The past year has been testament to the value and importance of digital adoption. According to a recent Deloitte study, the enablement of digital platforms has allowed small businesses in the Asia Pacific region to become micro-multinational enterprises (mMNEs), as they now engage in cross-border operations and services for global buyers. With new organisations joining the fray daily, digitally transformed enterprises are now seeking to marry the digital with the human. Using analytics and data, organisations will now move on to monitor how employees are utilising the technology platforms provided to them.
“In 2022, the user experience will become paramount for true digital adoption as while technology is indeed digital, users are human” said Sandie Overtveld, Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific at WalkMe.”We believe that organizations that can bridge the gap between the digital and the user will achieve greater ROI.”
2022 will bring lightbulb moments for digital transformation
Digital transformation has spurred a lot of investment over the last few years. But in 2022, organisations are going to take stock and ask whether they are actually getting what they paid for. The result will be a lot of lightbulb moments, where rather than figuring out why employees are leaving, organisations will review why the expensive digital transformation projects did not produce the expected results. The good news is the identified problem can be fixed. Analytics can identify where new technologies have not been adopted, and where the organisation needs to focus its attention. While there might not be a 100% one-size-fits-all approach to increasing adoption, with the right tools organisations can onboard employees smoothly and give them the training and support they need to embrace new technology, instead of avoiding it.
User-centricity will issue an ultimatum on workplace IT
As with most technology, commonality in design and purpose is important to ensure its seamless use. As user-centricity becomes the standard for new technology success, most people will not find the same user-centric design when they return to the workplace. Research shows that half of employees would quit over poor workplace technology, meaning 2022 will be the last chance for many organisations to get their user experience right and prevent an employee exodus.
“CIO’s today understand that the bigger the company technology stack, the harder it is to go beyond the basics in terms of analysing and improving employees’ user experience. If organisations can view across the entire ecosystem, they can analyse which applications are popular, which are ineffective, and which ones employees avoid altogether; and exactly why that is. Does the onboarding process even explain how the application works? Are there easy ways for users to get help when they struggle? And have staff actually completed tutorials? Without this overarching view, organisations will struggle to match, let alone exceed, employees’ IT experience expectations.”
2022 will be The Year of The Great Acceptance
According to a 2021 talent trends report by Michael Page, 56% of Singapore workers see themselves searching for new jobs, as companies experience a rejuvenation in talent. On that note, 2022 will see businesses focusing on the ‘Great Acceptance’. Essentially, if new employees are frustrated with core areas of their new job, such as the technologies they are using, they will quickly become disengaged, prone to error, require more assistance, and ultimately more likely to quit. Organisations that are not prepared to accept and onboard new employees risk seeing these new hires walk straight back out of the door.
“Businesses that want to avoid spending on average 50-60% of employees’ annual salaries finding replacements must ensure that new hires are not overwhelmed and are well-equipped. A key part of this is giving a proper introduction to the software they will use, and reinforcing their understanding of these tools over time – in a way that itself is easy to understand, easy to use, and does not bury employees in a blizzard of tutorials for different applications. This will set them up to succeed, and give employers confidence that employees are definitely using the tools they have been given.”
Businesses will sell themselves on their tech stack, not their offices.
Gone are the days where ball pits, juice bars and air hockey happen to be key benefits to a working environment. After all, a job is more attractive if you’ll be spending 8+ hours a day somewhere you like. However, with remote and hybrid becoming a mainstay, the digital environment will be much more important than the office environment. This will make the technology stack, an organisations’ head office and shop window in one. If employees, or prospective employees, don’t enjoy their digital experience, or feel they can’t use the tools they are given, they will leave. In the same regard, customers would avoid a business that is frustrating to interact with. Organisations need to be certain that all their technology is as easy to use as possible, with the right help and support at hand so that users can get the advice they need at any time. Otherwise, they’ll find that however glamorous their offices are, they’re showing their worst face to the world.