How Digital Transformation is Changing Employee Expectations

Digital transformation is a concept that involves the adoption of digital technologies and their implementation into every area of your business.

This switch can have a significant impact on streamlining processes, boosting productivity, reducing overhead costs, managing business risk as well as improving customer experience.

However, we shouldn’t forget another important factor in the success of every business – employee expectations.

Bearing in mind that replacing an employee can cost 50%-60% of that employee’s annual salary, it’s clear why managing and living up to their expectations should be among your top priorities as a business leader. And replacing clunky, time-consuming processes is something that will transform your organization into an attractive place of work.

Besides bringing a number of positive changes, digital transformation is a challenging process, so having all your employees on board is crucial for its effective implementation.

Rethink Your Recruitment Process

You shouldn’t wait for their first day at work in order to make a great first impression on your employees. Your recruitment process will show them what they can expect if they join your team, and that’s why it’s important to ensure their initial experience with your company is positive.

Thanks to digital transformation, you can raise the bar and attract top talent by simplifying and streamlining your recruitment process, as well as ensuring that it’s completely transparent.

Namely, top job candidates that have several offers will decide which one to accept based on their recruiting experience. If you provide a mobile-responsive, frictionless, and intuitive recruitment process, you’ll gain a competitive edge over other employers.

New technologies that will allow your applicants to submit their information using a mobile device, receive timely notifications about the progress of their application automatically, or save time using a digital signature can significantly improve their experience. As a result, your odds of hiring the best applicants increase.

The flexibility, efficacy, and speed of your recruitment process enabled by digital transformation will reflect your company’s commitment to creating a pleasant and positive workplace culture and environment.

Your Onboarding Process Matters Too

After you’ve picked the best people for the job, you need to onboard and train them properly.

Digital transformation can help you with this too.

A traditional onboarding process can be a cumbersome experience for employees because they have to learn a lot of new things and get ready for their role within your company. It’s worth mentioning that a poorly designed onboarding process contributes to a high turnover rate because it will prevent your new employees from forming an emotional bond with your business.

New training methods powered by advanced digital technologies can help your new hires get up to speed with company policies, workflows, their own roles and responsibilities, as well as learn the ropes of their new job.

For example, smart employee bots can revolutionize employee onboarding, as your new employees will be able to learn at their own pace and in their own time. This means they won’t have to schedule training sessions with the HR department or limit themselves to business hours.

Newbies are practically bombarded with new information during their first couple of days, which can be pretty stressful and overwhelming, especially since they can’t remember it all. But, thanks to digital onboarding platforms, they can access all the necessary materials in one place and find all the information they need in order to do their job properly.

Leverage the Benefits of Digital Transformation

When it comes to employee expectations, remote work and flexible hours are among the most sought-after perks.

Such work arrangements are possible thanks to fast internet, cloud, and online collaboration tools.

While working from home has been our reality for a couple of months due to the ongoing pandemic, many successful companies started this trend a couple of years ago in an attempt to digitize the workplace.

Not only this model allows for a better work-life balance, but it also improves productivity since your employees won’t be wasting their time commuting to the office. They can organize themselves and use their peak time, that is, when they’re most productive and focused.

At the same time, your company can save money on rent, utilities, cleaning services, and even reduce payroll costs. Namely, stats say that almost one-third of employees would rather opt for working remotely than a pay raise, meaning that you could keep your workforce happy and productive without having to offer them a bigger paycheck.

Address Employee Concerns

It’s important to understand that your employees might be intimidated by all the new technologies that will disrupt their workplace.

Automation is an important part of digital transformation, and many employees are afraid that robots and machines will take over their jobs. That’s a real fear because there are reports according to which as many as 20 million jobs might be lost due to automation within the next decade.

No wonder that some employees have some reservations when it comes to digital transformation, although they are aware that this process can be highly beneficial.

One of the worst things you can do is introduce new, advanced solutions and expect that they will boost employee productivity right away. This can be frustrating for both sides, so make sure to invest in employee training too, since this way, it will be possible to make the most of state-of-the-art software.

Listen to What Your Employees Have to Say

Feedback is a two-way street.

You should regularly inform your employees about their performance, let them know if they should improve certain areas of their work, and praise them for all the effort and hard work they put into completing their tasks. 

But, it’s equally crucial to ask them for their feedback and offer them a more active role in your organization. Not only will this show them that their voice matters, but it will also provide you with a number of potentially good ideas on how to improve your business.

Sometimes, your employees would like to communicate that there’s a problem but aren’t sure how to do that. Negative feedback isn’t something that’s easy to deliver to your boss. Survey chatbots can be used to collect employee feedback anonymously and allow management to obtain valuable insights into what their workforce thinks, needs, and wants.

Happy and engaged employees are every organization’s biggest asset, and their satisfaction with their job translates into happy customers, and subsequently happy stakeholders. Embracing digital transformation can change employee expectations and help you attract, engage, and retain top talent.

Michael Deane is a writer at Qeedle.com He knows business processes and operations management inside out. As he understands all the challenges of running a small business firsthand, it’s his mission to tackle the topics that are most relevant to entrepreneurs and offer viable solutions.