technology
IT vs. Communications vs. HR
NAVIGATING THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE TURF WAR
By Darren Gibbons
Successfully launching a digital
tovovan/Shutterstock.com
workplace project can be hard.
While the expected challenges are
usually technological, often the
biggest issues are within the organization,
as the digital workplace becomes an interdepartmental
political battlefield.
These digital tools are implemented with
the goals of improving employee engagement
and increasing productivity. However,
conflict arises as inter-departmental teams
try to work through the details of implementation.
IT, which has long-owned
enterprise software inside organizations,
selects software based on their top priorities,
such as detailed feature requirement
lists and best security practices. Meanwhile,
communications departments, in an effort
to increase engagement, want broad
access with social features. And HR
can sometimes be terrified by all of this:
what if employees act inappropriately with
social tools?
Unfortunately, the biggest loser in this
battle is often the employee, who could
potentially end up with tools that are
underutilized and fail to deliver value,
and engagement numbers that are stubbornly
low.
ACCESS AND SECURITY
This is consistently an area of friction in
implementing a digital workplace – how
do you keep sensitive documents safe
inside and outside your organization?
Security policies are written with the
best intentions; however, they often leave
employees with limited access to the documents
they need. In an effort to reduce
risk, these measures sometimes fail to differentiate
between high-risk and low-risk
information. Instead, they often severely
restrict access across the board, including
on mobile devices, which are increasingly
valuable resources for employees. With
more HR departments recognizing the
retention and engagement benefits of
flexible working arrangements, this limits
employees’ ability to work from home
or remotely. Many security-focused organizations
also remain fearful of cloud
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