10 minute read 12 May 2022
Picture of How can you reimagine your digital workplace for a hybrid future?

How can you reimagine your digital workplace for a hybrid future?

By Zakaria Rahmani

Senior Consultant, Technology Consulting Sweden Bytes Lead, EY Sweden

Helping clients on their journey to digitalize their workplace and ways of working. Part-time hobby event planner and full-time football fanatic.

10 minute read 12 May 2022
Related topics Workforce COVID-19 Technology

As we move into the world of hybrid work, organizations must set up robust digital tools that inspire seamless collaboration and communication.

In brief:
  • Organizations must reimagine the physical workplace (Bricks), digital workplace (Bytes) and ways of working (Behaviors) to prepare for a hybrid future.
  • Bytes encompass a user-centric digital workplace that enables knowledge sharing and collaboration regardless of time, place and setting.
  • Building a sustainable and robust digital workplace is essential for organizations to drive digital transformation in the era of hybrid work.

When the pandemic first hit, companies around the world relied heavily on technology to enable continued communication and collaboration between teams. A few months into the pandemic, they were forced to rethink their long-term business strategies and realign their priorities for a new way of working.

Many businesses had digital technology to ensure a smooth transition to the highly distributed work model. But many others had to adapt very quickly to make sure their employees were connected across the organization. More tools were employed to ensure that business went on as usual, as the workforce grew more remote than ever before.

EY Work Reimagines Employee Survey 2021

64%

of employees would like to see their company spend money on better technology in the office

It is interesting to note that this paradigm shift has been a long time in the making - we have been on a slow transition to a hybrid future for some time now. Digital transformation has essentially been setting the stage for a future better enabled by technology, and the pandemic only accelerated this shift.

As we now stare at the doors of the hybrid work model that awaits us all, we are faced with the question, “how do you streamline your technology stack for the future of hybrid work?”

Building the digital workplace of tomorrow

As many organizations begin to re-open their offices, they are having to re-evaluate the needs of their office, remote, and hybrid workers. Digital dexterity is more important than ever as we transform our technology stack to cater to the needs of tomorrow.

“Bytes” is one of the three B’s (Bricks, Bytes and Behaviors) required to reimagine work. It refers to the tools and technology required to support a great employee experience and work efficiently.

As organizations fit new digital solutions into a constantly transforming digital workplace, they must take stock of what is currently in their tech stack and what is missing. The future of work mandates modern solutions that include indispensable communication, collaboration and remote technology tools.

Bytes do not exist in isolation. Any strategy to reimagine the digital workplace must consider the physical workplace (Bricks) and the way of working suited for its people (Behavior).

We must recognize how to appropriately use each remote working tool to not only ensure productivity but also preserve workplace culture and promote inclusion and sustainability. “Bytes” hence defines a digital workplace that streamlines the top-down flow of critical information while aligning and connecting people across the organization.

5 key actions for Nordic technology leaders

Our Physical Return to Work Reimagined (PRWR) survey shows that 79% of employers are looking to extensively or moderately change digital workplace tools, while 84% of employees are looking for better alternatives. In order to succeed, organizations need to execute a comprehensive digital workplace strategy so as to unlock new value drivers. 

Flexibility, connectivity and scalability become important indicators for a digital workplace as we envision the hybrid way of work. It is also important that they build a secure digital workplace that stands secure amid rising cases of cybersecurity threats.

While choosing the right suite of digital tools to support hybrid work, here are five steps organizations must take:

  • Set the roadmap : Every great technology transformation initiative starts with building a strategy, setting a clear vision and planning the roadmap. At this stage, you must review and analyze all the tech capabilities required to support emerging workplace behaviors.
  • Explore and design : Visualize and design the strategy into a proof of concept or a prototype. Test the tools out against relevant use cases, once again catering to the behaviors they must support. Involve your people in this stage to gather feedback and explore viable options.
  • Implement and scale : Implement the solution design – start small and test with a smaller user base. Once the implementation is successful, build on the success stories and scale the solution across people and workplaces to test the solution in real-time.
  • Engage : The biggest criteria for the success of a digital workplace is that it complements behaviors and achieves business goals. Implementing great technology and tools is not enough – you must encourage improvement with a continuous change management program.  
  • Support, maintain and develop: Understand the key changes that need to be made to improve efficiency by using analytics and monitoring performance. Data and analytics are essential to understand patterns and continuously improve solutions.

In order to create an outstanding digital experience, the digital workplace must be designed with the end-user in mind. “Behaviors,” in essence, form the foundation of the three B’s and play a huge role in deciding how “Bytes” are implemented to enhance hybrid work. Let people’s voices be heard by using crowdsourcing and reference groups and ensure that technology solves their most important use cases.

How EY teams can help

EY professionals are the leading advisors in the Nordics for the evolving Workplace of the Future. We are well positioned at collaborating with relevant stakeholders (including, but not limited to CDOs, CIOs, CTOs, facility management teams and human resource teams), successfully bringing them all on board in the public sector and private sector organizations.

We have developed an approach to combine data about user preferences and perception with objective virtual working behavioral data. This provides businesses with a data-based approach, helping them envision the future of work.

Understanding how Bricks, Bytes and Behaviors all cohesively form the foundation of the hybrid working model is very essential for companies, irrespective of how digital-ready they are. It is only through innovative strategies that we can successfully reimagine the workplace of the future and become modern employers.

Summary

Reimagining the digital workplace for hybrid work can help your organization drive efficiency, engagement and innovation while reducing costs as well as your carbon footprint. This calls for innovative ways of working and requires a concrete action plan.

As we focus on the digital workplace – Bytes – we will see an agile organization take shape. One that empowers people to work better and differently – anywhere, anytime and on-demand.

About this article

By Zakaria Rahmani

Senior Consultant, Technology Consulting Sweden Bytes Lead, EY Sweden

Helping clients on their journey to digitalize their workplace and ways of working. Part-time hobby event planner and full-time football fanatic.

Related topics Workforce COVID-19 Technology