Jeff Abbott is the CEO of Ivanti, overseeing all aspects of the company’s growth strategy and breaking down barriers to Everywhere Work.
I grew up amid farming country in Michigan. In my relatively blue-collar community, there was always, always more work to be done. There was no clocking out. There was no shutting down your digital devices or leaving things at your desk for another day. There has been much discussion recently about how digital acceleration and the “always-on” connectivity have both enabled work and made people feel relentlessly tied to it. While the digital element is new, the notion of perpetual work is not. Ask any farmer—or farm kid.
Here’s the problem: The dawn-to-dusk cycle in the modern knowledge-centered workplace can lead to burnout. If you’re working constantly, something is wrong—such as the culture, the workload and, increasingly, the tools you’re using. Don’t get me wrong; I pride myself on having a very strong work ethic after watching my dad work third shift for General Motors, but being tied to work 24/7 isn’t always a sign of success; it can also be a sign of inefficiency.
Being constantly tied to work can be terrible for employee retention, productivity, engagement and happiness. Technology may have created the modern 24/7 work cycle, but technology doesn’t have to be the enemy. As the CEO of a company that offers solutions for digital employee experience management, security and service and access management, I believe it can be the solution.
Digital Employee Experience
One key to attracting, engaging and retaining top talent is to focus on the digital employee experience (DEX). In the modern workplace, DEX is everything. How do your employees engage with technology? What’s their access like? Is it secure? Is it easy to manage? Is it streamlined or clunky? Are rote, repeatable tasks automated, or is work tedious? Can they do their work efficiently and well and still have time for the rest of their lives? Do they have access to the tools they prefer to use?
That last element—access to the tools employees want to use—is critical. It used to be that employees were issued one or perhaps two devices of the employer’s choice. Employees got used to both the hardware and software that they were told to use, even if it wasn’t the most efficient choice for them.
Forrester research shows that the new generation of workers has completely different expectations. This is a generation that was raised on technology and often has strong preferences about what kind of tech they use and how they use it. Many people expect to be able to do their work intuitively and efficiently, without barriers, so they can be productive without being tied to work nonstop.
The Importance Of DEX
Outside of work, it’s expected that we can research, connect and play on devices without technology headaches. We expect our credentials, preferences and history to transfer seamlessly between our devices. We get frustrated when something doesn’t connect or a program shuts down or locks us out.
Why would employers expect that people would have lower standards for their experience with technology at work?
(Hint: They generally don’t have lower standards.)
If anything, employees are likely to have even higher standards for work technology because they’re not playing Candy Crush or video chatting with a friend—they’re trying to make a living. If an employee is connected to work 24/7, it had better be because they want to be—not because frustrating technology means they have to be.
How To Know If Your DEX Needs Help
When you have a great DEX, work is seamless. Security happens in the background, automatically, without intervention from the employee. Credentialing is smooth. Connectivity is a given. Apps and programs are intuitive. An excellent DEX means that employees have unencumbered access to the tools they love on the devices they prefer.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but if you’re doing DEX right, employees might not talk about it. People may not be vocally raving about how they didn’t run into any hurdles that day. Proof of a strong DEX comes in the form of high levels of productivity, engagement and satisfaction and lower levels of turnover.
A good DEX also means lower levels of shadow IT. Shadow IT is when employees use workarounds to do their work via the tools of their choice because they like those more than the ones IT and security have vetted, approved and secured.
Employees may not openly complain about poor DEX, either. But you’ll see it in the opposite of what I described above, and your organization will likely be heading down the path toward higher turnover, lower productivity rates and more shadow IT.
How To Improve Your Company’s DEX
I believe the companies that will succeed in the new economy are those that can figure out how to become destination companies—companies that new employees seek out.
One of the first steps business leaders should take to achieve this objective is to hold listening sessions with their employees to dig into the tools, operating systems and devices employees want to use. Specifically, find out which tools empower them to produce amazing work and then get back to their lives so they’re not burning out. It’s also important to know what engagement looks like to each employee. Chances are good that it’s not pizza parties. It’s more likely to involve being empowered to do their best work.
When business leaders decide to improve their DEX, they may encounter various challenges along the way. One significant hurdle could be resistance from employees toward adopting new technologies and processes, which could lead to a lack of engagement and motivation. To tackle this obstacle, leaders should involve their employees in the change process by communicating clearly about how it will benefit them.
Lastly, when choosing to tackle DEX, it’s critical to dig deep into your organization’s values. Do your values state that everyone must use the same type of device and operating system? Or are your values more about working efficiently and effectively to achieve results in a supportive environment?
Investing in DEX takes time and effort. I won’t sugarcoat that. Progress takes time, and leaders should maintain open communication channels with stakeholders at every level so everyone feels heard throughout the process.
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