Automation, agility, efficiency, and flexibility. Four critical drivers of a digital workspace environment where workers will thrive in the future.

While many organizations say they understand the value of their workers, old ways die hard, and are they only providing lip service to dress up ways of the past? Traditionally, areas that are considered revenue and profit centers like sales, marketing, manufacturing, and occasionally IT seem to get most of the C-Level attention, but if your organization is going to succeed in tomorrow’s market, it’s time for HR and IT to become a much more engaged partnership and move to the forefront. Valuing workers as the tremendous assets they are and finding ways to maximize the employee experience in recruiting, promoting longevity, employee well-being and productivity will be tomorrow’s competitive edge.

How the Flexible Workspace both Local and Remote Affects Workers’ Well-Being

Over the past 20 years we have seen a major shift in the current workspace. In the early 2000s, the more innovative organizations started testing moving away from cubicle farms to give way to open floorplans. Five years ago new employee perks like foosball, basketball, dodgeball, ping-pong tables, and cafeterias were accompanied into organizations to enhance the working environment. Now with Gen-Z entering the workforce, times, trends, and workforces are different but still have the same goal: to enhance and improve employee health and well-being in the hopes of boosting productivity and longevity.

These were great added perks for office workers, but what about the growing trend of workforces consisting of remote employees, telecommuters, home-workers, and the ever-growing number of contractors.

People who work in offices spend almost a third of their lives there, so delivering a positive experience to them is important. For organizations wanting to retain top talent, it’s essential to foster a universal environment that gives enjoyable space to work, think, and collaborate both local and remote. This can include everything from above-mentioned perks but also better technology solutions that give workers home-like access and the ability to communicate with their organization locally and remote, with teleworkers, as well as customers.

IT, HR and LOB Working Together

In one of my recent posts I discussed how technology can be used to create workspaces that encourage employee buy-in of your organization’s vision and goals. Success in this area requires a partnership strategy from HR and IT to build a game-changing working environment. The result will be maximizing productivity and promoting a more positive working culture, helping your employees deliver a delightful experience to your customers. Going back to the four critical drivers in my opening comments, here’s how successful organizations are making it happen.

• Automation. Enriching personal productivity using AI and machine learning resulting in more time and resources to develop new skills. This will enhance satisfaction at work and have more dynamic workers.
• Agility. It’s about creating a productive environment that can include things like an open floor plan with a few private places to take phone calls, seamless video conferencing, and collaboration spaces. In other words, a space that accommodates a wider range of workplace activities and multiple devices of choice with singular, collaborative and unified connectivity.
• Efficiency. Workers who are satisfied with their physical workspace options both locally or remote are more engaged and productive and enjoy making a positive difference.
• Flexibility. A highly connected workplace now means less face-to-face interaction and more communication through devices like smartphones, tablets and video conferencing solutions. With these diverse options from workspaces, location, and devices the focus on personal interactions is critical for boosting productivity.

In addition to the benefits workers enjoy, organizations that invest in a collaborative approach to building a modern workspace can realize significant cost savings in:

• Mitigating lost productivity by providing employees faster access to new and updated apps across any device, anywhere.
• Mobility during disasters, acquisitions, and other short-notice requirements.
• Less relevance and dependency on physical devices.
• Reduced potential for security/data breaches.

The Bottom Line

Workers who feel frustrated and/or devalued in their work environment are more likely to look for greener pastures. Studies show the right combination of space, location, culture, behavior, accessibility to devices and interaction can help create workspaces that optimize employee productivity while increasing revenue growth and retention rates.

Every organization has the potential to improve their workspace experience and make a positive impact on employee well-being. By working together, IT, HR, and LOB can create the desired formula that keep workers invested for the long-haul