There's somewhat of a misconception circulating, in regards to the modern workplace. Some are under the impression that the new changes that are happening in the office are somehow affecting only those in IT, but they are not aware of how the modern workplace affects everyone. Even though most of the change that is happening originates from digital technology, the repercussions and chain reactions that it brings, extend to everyone from every department, not only those in IT.
It is safe to say that almost every activity within the workplace, from the very mundane to the most complex and specific, can be affected in one way or the other by technology. No industry remains unaffected by this technological change, be it finance, manufacturing, healthcare, or even nonprofit organizations. It also applies to the departments within these institutions.
In other words, IT is not only affecting the nature of the work, itself, but it also has an impact on how organizations function regarding internal divisions of labor. The implementation of IT alone is not enough to drive productivity. These new technologies must also be accompanied by organizational changes in structure and HR practices.
The modern workplace needs to meet current employee expectations, better connect a more widely-distributed workforce, and it has to provide all the tools necessary for employees to design, create, and innovate. They need to work together and solve both company and customer problems, and technology will help them achieve that. Put differently; a modern workplace has to bring the best in every employee by creating a company culture where ingenuity, innovation, and action are encouraged at every level of the organization.
As most of us know, necessity is the mother of invention. As a consequence, businesses need to adapt and tailor their company culture to better fit with these new technological innovations.
Telecommuting - With a sharp increase in mobility and cloud technology, employees can now work across multiple devices and locations. This higher degree of flexibility will help increase morale and productivity by allowing employees to choose their hours or from where to conduct their business. Nevertheless, with greater flexibility, there is also the increasing issue of data security, which needs to be addressed.
Cross-departmental teams - As modern technology eliminates much of the tedious grunt work, employees have more time to dedicate themselves to other tasks that do require their expertise. This trend has led to the formation of cross-departmental teams. As their name would suggest, these teams include people from various departments such as HR, finance, marketing, sales, etc., and from different levels of the organization.
These teams have the purpose of finding new and innovative solutions that will help streamline operations within the company by calling on input and expertise from numerous departments. Innovation is, after all, a leading competitive advantage in today's fast-paced business world, and cross-departmental teams can drive it through a more creative collaboration process. This trend, however, requires that the right collaboration tools and real-time insights need to be provided to get the job done.
Employee Digital Skills - As digital technology makes its way in every department of an organization, employees need the necessary skills to leverage those technologies and drive productivity. As time goes on and a company adopts more and more of these technologies, the skills required to use them will become more critical.
Surveys indicate that 29% of employees believe that their skill set will become obsolete over the coming years, while half of all companies think that the digital talent gap is hampering their digital transformation. Over the coming years, soft digital skills will prove to be as important as the traditional skills, themselves.
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