We are facing a transformation that impacts the entire organization as a unified system and, with that, it will be necessary for companies to advance in different fields and areas in a transversal manner to profit from it.
Taking this as starting approach, the focus of the companies cannot be reduced to a transformation of their organizational structure and internal collaboration networks. It must go further. From now on, work itself must be conceived as something flexible and not something inextricably linked to a specific physical space. This liquid concept of the office would be difficult to understand were it not part of a global digital transformation that implies cultural and conceptual change. Robotic process automation (RPA), the incorporation of technology for the management of spaces (IoT), cloud infrastructures and cybersecurity are some of the transformative technological elements that will lead the way in the new digital normality for companies.
People: at the heart of transformation
Within this framework, the most important pillar of this new digital evolution will be people. They must be at the heart of all companies’ strategies and organizational planning. After the different processes of adaptation to remote working and the acceleration we have seen in this last phase, the employee has adopted a digital worker profile, becoming a differential element in the engine that has driven the reactivation of the economy. This is a new employee profile characterized by the acquisition of new skills, having transformed behavior and habits to become more collaborative, adaptable, and independent and capable of managing themselves; workers that seek to share experiences, more open to the use of new technologies that allow them to cooperate, communicate and maintain relationships.
The vision of the employee is today a fundamental pillar of all actions to be carried out. For that, the necessary and inevitable transformation of companies must be built form the point of view of its people, taking into account their emotions as a starting point and considering all the possible areas of activity. It is fundamental, therefore, to ask ourselves what people need to form part of our company; what family situation they have experienced, what their principal concerns are, what their aspirations are and what type of help they might need from the company.
Collaboration and dialogue as part of change
Ultimately, to complete the process of transformation, it would seem crucial to define the so-called employee experience to make it a fundamental part of this process and to allow for the establishment of the central pillars of the new experience we want to offer in our company, relying on the co-creation and participation of the employee throughout this journey.
The activation of the channels, supports and platforms necessary to ensure the success of the initiative will be an essential and facilitative element, to which we must add the definition of a roadmap for updating action plans that have a direct impact on the employee experience in the immediate, short and medium term. Finally, it will be necessary to measure the return of these initiatives, analyzing the risks and putting in place corrective measures where they are needed.
To administer and manage this symphony orchestra of change, one possible option might be to create an office of transformation comprised of a multidisciplinary team that acts as a catalyst for connecting the digital transformation of the company with the employee experience, becoming a fundamental asset for this mission. This transformation office must have a transversal function and direct contact with the departments necessary for this process: Human Resources, Communication, IT, Operations and Facilities.
Only this way can we advance towards the new organizational models that are required of the times we live in and that imply business development models in companies that are more agile and collaborative, less hierarchical and with more open structures to allow for the experience of the employee to be at the center of decisions.