CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Sumed Marwaha, Managing Director, Unisys India
- How does technology play a key role in adding to the employee experience?
Technology is an integral part of our lives, and its impact extends to various aspects, especially the workplace. Events in recent years have pushed businesses to recognize the importance of employee experience and its direct correlation to productivity and overall success. Technology empowers employees and contributes to their productivity, well-being, and overall satisfaction through streamlined communication, remote work opportunities, automation, and personalized learning. Our study with HFS research, “From Surviving to Thriving in Hybrid Work,” shows that best-in-class technology will continue to be a critical factor in employee engagement and performance. In fact, it reveals that 62% of employees consider technology access a highly motivating factor for their work performance.
Leveraging technology effectively can create a positive work environment as well as benefit companies in various ways:
- Digital Employee Experience solutions proactively monitor and manage the end-user hardware, software, and network, enabling employees’ productivity and satisfaction even in a hybrid environment. They also include feedback mechanisms, giving room for enhancements they require.
- Integrated workflows help seamlessly integrate tools and systems and streamline workflows. Employees can move between applications and platforms without friction, contributing to a smoother work experience. Further, they also include advanced remote collaboration features, such as virtual whiteboards, co-authoring capabilities, and real-time document editing, which improve teamwork in virtual environments.
- By customizing digital tools to individual preferences, employees can access information more easily with personalized interfaces such as customizable dashboards, notifications, and user interfaces, contributing to a more user-centric experience.
- Responsive mobile platforms promote flexibility and productivity on the go. Organizations can add Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), virtual assistance and chatbots to provide easy access to routine tasks information retrieval and enhance employee experience.
- Through digital self-service platforms, employees can submit service requests, find answers to common questions, and complete administrative tasks faster and more efficiently.
- Companies can include platforms that encourage digital well-being, such as reminders for screen breaks, access to mindfulness apps, and tools that promote healthy technology usage habits.
Organizations can leverage technology to drive empowerment, enabling leaders and employees to collaborate and communicate seamlessly across transcending time zones. However, it is important to customize these tools for employees to create an inclusive environment at work.
- How can CIOs improve the employee experience by adopting proactive and data-driven IT support models?
We believe chief information officers (CIOs) play a critical role in ensuring seamless employee experiences in the digital age. Data-driven IT support models significantly enhance employee experience if done right.
For instance, establishing an experience management office (XMO) within a CIO organization will help in creating an environment where employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated. The XMO collaborates with various departments such as HR, IT, corporate real estate, and others to provide a holistic approach to employee experience. By regularly collecting data through surveys, feedback, evaluations, and analyzing trends within the organization, the XMO can provide crucial insights into areas that require improvement.
Organizations are also recognizing the importance of DEX in their stack of solutions. An effective DEX platform can collect and analyze data from various sources and address employee challenges. This allows CIOs to identify patterns and trends within the organization and personalize the user experience for employees. It also provides CIOs with constructive feedback loops for iterative and continuous improvements.
As enhancements become more iterative, the platforms can be trained with predictive and sentiment analysis models to gain insights into employee satisfaction. Add to that IT training and resources for employees, and you have yourself a well-oiled end-user experience process.
Besides this, we stress the importance of fostering collaboration between various facets of the business, such as IT, HR, Marketing, etc., through open communication, cross-functional training, and identifying common touchpoints to appreciate the interdependency between departments. We truly believe that aligning ethical data collection with evolving employee expectations can cultivate data-guided experiences in the contemporary professional landscape.
- What are some of the most common challenges faced by CIOs while setting the grounds for digital workplace essentials?
The digital workplace is a very tricky area for CIOs as it impacts every end-user of the organization in one way or another. The CIOs must ensure that the user experience (UX) of a diverse set of employees is consistent, irrespective of their role and/or tech savviness. As the user base is diverse, implementing and executing any major DWS initiative is a challenge, as different users will have different levels of acceptability. So, what does “having the right technology” look like to employees? Results from our study show that online portals for data access, web-based video collaboration tools, online project management tools, and automated tools for mundane tasks are most valuable to employees. We have also noticed that different people prefer using different types of devices, posing fresh budgeting challenges to CIOs.
Even if CIOs invest in the hardware and software preferred by employees, sometimes they are not deployed or used optimally, leaving organizations, particularly employees, frustrated. Another concern for CIOs is security, specifically related to the digital workplace, as human error or device vulnerability can expose an entire network to malicious attacks. Furthermore, as technology advances and business requirements change, CIOs must shift gears to select solutions that can scale seamlessly and adapt to future developments. They must carefully evaluate the scalability, flexibility, and interoperability of digital workplace solutions to avoid costly migrations or replacements in the future.
By considering these uncertainties and implementing appropriate strategies, CIOs can navigate the complexities of deploying new digital workplace solutions and drive their organizations to a collaborative and efficient future.
- How CIOs and CHROs can collaborate to ensure a productive workplace?
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the roles of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) have become increasingly interconnected and are critical to driving organizational success. By collaborating effectively, CIOs and CHROs can leverage their unique expertise to address the challenges of the modern workplace and unlock its full potential.
It has become increasingly evident that CIOs and CHROs must work together as enablers and decision-makers for businesses to achieve their goals. Their collaboration is crucial for ensuring a productive workplace in today’s digital era. By aligning technology with human capital strategy, improving communication and collaboration, enhancing employee experience, leveraging data and analytics, and anticipating future challenges, CIOs and CHROs can foster an environment that enables employees to thrive and drive organizational success.
CHROs are often questioned on employee experience because of their impact on overall performance. When an employee’s performance is poor, should there be more vigilance? If yes, can technology aid in monitoring the activities of the employee? Will monitoring alone help? Or should there be access to technology that would enhance employee- performance?
Besides ethical dilemmas, these teams face challenges such as secure digital workspaces, employee retention, remote onboarding, asset management, and IP security. Investment in collaborative digital tools, continuous upskilling, and setting up hybrid environments is vital to their success. As the C-Suite navigates through these predicaments, they would need to keep revisiting their drawing boards to gauge the use of technologies to track employee activities ethically.
- What is Unisys doing to enhance the workplace experience of its employees with technology?
At Unisys, we recognize the importance of creating a conducive work environment that fosters productivity, collaboration, and employee satisfaction. As a globally operated technology company, we leverage various tools and platforms within the organization to create seamless work processes in different departments.
For instance:
- We have established the Experience Management Office (XMO) team that proactively manages end-user devices based on a variety of XLAs like performance, responsiveness and stability so that issues can be resolved even before they occur or start affecting the digital environment.
- We offer online learning and skill development platforms that help employees upskill and stay relevant in their roles and foster continuous growth.
- Keeping employee well-being in mind, we offer several tools that promote employee well-being through wellness challenges, fitness resources, stress management tools, and virtual events to enhance engagements.
- Our Employee Self-Service Portals empower employees to access HR services, submit requests, raise reimbursement, track their benefits, and manage their personal information easily.
- We have deployed digital collaboration tools and platforms to facilitate seamless communication and teamwork among employees.
- Anything else that you’d like to highlight?
In a recent study, Unisys examined the impact of cloud technology and digital transformation. The research aimed at understanding how organizations are leveraging digital transformation technologies such as cloud computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence. Our survey gathered responses from 2,264 businesses and technology leaders across four regions and found that companies are determined to prioritize investments in digital capabilities to drive growth and manage costs simultaneously. To drive value, organizations must overcome challenges, such as lack of strategic alignment, governance issues, complex technological landscapes, skills gaps, incompatible operating models, and heightened levels of risk. Investing in technology alone is not enough; successful long-term adoption requires full and thoughtful integration and careful management of technology’s role within an organization. Through our study, we have found that technology plays a key role, and the right strategies are likely to help business achieve their objectives.
