Digital Workplace Essay Example

Introduction

Most companies are getting on the digital workplace train. The concept digital workplace emerged in 2009 and was fully embraced by organizations by 2012 (Freed, 2015). Some companies have partly or wholly eliminated traditional offices. Basically, through the use of the internet and specific software, companies can carry out their day to day functions using technology without having to meet physically unlike in the past. Thus, a digital workplace can be defined as a collection of all digital tools offered by an organization to enable its employees to do their work effectively. Digital workplace is considered a key organizational asset for optimizing knowledge worker productivity. For better work outcomes, businesses need to have an effective digital workplace platform.

Overview of the Industry

Matrix Technologies is a digital consultancy firm that advises other companies on how best to employ information technology in achieving their business objectivities. In addition to that most consultancy firms in this industry provide manage, implement, and administer IT systems on behalf of their clients. In addition to that, most digital companies provide digital marketing services such as content marketing, influencer marketing, digital advertising and analytics and conversion rate optimization among others. The increasing popularity of social media has seen most businesses place greater emphasis in having their content online.

Current and emerging trends and innovative digital solutions

There are many technologies for a digital workplace that are already in use or would be adopted soon. Cain (2016) lists them as ambient knowledge, production studio technology, immersive technologies, personal clouds, virtual personal assistants, microlearning, and process hacks.

Embedded Analytics

Embedded Analytics is a data analysis technology done by tools that are easy to use and sometimes invisible to the employee. It is best applied to a broad population of employees (Cain, 2016). It is useful for organization with many employees.

Production Studio Technology

Production studio technology empowers employees to create and deliver content such as sales collateral using tools such as infographics, podcasts, video and nextgen presentation software (Cain, 2016). Workers are therefore presented with an alternative to PowerPoint which improves their creativity.

Immersive Technologies

Immersive technologies are yet to go made available in the consumer world. It would be used in training, field service, and conference room services. (Cain, 2016) argues that it would encourage employees to use natural gestures to handle complex processes.

Personal Clouds

Personal clouds refer to apps that employees may have based on their individual preferences. They can lead to enhanced employee agility and engagement but could lead to security and compatibility concerns. Organizations are therefore required to have the right approach to strike a balance between employee independence and control.

Silo Busters

Silo busters enable teams to solve problems and come up with ideas across work silos. Social networks and collaborative work management and workstream collaboration tools would play a big role in this technology (Cain, 2016). Team work is important for organizations to realize their objectives.

Microlearning

Microlearning enables employees to become more competent and skilled in the digital workplace. It uses informal and contextual digital dexterity training delivered through videos, text messages, games, quizzes and other modalities. Training development equips employees with the necessary skills to perform their duties. Barikhina, (2016) argues that through personal clouds, employees can transform businesses as they use their data and resources.

Positive and Negative Examples

The digital workplace offers both positive and negative aspects to organizations. On the positive side, it allows for collaboration among employees. For example, through production studio technology, employees are enabled to share what they do, their activities and concerns. Therefore, managers are capable of monitoring the day to day happenings of their organizations and respond swiftly to any concerns raised by their subordinates (Duperrin, 2014). It has increased the mobility of labour and workers can work from their homes or areas of their choice (Köffer, 2015, p.4). Overall, the digital workplace has changed the physical office by making it more open with fewer rules and structures.

On the other hand, digital workplaces have brought lots of challenges to organizations especially the human resource departments who have to deal with cultural issues. While the technology has brought people of different nationalities together, problems due to cultural differences cannot be ignored. Different societies have different approaches to life and way of doing things (Strohmeier, 2014). HRM should respond to the changes brought about by the use of technology and align its strategies and activities to the new labor market to manage its employees.

Consequences if not implemented

The tools have a positive impact on businesses. Having the tools would make communication among the employees easier. Sharp (2016) argues that communicating in the workplace is no longer a simple task and requires careful selection of the most appropriate tools at the disposal of a company. In addition, most of the tools help cut down on the cost of doing business. In case the company does not implement the technology changes, it would be forced to cater for the costs arising from traveling and other daily activities. Decision making would be slowed and would affect the success of the business. In the fast moving world, decisions have to be made quicker. The company would be required to make quick decisions which are only possible through an effective communication system offered by tools (Tassler, 2013). However, Shapiro (2013) notes that there could be risks in early adoption of technology. If not properly handled, glitches and setbacks could affect organization activities which can result to massive losses.

Regulations, Laws, and Legislations

Privacy Act 1988

The Australian Privacy Act regulates how personal information is handled. Personal information is defined as information, whether true or not, recorded in any material form about a person who is reasonably identifiable (Oaic.gov.au, n.d.). They include individual name, signature, telephone number, medical records, bank account details or opinion about a person. The company operations would be bonded with this law. Strict adherence of the details of both its employees and clients would be handled based on the provision of the law.

SPAM Act 2003

Consumers need to protected from Spam. The Spam Act 2003 forbids the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages (Acma.gov.au, n.d.). An electronic message is defined as that which advertises or promotes the supply of goods, services or investment opportunities. The company would seek for express consent from its clients who provide it with an email address or mobile number before sending them commercial messages.

Types of policies and procedures

The organization employees would be guided by workplace policies that include code of conduct, the internet and email policy, anti-discrimination and harassment policy. The company’s staff would be required to observe the general code of conduct which guides them on how to behave and carry on with their responsibilities. The internet and email policy would provide guidance on how to use the internet and email. Particularly, this is important since employees would be guided on how to use the internet effectively. Anti-discrimination and harassment policy would prevent employees from harassing and discriminating their counterparts. More importantly, this would eradicate cases of cyber bullying.

Intranet sitemap

Log in to the platform

Verification

Tools and references

Project and Team sales

Services and Departments

Whats happening

Staff Training Matrix

The company would train its employees on different topics to make them more effective in their work. Here is the employee training matrix

Training Area		Delivery Options
	Classroom	E-learning
Business	Workplace Communication
Business Writing Skills
Presentation Skills
Negotiation Skills
Customer Service	Winning Through Customer Service
Dealing With Difficult Customers
Delivering Customer Focused Service
STAR Service
Human Resources Training	Employee Review Training
Diversity Training
Harassment Training
	Customer-oriented Selling
Market Research
Upselling

Digital solution plan

The function of the digital workplace would be to enhance communication between employees, monitor employee activities, improve the ease of doing work, and connect with customers. Concerning communication, the platform would make it easier for employees to communicate with one another since they would all be sharing a platform with the necessary communication tools to interact with one another or seek for clarification. The management of the company would be able to monitor the activities of the employees since they would be required to update their day-to-day operations and status of the tasks. Additionally, the company’s staff would have their work easier as they would be able to work remotely. Customers would also be a beneficiary of the project due to the ease of communication with the company. Lastly, the company would cut the costs of doing business

Work Breakdown Structure

Conclusion

Businesses need to have an effective digital workplace platform for better work outcomes. Digital workplace makes it easier for employees to carry their day to day functions. It empowers them to handle their responsibilities in the most effective manner possible. It also improves collaborative work and eliminates communication challenges. The disadvantage of using these tools is that they can be costly to adopt and may present security challenges to the organizations. In the case of personal tools, it can be difficult to control the employees. Moreover, while implementing digital workplace strategies, companies should be aware of the law regarding the handling of information and consumers rights.

References

Acma.gov.au. (n.d.). Spam consent | ACMA. [online] Available at: http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Marketers/Anti-Spam/Ensuring-you-dont-spam/spam-consent-ensuring-you-dont-spam-i-acma [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Barikhina, M. (2016). Top 5 Emerging Digital Workplace Technologies to Transform Your Business — Beekeeper. [online] Beekeeper. Available at: https://beekeeper.io/top-5-emerging-digital-workplace-technologies-transform-business/ [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Cain, M. (2016). Top 10 Emerging Technologies in the Digital Workplace. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2016/11/02/top-10-emerging-technologies-in-the-digital-workplace/#5ce1f44b1e48 [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Duperrin, B. (2014). The digital workplace : A reality, a scorecard and many challenges. [online] Bertrand Duperrin’s Notepad. Available at: http://www.duperrin.com/english/2014/03/19/digital-workplace-reality-scorecard-many-challenges/ [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Freed, E. (2015). Which of these 8 definitions of “digital workplace” works best for you? — Digital Workplace Group. [online] Digital Workplace Group. Available at: http://digitalworkplacegroup.com/2015/03/31/which-of-these-8-definitions-of-digital-workplace-works-best-for-you/ [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Köffer, S. (2015). Designing the digital workplace of the future – what scholars recommend to practitioners. University of Muenster.

Parry, E. and Strohmeier, S. (2014). HRM in the digital age – digital changes and challenges of the HR profession. Employee Relations, 36(4).

Oaic.gov.au. (n.d.). Privacy law. [online] Available at: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/ [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Shapiro, A. (2013). The drawbacks of adopting technology too early. [online] University Business Magazine. Available at: https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/drawbacks-adopting-technology-too-early [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Tasler, N. (2013). Make Good Decisions Faster. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2013/07/make-good-decisions-faster [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].