Why the urgency of digital transformation is hurting the digital workplace
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-02-2019-153 |
| Pages | 34-35 |
| Published date | 11 February 2019 |
| Date | 11 February 2019 |
| Author | Mike Hicks |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Strategic commentary
Why the urgency of digital transformation
is hurting the digital workplace
Mike Hicks
Digital transformation started
out as big talk and media
buzz, but now nearly every
company has either started or is
looking to replace outdatedIT
infrastructure with shiny new tech
toys. In hopes of achieving higher
efficiency, increased productivity and
better communication, business
leaders have embraced the changing
workplace with open arms. They have
sparked a wave of momentum in what
used to be a stagnant economy, but
their giddiness and “let’s-run-before-
we-walk” mentality has dangerous
effects on their company’s bottom
line.
New technologies are worthless if not
implemented correctly, andin some
cases, they can counteractwhat they
originally set out to do. Most
businesses lean on their IT
departments to manage digital
transformation, but they are missing
the most crucial factor to successful
implementation –how employeesfit in
to a workplace makeover. To
maximize the benefits of new
solutions, HR professionals need to
guide the transition process for
employees.
The pitfalls of a poorly
implemented digital workplace
One area of digital transformation that
businesses have struggled to master
is replacing their outdatedintranets
with a next-gen intranet, alsoknown
as a digital workplace. The new digital
workplace has the potential to solve
cross-company communication and
collaboration problems, increase
workflow speed and improve
knowledge sharing. However, when
companies fail at finding the right
solution to fit their company’s needs,
they put the business at risk. These
risks are described below.
Productivity loss
When employees do not have a
corporate digital destinationfor all
information, collaborationand
engagement, informationbecomes
dispersed across several digital
applications and it becomes
challenging to keep track of files and
communication streams. Accordingto
Igloo Software’s State of the Digital
Workplace report, the average
knowledge worker spends nearly 20
per cent of the workweek looking for
internal information or trackingdown
colleagues to help with specific tasks.
Additionally, 23 per cent of
respondents said it would take five to
ten minutes just to access thelatest
version of a standard templateor
document. Although siloed appsfor
communication and file sharing can
seem productive, collaboration
across teams can quicklybreak down
and knowledge management
strategies become severely
threatened.
This proves to be even more difficult
for the increasing numberof remote
workers. Employees who work outside
Mike Hicks is VP of Strategy at VP of
Strategy at Igloo Software, Kitchener,
Canada.
PAGE 34 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jVOL. 18 NO. 1 2019, pp. 34-35, ©EmeraldPublishing Limited,ISSN 1475-4398 DOI 10.1108/SHR-02-2019-153
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