Businesses are enthusiastic about embracing digitalization strategies to achieve workplace automation and a complete digital transformation. However, implementation remains tentative, and operational models rarely become fully remote or digital. This hesitation stems from concerns about maintaining workforce productivity and preserving organizational culture and morale in a digital setting. Consequently, companies invest significantly in luxurious workspaces to provide employees with optimal facilities to enhance productivity and elevate the organization’s culture. Despite these investments, the outcomes have not met expectations. As a result, discussions on remote work, work-from-home (WFH), and virtual workspaces remain peripheral topics in board meetings.
The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly impacted the world, leading to global lockdowns and causing significant concern among businesses about survival. With no other choice, companies began operating virtually, offering remote work or work-from-home opportunities. Since many were unprepared for this shift, there was widespread apprehension about managing business activities digitally.
We are Digital, Still, We Have a Hard Time to Digital Workplace Culture!
Many businesses focus on creating and marketing digital connectivity technologies rather than integrating these advancements within their own operations to foster a digital culture. They often assume that investing in a digital workplace isn’t cost-effective in terms of money, time, and resources. However, using this technology to serve clients can be profitable for the business.
Conversely, some companies that have invested in digital and automation technologies to streamline their operations encounter failures due to a lack of strategic planning. Even with the necessary tools available, the anticipated impact and results are not evident.
One significant reason for the failure of a digital workplace initiative can be attributed to a lack of robust organizational culture. To illustrate, imagine an HR automation solutions provider that excels in delivering high-quality HR portals for clients but neglects its own employees’ portal needs. This inconsistency sends a misguided message and fosters a negative organizational environment.
If a company’s culture is undefined, how can employees embody and reflect it through their work and the applications they develop? This is why businesses often discuss employee engagement and satisfaction without truly accomplishing it. Studies indicate that employee satisfaction rarely exceeds 60%. These cultural shortcomings have led some businesses to struggle with adopting digital workplaces, while others face difficulties managing crises.
Workforce Redefined and Empowered Workplace Operational Model During COVID-19
Deloitte’s Future of Work accelerated report states, “55% of CXOs agreed their IT infrastructure (availability of hardware, internet, and remote access) fell short of facilitating a smooth transition to remote working”. Unlike businesses, the workforce has not taken much time to settle with drastic changes and to deliver productivity. Furthermore, business leaders observed that the workforce working hours and work efficiency have increased manifolds, which were not achieved by any sort of corporate employee engagement and efficiency-enhancing training sessions.
One main reason for the increase in productivity is the work-life balance, which employees couldn’t achieve in their busy schedules and traveling time to and from office. Though this looks like a very primitive reason, this increased the morale of employees with family support.
Today, 4.7 million Americans work remotely, or 3.4% of the population—up from 3.9 million U.S. workers in 2015. – Forbes
During the COVID-19 crisis, overwhelmed by the workforce’s spirit to accustom to the digital workplace environment and achieve greater work productivity and quality by extending the number of working hours, TCS finally scrapped its legacy workforce operating model and declared that “75% of 4.5 lakh TCS employees to work from home by ’25; from 20% permanently.” Like TCS, more companies are starting to look out for the adoption of remote work strategies to boost work productivity.
Twitter chief executive officer Jack Dorsey, asked employees to continue working from home forever, even after the coronavirus. Confirming news regarding work home Twitter spokesperson stated to Buzzfeed, “We’ve been very thoughtful in how we’ve approached this since we were one of the first companies to move to a work-from-home model”.
Even Jacquelline Fuller, head of Google.org, stated: “If we can work remotely and work from home and help take some of the pressure off and flatten the curve, we will do that. We will be using science to guide us in our decision-making.” So far, Google and Facebook plan to continue fully working from home policies through 2021.
Top MNCs like Twitter and TCS are going to work from home or on remote work projects. In fact, work From Home and Remote Work have evolved into a strategy businesses can’t afford to miss out on.
How Organizations Can Cope Up with Digital Workplace Operational Model
Conclusion
Finally, Coronavirus or COVID-19 disrupted all the existing operating models and positioned Remote work or Work From Home as the biggest strategy to attain workforce productivity. Even before this pandemic, some companies made some divisions do complete work from home and had great results. Harvard Business Review reports that “since 1991 AT&T had savings of $550 million in cash flow and a 30% improvement in employee performance with remote work. IBM has saved more than $100 million annually in its North American sales and distribution unit alone.” As it is not possible to 100% work from home on all projects, like IBM, companies can permit some projects or some divisions to work from home. This way companies achieve cost optimization and savings.
Those who see this as an opportunity will make it to the top in the future. Small and medium-scale Businesses (SMBs) have great opportunities, as they can divert their budgets to the digital workspace or digital office space and invest in talent acquisition or collaboration tools. Moreover, remote work can empower employees and reduce employee turnover, too, as employees can have a better work-life balance.
Already, international financial institutions are indicating the occurrence of an economic crisis. So, even during that period, work from home and remote work can be a key strategy for cost optimization.
References
