Digital workplace: employee expectations

Sixteen! This is the average number of SaaS applications that an employee uses in the course of their work. Internal messaging, incident reporting, intranet but also the canteen or the gym… In this jungle of applications, employees can easily get lost, to the detriment of their productivity and well-being at work.

How can we create a “digital workplace” that meets the expectations of employees?

A “digital workplace” in the pocket

Today, the tools and communications sent to employees on a daily basis play a crucial role in their motivation and their commitment. And while more than 5 million French people regularly practice teleworking, access to these services cannot be confined to one place or to one single point of entry.

Employees want to be able to access their “workspace” anywhere, at their request. The digital workplace is therefore mobile. Although accessible on a desktop, it must above all be available on smartphone and if possible, on the employee’s personal phone.

The single gateway to all services

When we ask employees about the reasons for their low use of their company’s online services, the multiplicity of apps comes first to their minds. The more services and information are scattered in the digital world of the employee, the less they will use them. The digital workplace must therefore take the form of a portal: it brings together all the tools and means of communication, and even allows smooth navigation from one to the other.

This centralisation has other advantages for the company:

• it allows them to manage secure access to their services and data, more simply.
• it is easier to promote to employees. With an “all-in-one” application, the company can communicate clearly internally and externally, which can only improve what the employer is able to offer.

A place of interactions

But the digital workplace is not just a directory. It is also a place of communication and discussion. Thus, among the most popular tools for employees with a Witco application, we find the company’s news feed, the forum and the directory. Employees want to communicate with each other but also to be able to react to information shared by their employer. This “social” feature is an important component in the appropriation of the platform by employees. Even more than a social network, it is a key tool in facilitating the daily work between increasingly distant teams

A constantly evolving platform

In a few years, employees’ expectations regarding their work tools have changed drastically. How will it be in 5 years’ time? To meet the needs of teams, a digital workplace must keep on the move. The integration of new services, tools or methods of communication all make it easier to develop this type of platform, as it contains the data on its use.

Service usage statistics, service satisfaction ratings, but also surveys directly targeting employees – analysis of the available data is essential to allow, over time, the adapting of the digital workplace to the expectations of its users.

On a daily basis, employees use the best features of the digital world. WhatsApp, Instagram, Uber and Spotify have revolutionised the user experience. Flexible, scalable and accessible, these applications influence the usage and therefore the expectations of employees vis-à-vis their online work environment.

To meet this challenge, today’s digital workplace is mobile and alive. It has become an entry point to the company’s services, tools and teams. Moving with the times, it naturally evolves towards its next version, by offering its managers a better knowledge of employee practices and expectations.