How To Keep Employees Happy and Productive In 2023
- By Vivek Behl, WalkMe
- March 07, 2023
It’s no secret that The Great Resignation left its mark on many aspects of the working world. While the power dynamics seem to be swinging back in favor of employers in many parts of the world, that does not seem to be the case for Singapore. While businesses are still gradually recovering from the pandemic's economic and operational impact, Singapore's employees are still in a favorable position in the job market.
According to a recent EY survey, 51% of employees in Singapore highlighted their likelihood to quit in pursuit of flexible working arrangements and better career opportunities. The increased influence of employees leaves the ball in the employers' court, and it's all the more difficult to play with the talent shortage in Singapore.
Over eight in ten employers in Singapore reported difficulty filling roles, demonstrating an alarming 84% shortage in talent, standing above the global 75%. This difficulty comes in stark contrast to the finding that 50% of employers surveyed in Singapore expressed plans to hire more talent, and 35% intend to keep the workforce levels steady. This begs the question: how can businesses attract and retain talent in the face of these challenges?
As employees continue to express willingness to leave for new opportunities and businesses seek to return to pre-pandemic operations with a smaller talent pool, organizations need to improve their employee experience. A considerable element of the employee experience is the user experience at work, which primarily happens on a computer. This is known as the digital employee experience (DEX). By leveraging the same digital investment that helped businesses adapt to the disruptions of the pandemic, companies can offer employees tools to increase their efficiency and productivity while improving their overall experience. With close to two-thirds of executives in agreement that companies need radical transformation of operations within the next two years, the digital employee experience will only become more fundamental to employee well-being.
Though such a radical transformation would not come cheap, businesses need to realize the total value of their digital transformation projects. EY's Digital Investment Index highlighted the slippery slope of using digital solutions to resolve specific issues rather than having technology as fundamental to their transformation strategy. Businesses not only need digital tools to adapt to disruptive events, but they also need digital tools to enable employees to use the technologies available. Digital adoption platforms (DAPs) have emerged as a leading choice for businesses looking to increase the user adoption of digital technologies while increasing the end-user experience for employees. The right digital adoption strategy will approach the digital employee experience holistically with the conviction that the countless digital transformation projects and business applications, new and old, running in parallel can be a source of confusion and disruption for employees.
The right DAP can serve as a centralized hub to guide employees through workflows, information discovery, communication and application usage while removing the burden of navigating complicated tech stacks. This centralized approach empowers employees to use all the technology tools available and accomplish their goals while maximizing the ROI of digital transformation projects.
Digital transformation cannot be successful without employee participation. The right DAP enables a data-driven employee user experience through analytics, showing aggregate employee usage across applications. This data can be used by employers to continuously improve the digital employee experience, adding helpful on-screen guidance or automation based on where users truly need it.
The job market is shifting, responding to the global economy, local talent availability, and employee demands. While the power dynamics between the employee and employer will always swing back and forth, investing in the digital employee experience is always a sound business investment since their improved use of technology will lead to improved productivity and business output. A strong labor force can pose a threat to the growth of businesses that can’t keep up with their demands in the years to come, or it can be an opportunity through which forward-thinking businesses thrive with happy employees by their side, enjoying the maximum ROI from technology investments across the board.
Vivek Behl, digital transformation officer at WalkMe, wrote this article.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CDOTrends. Image credit: iStockphoto/zhuweiyi49