Digital Workplace Trends Coming in 2022

Digitization of the workplace was already having a substantial impact on the workplace before the pandemic hit. As the world emerges from the pandemic, the digital transformation of the workplace will accelerate to an even faster pace. Yet, while confidence levels in digital capabilities has grown in recent years, many organizations, according to a study by Gartner, indicate the transformation journey is taking at least twice as long and costing twice as much as they originally anticipated. 

Drivers Behind the Digital Workplace

Understanding what the digital workplace looks like and what will drive the greatest returns is important. Gartner attributes part of the problem to cultural readiness—53% of organizations included in their survey are untested in the face of digital challenge. Organizations with a digital workplace strategy see higher rates of productivity. According to a new study conducted by Akumina, 77% of employees believe a digital workplace improves their productivity. It simply isn’t an issue of productivity. Security and compliance risks are greater when the right digital tools are not in place; employees are more likely to use tools not adopted or approved by their companies when there is not digital strategy. 

Digital Workplace Trends in 2022

Following are some of the most prevalent digital workplace trends that are happening in 2022.

A focus on employee experience and engagement

With more workers embracing remote and hybrid work models, businesses need to address feelings of disconnect and isolation that workers can sometimes feel. Workers need digital tools that counter these issues and foster belonging and engagement. Digital tools used for instant messaging and project management are extremely important here. These facilitate virtual real-time communications and collaboration between employees. They also enable teams to collaborate and track their status on specific projects. 

Digital tools must be made available to employees in multiple form factors. In particular, with mobile devices playing a critical role in both the personal and professional lives of employees, businesses need to ensure they are leveraging that communications point to improve the productivity and engagement of employees. Potential use cases range from instant alerts and notifications, the ability to access information and applications when they are away from their laptops and workspace, access to self-service capabilities. The ability to review and book Davinci Meeting Rooms on a mobile device via iOS and Android apps is one example of such. The same can be said of automated prioritization of voice mail via automated routing of calls based on rules and voice-to-text capabilities using Davinci Auto Receptionist.

A renewed emphasis on the intranet

Information is vitally important for any organization or team. The aforementioned survey by Akumina found that 46% of employees cite “findability of information” as their top challenge. In response, organizations must ensure that employees can easily and quickly locate information they need to be productive and engaged in their work—from HR-related data, to project data, to basic workflows. This information is important for both new employees who are being onboarded but legacy workers. The best way to do so is via a corporate intranet that can be accessed from any device and any location. Ideally, all of a company’s digital tools used by employees such as document management systems, HR systems, communications tools, directories, project management tools need to be integrated into intranet.

Enablement of remote and hybrid workers

While a small percentage of companies may attempt a return to pre-pandemic workplace arrangements where employees commute to a permanent workspace five days a weeks, sit in it for eight hours, and then commute home at the end of the day, the majority have other plans. (Forrester warns that 30% of companies mandating fully in-person office work will experience monthly employee attrition rates of 2.5%.) Some abandoned permanent on-premises workspace altogether and moved to a 100% remote workforce. Most are embracing what is known as a hybrid workplace environment where employees work part of the week from a professional workplace and the remainder is spent remote. A recent survey found that more than half of employees want to work remotely at least three days a week, and most companies are listening to them: around three-quarters of employers are using or plan to use a permanent hybrid work model. 

With many workers not sitting next to each other in a fixed workspace, businesses need to institute new policies to ensure equity between workers who spend all or most of their time in a corporate workspace and those who do not. This necessitates propagation of a work culture that extends beyond the confines of the office environment for hybrid and remote workers. Digital tools are only part of the answer in bridging the gap between in-person and remote/hybrid workers. Business leaders and managers need to think through fun activities that foster collaborative interaction and sharing. They also need to institute policies and processes that allow hybrid/remote workers to provide the same amount of input and engage in the same level of interaction as in-person workers.

Additional emphasis on the virtual office

A few companies decided to eliminate their permanent offices and moved to a virtual office environment during the pandemic. These moves reduced capital and operating expenditures while providing these businesses with a unique value proposition to recruit and retain top talent looking to work for businesses with 100% virtual workforces. The majority of businesses have retained some semblance of a corporate office—whether a permanent location, coworking spaces and day offices, or some combination of the two. Virtual offices give businesses the ability to maintain some level of in-person interactions with team members but without the cost of a permanent office. Virtual office solutions through providers like Davinci Meeting Rooms do not lock businesses and workers into one location, but rather they have the flexibility to choose locations and which days to meet as a team and which ones to work remotely. 

New management training and coaching for hybrid and remote work

Many managers have not managed teams who were hybrid and remote. Tapping the agility and flexibility of virtual work models requires new management skills and a doubling down on coaching and mentoring. Gartner, for example, predicts that 30% of corporate teams will without a manager by 2024. This will require a new level of trust even beyond what the pandemic placed on organizations. Gartner contends that most managers lack the skills needed to succeed in this new environment, which is one of the reasons that 47% of employees believe their managers are incapable of leading their teams to future success. Managers must be people-focused and hone their skills at coaching and inspiring people and teams to drive execution and foster ongoing transformation.

Data intelligence across functions and teams

Much has been written about the ubiquity and importance of data for organizations. Most businesses struggle to find and use structured data; unstructured data typically is a frontier yet to be explored. But as the maturity of digital tools continues to increase, so will the ability for businesses to leverage data across decision-making. Microsoft, for example, now makes it possible for individuals, teams, and organizations to understand where their time is spent each week. Marketing tools provide organizations the ability to identify customer behaviors and to market to those in virtual real time. Sentiment analysis, personality profiling, and the like enable organizations to target individual preferences and intent. Businesses that fail to tap into these SaaS-based capabilities will soon find themselves lagging behind competitors—from the management of their workforce to interactions with customers, prospects, and partners.

Digital Workplace Differentiation in 2022

The digital transformation of the workplace that was taking place before the pandemic simply accelerated as businesses and workers were thrown into a 100% virtual work model for the past two years. The experience and lessons learned provide a solid foundation for rapid successes in 2022. Businesses that understand the digital workforce trends and opportunities will differentiate themselves from other businesses that struggle or attempt to revert to old ways of in-person only work arrangements. Capabilities like Davinci Meeting Rooms and Davinci Live Receptionists are important digital workplace tools every business needs to have in their digital toolbox.

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence.

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Website: www.tirocommunications.com