When original shelter-in-place regulations occurred, remote work was a critical enabler of business continuity. Employees and their employers realized what’s possible and what benefits could be achieved with a remote-first culture. As a result, our news feeds are inundated with projections about where employees who are working remotely during lockdowns will be commuting to in the future — the cubicle or the kitchen table.
It seems that almost every aspect of business has fundamentally changed, from employees’ commute to work to how they interact with their colleagues. But regardless of where employees find themselves working in the future, one thing is sure – employee experience will continue to be at the heart of successful enterprise operations. Employee experience is a workforce’s relationship with the business, encompassing every interaction they have with the organization. Recent studies have shown that companies who focused on employee experience had four times the average profit and more than twice the average revenue of those who didn’t. When put into perspective, it’s clear that there is a direct correlation between a more engaged workforce and business benefits such as customer satisfaction, better innovation and profitability.
The notion of employee experience is nothing new. But as we look to shape the next generation of work (or Work 2.0), this must remain at the epicenter of enterprise operations. This all starts with creating an employee experience that mirrors an organization’s best customer experience. Like successful customer experience, organizations must deliver human-centered employee experience, driven by culture and personalization. These aspects of work help facilitate a positive environment centered around the people that drive organizational functionality. Ultimately, promoting a work environment – whether remote or in an office building – where employees are enabled to be the best versions of themselves will give a business a competitive advantage over companies who fail to look inward and realize that excellence starts at the home office.
In order for employees to produce the best work possible, their employers must provide them with the tools to set themselves up for success. End user computing tools like digital workspaces, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and app virtualization technology give employees the ability to effectively do their jobs no matter where they are physically located. This technology has vast implications for enabling business continuity, providing employees with greater flexibility to work wherever and whenever they want.
When it comes to investing in a remote-first culture, employers need to be advocates of working remotely from an IT and an HR perspective, as it is now a key experience driver for their workforce. This investment includes providing employees with the tools to succeed. Let’s take digital workspaces, for example. A digital workspace like VMware Workspace ONE helps to empower employees by putting workers first, delivering applications anytime, anywhere and providing modern device management. These requirements foster employee engagement, which in turn yields satisfied customers by promoting greater collaboration between team members and improved personal productivity.
Focusing on the use of end user computing to support a positive employee experience will play a key role in Work 2.0. After all, employee experience is about anything that will improve your company’s culture and give your workforce the tools they need to succeed. With the emergence of the digital workforce transformation, employers will need to implement a foundation of technologies that will empower employees to work efficiently and effectively regardless of physical location, fostering overall workplace satisfaction. By thinking about the cultural, physical and technological needs of employees, enterprises can enable productivity, thus increasing revenue driven by a happy and engaged workforce. Regardless of where their teams are working from now and for years to come, enterprises must put employee experience at the top of the priority list to yield happy customers and better bottom-line results.
For more information on how end user computing affects work today and in the future, read The Current State of Remote Work: How Enabling Employee Experience Drives Business Continuity.
