Workplace Experience Is the New X in Town

Pamela Maynard

By Pamela Maynard, President of Product and Innovation, Avanade

For better or worse, our world is driven by the consumer economy and customer experience (CX) — and both are dramatically affected by the latest technology. In turn, organizations cannot provide paramount CX without also equipping employees with a similar extraordinary employee experience (EX), working from the inside out. The workplace is a key factor to improving the employee experience. Enter workplace experience (WX).

Transformation of the WX leads to greater innovation and more inclusivity in organizations. In fact, research by the Centers for Information Systems Research (CISR) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrates that companies that score in the top 25 percent of employee experience achieve double the customer experience, twice the innovation in terms of revenue from new products and services, plus 25 percent greater profitability.

So what exactly can organizations do to provide the latest and greatest WX? Certainly, new technologies allow more employees to seamlessly connect from anywhere, at any time, driving a business culture infused with more agility, flexibility and opportunity than ever before. This fosters unprecedented collaboration, allowing experts across the organization to share, learn and grow. This approach is a boon for diversity and inclusivity efforts seeking to spark business opportunities, while also creating a reputation important to recruitment efforts among younger generations.

3 Ways WX Boosts Innovation, Diversity

Whether an organization’s digital transformation is well underway or it is still considering first steps, here are three ways efforts in creating a modern and attractive WX can help boost innovation, diversity and inclusion efforts:

1. Flexibility equals agility. The modern WX, while enabled through various technologies, really is about flexibility first. We are spoiled by a consumer world, and the outside works better than the inside in many organizations. However, we have some expectations that the degree of ease we see in our consumer life would translate into a far more flexible work environment. In some organizations, including my own, employees aren’t always required to be present in physical headquarters or regional offices. There are also very talented employees who cannot work specific hours, so offering more flexible hours can support this type of work. Sometimes employees, such as developers, don’t want to be part of a formal company role and would prefer to work as freelancers or contractors. In a war for talent, hiring formal employees can be a long process but these “gig” workers allow flexibility and quick access to top, diverse talent.

Collaboration tools help connect employees virtually to receive the information and insights needed to do their jobs and help them be effective, efficient and informed. For example, research teams can use collaboration technology to bring teams together to distribute and collate documents, share knowledge and access different areas of expertise globally.

2. Technology attracts and diversifies talent. A modern, digital millennial workplace is becoming far more important to potential employees. Mobility and the tablet experience is a key part of this, changing the way employees can access applications, update technology changes and so much more. And the efficacy of the technology is also a big factor. An organization could offer all the latest technology tools and software, but if there are down times or many experience issues, it can make a miserable WX. Collaboration technologies such as …