Where and how work gets done has forever changed. But one thing remains consistent: the need to provide a superior and consistent work experience that empowers employees to perform at their best across any work channel or location.
By Tim Minahan, chief marketing officer at Citrix
Citrix Systems has unveiled fresh thinking about what employee experience means, along with a new corporate identity to support it.
Work is no longer a place. It’s happening in kitchens and basements, in parks and on sidewalks and scaled back, socially distanced offices.
Regardless of where they are working, employees need a workspace that provides a consistent experience that minimises distractions and interruptions from a myriad of apps and collaboration channels so they can think, create and explore, and work the way they want.
Taming complexity
While consumer experiences keep getting faster and simpler, employee experiences remain as cluttered and complex as ever. During a typical day, employees:
* Use more than a dozen apps to get work done – often four or more just to complete a single business process like submitting expenses, booking travel, submitting purchase orders or approving time off.
* Spend at least 20% of their time searching for information they need to do their jobs.
* Are interrupted by a text, chat, or application alert about every two minutes.
New team-based collaboration tools are only adding to the noise, forcing employees to adopt yet another work channel, increasing alerts and disruptions, and significantly hindering their ability to get meaningful work done.
Add to this the pandemic-related challenges of spouses working from home, kids learning online, pets lurking about and makeshift office set ups, and it’s clear that employee experience – and the technology used to drive it – need a fresh look.
With South Africa experiencing an all-time high with regards to unemployment, it is imperative that we seek new, innovative forms of income.
The number of unemployed persons increased by 344 000 to 7,1-million in the first quarter of 2020. This is quite a climb compared to 2019’s fourth quarter, which resulted in an increase of 306 000 in the labour force.
With employment availability declining, it is now momentous for us to create opportunities for ourselves and one another.
To thrive amid constant disruption, organisations must cultivate a workforce empowered to adapt to changing conditions and innovate quickly.
Work needs to be designed around an employee experience that removes friction stemming from clunky technology and empowers people to work the way they want – wherever work needs to get done.
Savvy companies are using this time to embrace new, flexible work models and simplify the work experience so employees can access the resources they need to perform at their best whether working in the office, on the road, or at home.
Fueling engagement
According to a study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a superior employee experience not only drives better productivity, engagement and retention, but also improves customer satisfaction and profitability.
And this is where technology comes into play. A good user experience enables focus. When employees feel empowered by the tools they use rather than encumbered by them, they can focus, innovate and deliver value.
Quieting noise
Citrix Workspace is a secure, intelligent, and high-performing digital workspace organises, guides and automates everyday tasks to boost productivity and create a sense of personal accomplishment that fuels engagement and innovation – all while ensuring privacy and security.