workplace, is critical to effective communication.

2. Collaboration

Employees and teams often have to work on multiple projects concurrently, and there is a need for tools that enable real-time collaboration and project management. The widespread adoption of technology solutions such as Google Workspaces, Trello and Asana have shown that effective collaboration and teamwork is possible in a hybrid work environment. 

They allow employees to work together on projects and share information and resources in real-time. This allows for greater flexibility and efficiency, and ensures that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.

3. Recognition

Recognition has become increasingly important as employees experience fewer face-to-face interactions with their colleagues and supervisors. To circumvent this, employers can take advantage of employee experience management solutions such as BI WORLDWIDE’s DayMaker to implement recognition and rewards programmes.

These platforms allow managers and colleagues to recognise employees for their contributions and hard work, which can boost morale and engagement. Recognition also serves as a reminder that their work is meaningful and that they are making a difference. 

4. Socialising

For there to be genuine engagement and connectedness within any company, employees should be able to build communities around topics of interest to them and speak freely about what's on their minds. However, with the lack of physical interactions in a hybrid workplace, it can be difficult for employees to socialise outside of their team.

This is the premise for enterprise social software, such as Microsoft Viva Engage, which enables employees to create communities around similar interests and topics, allowing them to meet a diverse range of people across the organisation.

Happy employees, happy customers

It is clear that the hybrid workplace is here to stay, with 57% of organisations reporting improvements in productivity and performance since the shift according to PwC. 

As the world grapples with shifting workforce expectations and dynamic environments, we can definitely anticipate new technology solutions to improve the employee experience.

Even the employees agree—a recent study by Telstra found that 3 out of 4 employees say that it has become somewhat or much easier to stay engaged and drive cultural exchange with technology. 

To remain an employer of choice, organisations must remain proactive when designing and refining employee engagement programmes. After all, the goal is to keep employees happy and engaged so that they can deliver their best at work, which leads to greater customer satisfaction.