During the early days of the pandemic and global lockdown - the above image did the rounds and it was a really funny meme. It was also an important one. At least for the world of digital transformation. Because, overnight, businesses were forced to prioritize their digital agenda and adopt solutions in hours or days, and not quarters.

And nowhere has this been more pronounced than in Employee Experience (EX). Even after a year since this whole thing began / blew up - the need to create a digital experience continues to be a key investment consideration for global businesses. With the global workforce truly going global in every sense of the word - the need for systems and IT that can support a distributed workforce is the need of the hour.

Who led your digital transformation agenda? - COVID Meme

But with digitization, the fear of a culture-meltdown also seems very real. At Tydy, we have spent time considering and evaluating what it would take to continue building and maintaining our company culture as we hire more and more colleagues across multiple locations. And our customers are also thinking about the same thing.

We are going to experience a very new way of work over the next few years. Here are some points we should keep in mind to continue to build the right culture that can anchor and connect our employees as we transition to a more digitized and automated workplace. 

Personalize the process

Digitization brings with it the power of automation and efficiency. And because you don’t have to spend as much time on manual work, it is an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine the EX you offer. This is your chance to truly personalize processes and move away from cookie-cutter templates that are thrust upon thousands of employees globally. With so much data at your fingertips, segmentation and targeted communication is a low hanging fruit, and highly valuable one at that. Get to know your employees better, let them have a say on things that matter to them and build an experience that is customized to each individual.

Contextual feedback

Technology gives you the power to ask for contextual feedback. This is very different from the usual surveys that we have seen until now. Contextual Feedback is the power to get feedback as and when an event, milestone or activity is being completed. It helps your organization be more proactive, wherein you can measure and analyse the outcomes of each activity, and make improvements based on real-time data. On the backend it makes your processes better, and on the frontend, it makes your employees feel heard. When implemented well, it is a powerful tool that can be used to build a strong company culture based on mutual respect.

Data is an enabler

In your tryst to build a culture of trust and understanding, you should give your managers and HR teams the power of data to do more impactful work. Tie together the various sources of employee data and deliver a single dashboard where managers can get intelligent insights whenever they need it. So whether it’s right before a Performance Appraisal, or if it's an intervention meeting with someone struggling with work, the manager has more context in order to have a more meaningful conversation. Integrated data can help you see patterns in employee behavior which can be invaluable when it comes to improving EX and retention.

In Summary

Technology is not going away. It has made it possible to customise and personalise the full spectrum of employee experience like never before. With digitization growing in scope within the workplace, we are going to become more efficient and be able to work smarter without compromising on what truly matters - creating a sense of belonging and human connection with our colleagues no matter where they are. With digitization, you finally have the power to create a culture that cuts across boundaries and borders. A culture that everyone can experience in a way that is both standardized across the company, but also unique to each individual employee.