From Cubicle to Tablet?
HR AND THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Don’t look now, but the days of the nine-to-five office workplace
may already be over. A succession of technological
innovations – email, social networking, cloud storage,
smartphone innovations, e-readers – has brought about
drastic changes in the ways traditional offices work. The recent
Digital Workplace Global Study by Avanade finds that 72 per cent
of people in Canadian workplaces believe the traditional office will
be obsolete within four years. In its place, workers will inhabit a
digital workplace made up of a network of devices and platforms,
with personal mobile devices taking on an increasingly important
share of the communications burden.
“Simply put,” the study said, “the digital workplace means
employees can access the information and resources they need
anytime and from wherever they are, in order to do their jobs more
effectively…The key question that remains is: Are organizations
ready? Based on research findings, the short answer is no.”
A digital workplace is more than just a traditional workplace
with a website that can be accessed via smartphone. It comprises a
broad and sweeping re-examination of the way work is done, beginning
with process and policies, then moving into the hardware
and software (devices such as phones, e-readers and laptops, the
phone and data systems that support them and the security systems
that keep them safe).
Forward-looking companies are giving employees virtual access
to all their work tools and designing proprietary communications
portals to make the connections seamless, and the payoff can
be significant. The Deloitte report, titled The Digital Workplace:
Think, share, do, says that employers stand to benefit greatly by
By Sarah B. Hood
technology
GaudiLab/Shutterstock.com
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JANUARY 2016 ❚ 33
