Digital Employee Experience is how employees interact with technology tools provided by their employers. And, like in real life, that way is changing on an almost daily basis. Just think of the rise in contactless payments over the last 12 months alone. Or digital fitness tracking. It is an evolution that also affects the public sector. Because governments around the world have turned to technology to deliver communications and services at speed. Especially with the pandemic, says Joachim Murat, Public Sector Industry Director, EMEA Civil Government, VMware.
Value of Digital Employee Experience
Public sector organizations are cementing their digital agendas and adapting how they offer public services. But it’s not just citizens that are craving technology solutions from the public sector, but the employees too. In fact, how public sector organizations engage their employees with technology is almost ‘make or break’ in an environment where speed, flexibility and efficiency are the name of the game. The detail around which is the subject of our report, ‘The Value of Digital Employee Experience: An EMEA Perspective’.
In situations, such as the one we currently find ourselves in, business continuity has been critical. Worldwide governments have had to continue operating, while enabling workforces to work remotely, if able to do so. And because a modern economy is built on data insights and technology, it is putting enormous pressure on IT teams. Firstly to keep businesses operational and employees safe. By helping extend corporate workspaces so teams can work remotely and securely. By simply navigating and responding to such a fast-changing environment. That’s why organizations, and IT in particular, equip their employees has arguably never been more important.
An employee-first strategy
Our research, conducted by Vanson Bourne, looks at what is meant by the digital employee experience. Secondly it looks at how it can impact on public sector organizations. One thing is clear from the findings. Workers want and need access to the right technologies and applications to do their jobs, with support from senior management.
This sounds both simple and obvious, yet our report found that 86% of employees are calling for HR & IT to work better together in order to deliver this. And perhaps, given the rapid pace of change, this is not unsurprising.
The use of technology to create personalized and secure citizen interactions and automating mundane tasks so employees can focus on more value‐adding jobs is where the value of IT really resides. But the benefits of these and other technological advancements cannot be achieved without the right talent to drive innovation. This means putting employees first when it comes to delivering public services is a strategy that makes a difference.
Success factors for Digital Employee Experience
A good digital employee experience contributes to the competitiveness and financial growth of organizations. Employees are also feeling happier at work and recommending their organizations to others. Hardly surprising that our report found that hypergrowth organizations are much more likely to have more digital employee experience factors. In fact, 93% of hyper growth companies provide apps on any device for their three most important tasks compared to just 47% underperforming companies. So, something public sector organizations can take note of within their own worlds.
This ability to deliver digital experiences how, when and where they are required is in direct correlation with talent retention. Put simply, employees are far more likely to recommend their department or organization if it provides a great digital experience. This is key in the public sector where many roles are competing with private sector organizations that don’t necessarily have the same restrictions on budgets, regulation and procurement. Over two thirds of employees in the public sector report the flexibility of digital tools required for work, would influence their decision to apply for or accept a position at a company.
By reducing the burden of mundane administrative tasks and giving employees the digital tools to work flexibly, workers are able to free their time to work on more satisfying value adding projects. It’s this new employee-first mindset that public sector leaders need to adopt. Seven in ten EMEA respondents in the public sector, say their organization should place more importance on ensuring employees have the best tools, with 28% saying it should be significantly more important.
Creating a digital workspace
Today’s employees expect to to receive the necessary tools when it comes to how and where they want to work. With easy and available access to the tools and apps they want to use, when they want to use them. At the same time, a broader and increasingly complex cyber security threat landscape is threatening the public sector organizations.
A digital workspace strategy solves the paradox businesses face: employee choice and freedom versus the security of the business. 2020 put this to the test more than ever. This strategy enables businesses to securely manage multiple devices and applications while delivering exceptional employee experiences in a cost effective and protected manner. There are platforms, such as VMware Workspace ONE, which are designed specifically to fuel modern work and deliver results. As well as empowering organisations with a digital workplace strategy, Workspace ONE eliminates traditional complex and costly management silos and delivers a consumer-like experience.
Public sector bodies that were already committing to improving the employee experience because they recognize the positive impact it has on business productivity, morale and attracting new talent, are the ones adopting the digital workspace approach. They are the beacons, the trend-setters and the areas of public service that are paving the way for what will become the workspace of the future.
The win-win-win scenario
Thankfully, organizations see employees as key stakeholders when it comes to understanding how they consume digital services at work. By establishing a new engagement model between the perfect triangle of IT, HR and employees, businesses can empower people to choose the tech they want, at the speed organisations can take, to deliver results that citizens need. It’s a win-win-win scenario.
To find out how VMware can help create a digital employee experience that makes a difference to you, to find out more about our Workspace ONE platform or to simply download a copy of our latest report, please visit this page.
