Change is inevitable, and it is clear that the digitalisation of the workplace has brought some of the biggest changes to employment since the industrial revolution. These changes can improve many things in a company, but sometimes they need to be handled with care. It is becoming clear that the cultures which companies carefully built in the pre-digital workplace need an upgrade to survive. So how can the culture of your company thrive in the digital workplace?
Get your company comfortable with change
A digital workplace is an office which is ever-transforming in nature. Old technology may need an upgrade, software might be modified, and digital legislations might require a whole new set of protocols. Never have businesses had to adapt so frequently and so quickly. Existing staff might find this hard, whilst new staff may easily become overwhelmed. So how can companies manage these changes effectively?
The answer is to embrace change as a whole company. Advertise new software changes positively, and your staff will get excited about how these will make their jobs easier. New technology might bring new demands, but it can also make some processes swifter. It can bring exciting new possibilities, so get your team on board early with these. A culture will thrive in a digital workplace if your team positively anticipates the changes that technology brings.
Make your company a learning-focused environment
A thriving digital culture is one where new processes and ideas need to be quickly absorbed into the everyday life of the business. This can be a tricky thing for teams to adapt to. Recent research by Deloitte shows over 90% of staff in a company report that their skills need updating annually. This is hard for staff to feel positively about if they don’t get support from management.
90% of staff want regular training – support their thirst for knowledge by providing them with the right training opportunities
Buck the trend and ensure staff feel empowered by the requirements of the digital workplace by providing the right training. Offering extra, optional training in advance of changes can create the culture that your company is striving for. Providing further training in this way has been shown to create a culture of experts in teams, which improves self-esteem among staff and keeps them proactive. A thriving culture in your digital workplace is a culture which prioritises the learning needs of your team, and celebrates skills development.
Focus on your staff feedback processes
Any culture relies on a regular and effective process of feedback, and more so in a digital culture. Teams which have to anticipate regular digital changes often know their systems very well, and their expert understanding of the digital processes needs to be valued by management. Likewise, staff who know that management value their experience often report more positive feelings associated with digital change.
It is important that your business has a feedback process which is simple and easy to use, is promoted amongst staff and emphasises the positive changes that management has made in response to it. Create a culture which highlights feedback processes and your company will create a thriving culture in your digital workplace.
Create a culture that encourages employee feedback
Highlight positive performance and talent development
A positive digital culture is one that staff feel good about. Brow-beating employees is always a recipe for disaster, but this is even more the case in a digital workplace where news gets around fast. Find ways to use your company’s technology in positive ways, praising staff and teams which do well. There are many systems to do this, but internal communications departments are ideal for highlighting a team’s positive performance or celebrating an individual employee’s achievements. This can be included in your company’s talent development strategy, but can also go further and highlight the outside achievements of staff. Do you have staff who ran a marathon recently? Do you have teams who raise money for charity? Research shows that a culture flourishes when it helps staff relate to one another as ‘whole people’. A digital workplace is ideal for encouraging staff to celebrate one another.
Celebrate your teams’ out of work achievements – from marathons to charity fundraisers – to create a positive company culture
So here’s the round-up
Digital workplaces can be fast-changing, hard-working environments, but don’t let this put you off. The culture of a company is still responsible for how successful that company is, even when that company relies on a digital culture. The best way to ensure that your company’s culture succeeds in a digital workplace is to ensure that your business uses technology in a positive way. Whether that is offering the right training in a timely manner, or using technology to highlight good performance, it is important to speak about technology positively. A culture which thrives in a digital workplace is one which encourages staff to see the benefits of technological change!
