Why companies must invest in digital employee experience for business success

By Jason Coari, VP Product Marketing & Strategy, Lakeside Software

If you’re not focusing on the digital employee experience (DEX), you are failing your company and staff. Lower productivity, employee frustration, and resignations are all symptoms of technology failings that lead to a lackluster digital employee experience.

DEX describes the quality of a workforce’s daily interactions with the technology they use to get work done. The goal of DEX is to drive positive change by analysing how employees interact with the organisation’s computing devices, local and cloud applications, networks, and virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs).

Today, employees increasingly work in numerous locations, on multiple devices, and use more than one operating system on a daily basis. The data from an employee’s interactions with digital resources can be gathered, analyzed, and used to improve DEX.

Despite growing investment in digital tools and workplaces (such as video conferencing, messaging platforms, and project management software), in many cases, employees’ experience of technology is still poor. There’s a huge disconnect between what executives think they are providing and what employees actually experience. In fact, 92% of C-suite executives report being satisfied with the digital experience they provide employees—but only 68% of employees agree.

To bridge the gap between employer understanding and employee experience, companies must better understand the digital employee experience. Integrating members of their IT department into the leadership team is a good starting point.

IT needs to move up the food chain

IT team members should not be relegated to the back office, as they hold vital insight on how to create a better digital employee experience and a higher-functioning team. Many organisations are integrating disruptive technology into day-to-day operations, and this is no longer a differentiator but a standard across industries. Your business will not be praised for the tech stacks it integrates, but for how efficiently and effectively it uses those tech stacks to create a more productive work environment that benefits employees.

This doesn’t mean tech-enabled companies are without their growing pains. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Businesses that adopted emerging technology out of urgency during the pandemic are now experiencing cracks in their foundation due to the rushed nature of this integration. Many used this tech to put a proverbial band-aid over their issues instead of re-evaluating their entire tech infrastructure to create a more efficient system for the entire company. Expediency was key.

DEX further enables high-performing teams.

In my company’s in-depth study on workplace productivity, we found that issues with technology are a key contributor to reduced productivity and eventual employee burnout. The findings of this study revealed that employees are working at 60% capacity due to IT disruptions. Resulting in roughly one hour (54 minutes) of time lost every week, which can cost millions of pounds year over year.

Surveyed employees said that they only report these disruptions to IT staff 60% of the time, which means IT leaders might not fully grasp the level of tech disruptions employees experiences on a daily basis. The rest of the time, they resolve issues themselves. When IT and tech disruptions occur, it can take even more time than estimated to regain focus and get back on track. This proves to be a great hindrance to employees’ workflow and perceived success, as consistent disruptions can be discouraging and interrupt the momentum.

Businesses that fail to see the importance of investing in tech don’t understand how it is costing their business—financially, and in talent attraction and retention. More than half of employees surveyed in our report indicated that the digital employee experience was very important to them when deciding to stay with their current employer, and 61% said it was important when considering a new employer. And they may be on the hunt—36% of respondents said they have considered leaving their employer because of a poor digital experience.

But there’s hope. The surveyed employees also stated that with the right digital tools, their productivity would go up 20%—which would translate into higher profitability for companies.

During these times of inflation, recession, and the Great Resignation, company leaders must place significant importance on retaining talent. This includes implementing measures to improve the digital employee experience, as it affects business outcomes, and supporting IT department leaders with the tools they need for technology integration and advancement. Give employees and IT leaders the tools they need to be productive, and your company will experience higher levels of success.