Welcome to the first blog post in our series on the rapid evolution of the Digital Workplace and how leaders can effectively map the best path forward for their organizations. As experts in the human struggle of change, we recognize that every leader faces a unique set of opportunities and challenges. Our advice will always be human-centric and built with flexibility to adapt to your specific context.

With hybrid work continuing to solidify as the new norm across the business world, the Digital Workplace is only gaining in relevance. In this post, we will define the Digital Workplace and begin to explore its potential to amplify your culture, strategy, brand and employee experience.

At Gagen MacDonald, we define a Digital Workplace as the sum of all the digital processes, protocols, tools, systems, platforms and behaviors that connect employees to their work, coworkers and company.

In simpler terms, your Digital Workplace encompasses all the digital resources your employees use to communicate, find information and complete tasks. Assembling an effective and impactful Digital Workplace is not just about assembling the right resources, however; it’s about bringing them all together for a unified, clear, intuitive digital experience that enhances the employee experience. When cultivated with intention, a Digital Workplace can provide new, better ways of working while helping keep your people informed, connected and engaged.

A Digital Workplace is ultimately the digital extension of culture. It affects and shapes the experiences of everyone in a company — not just remote employees.

Reimagining your Digital Workplace

Here are some of the scenarios and key considerations our clients are grappling with as we help them reimagine their Digital Workplaces:

1. My workforce isn’t just remote or hybrid; they’re often deskless, frontline and/or mobile. How can I build a collaborative system that is both unified and able to adapt to all these different needs and use cases?
2. My employees are all over the map in terms of their comfort with technology. How do I deliver an experience that is intuitive and helpful for everyone’s level of proficiency?
3. As our organization has evolved, the volume of our internal communications has increased. How do I strike a balance between informing employees — and driving important actions — without overwhelming them?
4. Our technology stack has a multitude of owners who are siloed and focused on related but separate outcomes. How can I gain support for a Digital Workplace that is both cross-functional and capable of producing the business outcomes I specifically own?

It’s a complex challenge for anyone to tackle. When done right, however, a unified, intentional Digital Workplace can help communicators meet employees where they are — personalizing the amount of information people receive as well as how and when they receive it. It can also help cultivate the sense of place and connection that many remote and hybrid employees continue to seek.

Ultimately, building a Digital Workplace is a cross-functional endeavor. The most successful ones come to life only with buy-in from Corporate Communications, HR, IT, Marketing and Operations. When approached in this holistic manner, it can powerfully shape behaviors, advance culture and improve the overall employee experience.

In the next part of this content series, we’ll get more granular around how to build out the best Digital Workplace for your organization. The work starts with recognizing where you currently are in your digital maturity journey and determining where you want to be. From there, you can map the best practical steps for driving better human outcomes and involve the right people at the right time.