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digital as a human experience

Sónia F.

Talent Management & Development Lead | Fidelidade

发布日期: 2020年7月9日

chapter 5 of 8

It is impossible to put that digital genie back in the bottle, once we win over this pandemic. Digitization has been pushed on all of us literally overnight and made clear that organizations will need to move quickly into transforming that digital experience for clients and employees alike into one that regains its human nature.

‘Infected’ by COVID-19, technology is here to stay, impacting both businesses and individuals, but also societies. If, on the one hand, companies have had to adapt their businesses’ paradigm to new rules and consumption habits, powered by digital tools, on the other hand, they had to step up the game as employers, responding to employees’ new needs, not only by making remote work a reality, but also by incorporating flexibility into their lives. All of these without affording to lose the human unforgettable side of the experience nor neglect the role it still plays. So, merging human expectations with the technological requirements of the “new normal” is the wish we want to be granted today – and will certainly continue to be in the future.

upgrading as a business

If there is something this crisis has reminded us all is that necessity is the mother of invention. When a need becomes imperative, we are forced to find ways of getting it accomplished, and we do it because we must.

During the pandemic outbreak, “spending across most industries was down and purchases shifted from in-person to digital channels, as public health became the top concern for consumers”[1] – and companies, for that matter. So, businesses needed to readapt, reshape and reinvent themselves in order to thrive, stepping into the digital zone. For many, it was an opportunity to start something new, for others the need for survival was the mother of their (re)invention. At the end of the day, the genie was rubbed out of the magic lamp and made some wishes come true.

Take the example of real estate. “Practically overnight, the lockdown forced real estate players to move towards digitalization”[2], investing in new digital processes, virtual open houses, and augmented reality showings. Creating digitally enabled services was already on the agenda, but physical distancing and contactless interactions imposed by health restrictions have magnified the importance of such efforts, transforming the desire of creating a more fun sale experience into an utter surviving need.

The retail landscape has also undergone profound changes. Thousands of global brands have shuttered stores, while, at the same time, online sales gathered steam. Such inflection and volatility in demand, “along with slowed production activity and bottlenecks in transportation of goods, led to supply chain shortages”[3], which not only raised a new level of awareness to food systems’ gaps, but also started a wave of innovations.

“Small shops’ owners across the world pivoted to the much-needed home deliveries, while pop-up restaurants, cafes and butchers were all suddenly assembling food boxes for neighborhood buyers”[4], selling them through online postings and orders’ collections via digital apps. Not only have they found a way of saving their businesses, while helping keep people fed, but also, by changing root-to-market strategies, eliminating wholesale intermediates or simplifying logistic processes, they have demonstrated the real upgrading power of digital.

In Portugal, local food producers like Confraria da Horta or biOrgani decided to stop depending on large retailers and found a way to sell directly to end-consumers through platforms such as PURA or Dona Horta. Lisbon traditional Markets reinvented their delivery systems, while craft breweries like our neighbours Musa and Dois Corvos have found in 'take-home happy hour' a way of reaching wider audiences and a safety net to keep doing business.

Nobody expected something good could come out of this virus, but the truth is that the pandemic outbreak brought with it the need for companies’ evolution as a means for survival. In the end, it all came down to the answer to a question: are we ready to make a change, or should we just settle to a break?

make or break?

The rules of the game for businesses have changed. Coronavirus has had an immediate but lasting impact on how we, customers, act and behave, instilling new priorities and making us more demanding about what we are offered and how we expect to be treated. The shifting customer behaviors brought on by this pandemic reflect “an acceleration of old trends, an emergence of new preferences, and a complete reversal of some long-held routines”[1] – but now they are here to stay. So yes, it’s a make or break kind of situation.

Companies need to (re)understand customers, rewrite the rules of the game and be prepared to serve new consumption habits, in the short and long run.

Global health concerns have unwillingly led customers to change how they want to engage with the world from now on. In-person contacts are something from the past, the latter choice when it comes to deciding where and who they want to buy from. Thus, businesses around the world moved quickly to accommodate the massive shift to digital offerings and channels. For now, it’s ultimately a matter of safety. But the digital genie is out of the lamp, and it’s unlikely that consumers will put it back, even after the crisis. “If the bar for digital excellence was already high before the pandemic, now it has gone through the roof”[1].

Many companies are already stepping into the “new normal” zone, demonstrating they understand what matters to clients, and developing innovative ways to meet their expectations. Retailers are revisiting their digital strategy, with e-commerce platforms’ refinements, to provide a more compelling omnichannel experience, “as well as spanning core supply chain functions through artificial intelligence and machine learning”[3].

Delivery companies are running away from in-person contacts, with “goods being picked up and dropped off at designated locations, instead of from or into the hands of a person”[1]. At the same time, “e-commerce giants are ramping up the development of robot deliveries”[5]. In China, Alibaba was the first mover, leveraging its digital logistics platform, as well as its digital payment system.

For restaurants, new contactless services are being introduced. Across Europe, with the launch of Zomato Contactless, there is now a digital menu, a digital order and a digital payment method, all through the app. In many cities, people can have their cars repaired via a mobile service or car pick-up. “Every possible activity – from groceries and meals, to finance and utilities, to fitness – now has a digital or online equivalent, and nearly all organizations, whether traditional companies or start-ups, are reorienting their business models to be more digital”[1].

Companies that have made these adjustments have clearly demonstrated their understanding “of what matters to customers and their willingness to adapt”[1]. Nevertheless, even though the current global situation has made it clear(er) that businesses will start relying more on digital as they seek to transform clients’ experience and meet their expectations, companies will still need to figure out how to make it as human and personal as possible.

Safety and convenience will continue to be priorities, but people are also longing for the return of good, quality human interactions, and craving for some nurturing, personalization and empathy in their lives. “Customers will continue to recalibrate their expectations, so businesses must respond accordingly”[1]: before robot delivery services become the next new thing, they need to find the right balances and be able to create a differentiated digital customer experience, with thoughtful human touches.

upgrading as an employer

Another thing COVID-19 has proven to us is that nothing is impossible. During the pandemic, and against some of the odds, “many companies around the world have risen to the occasion, acting swiftly to safeguard employees and migrate to a new way of working that even the most extreme business-continuity plans hadn’t envisioned. Across industries, people have been surprised by how quickly and effectively videoconferencing and other forms of digital collaboration were successfully adopted”[6].

Being remote was definitely not an impossible barrier to overcome for Seguro Directo, which was able to implement 100% remote models for their Contact Center operations in a matter of days, keeping the activity running safely, without compromising clients response.

Undoubtedly, this crisis has contributed to accelerate organizations’ digital transformation and spike the transition to the work-from-home paradigm. Before the pandemic, the genie was already lurking. “Digital advances have given us the freedom to do this a long time ago”[7], but now that we experienced it and understood its dynamics deeply, it feels like we have earned the legitimacy to turn it into a real thing.

So, since all myths have been broken, there’s no turning back. The lessons learned from this large-scale work-from-home experiment turned the tide for good, bringing with them new responsibilities for leaders. From now on, employees will expect organizations to resettle to the digital space, so they can enjoy the same flexible working conditions they were given during confinement, and employers need to be able to reshape employees’ experience accordingly, and incorporate digital into making their lives easier, no matter what.

make or break?

The rules of the game for employers have changed too. Imposed confinement measures have had an immediate and lasting impact on how we, employees, act and behave, inviting us to rethink our priorities and making us more demanding about what we are offered and how we are treated by our employers. “Organizations have been enabling work-from-home structures to keep business running while following social distancing guidelines”[8], but remote work is here to stay.

80% of employees report that they enjoy working from home. Many of them even prefer it than working at the office, since they were liberated from long commutes and travel, and so found more productive ways to spend time and enjoyed greater flexibility in balancing their personal and professional lives. 69% percent say they are more or as productive as they had been before [6].

The shift towards more remote hours is also “driving companies to rethink their expensive office space”. A recent survey conducted by Gartner corroborated this trend and found that 74% of business finance leaders “plan to move their previously on-site workforce to permanently remote positions post-COVID-19”[7], and one of the primary reasons behind it is the cost-saving benefits. In addition to reducing real-estate costs, many organizations tend to think that a permanent shift to remote work “will allow them to access new pools of talent with fewer locational constraints, adopt innovative processes to boost productivity, and even create a stronger culture”[6].

Organizations that are making these adjustments have clearly demonstrated their readiness and their willingness to be more responsive to what matters to their people. At the same time, they seem to have encountered a great opportunity to “reimagine how work is done – and what role physical offices should play”[6] – in creative and cheaper ways.

So, after all, it is a win-win situation – one might think. However, even though the pandemic crisis has made it clear(er) that employers can benefit from making digital an ally as they seek to transform employees’ experience during this period, companies will still need to figure out how to address the human nature challenges associated with this shift and come to terms with the fact that remote work may not be feasible for all, or for indefinite time.

“Every organization is different, and so are the circumstances of every individual employee. Many have enjoyed this new experience, whilst others are fatigued by it. For some, productivity has increased, but for others, it has declined. Many forms of virtual collaboration worked well, others not so much. Some people are getting participation in casual, unplanned, important conversations with colleagues, while others are missing out”[6]. Part of the employees are benefiting from the flexibility of remote work, but others are feeling lonely, struggling with the lack of social interaction, and striving for a drop of contact and direct communication.

Furthermore, physical distancing and contactless interactions might not be good for organizations’ health after the crisis. To make such an assessment, they should reflect “on their values and the interactions, practices and rituals that promote their culture. An organization that focuses on developing talent, for example, should ask whether the small and informal moments of mentorship that happen in an office can continue spontaneously in a digital world”[6]. Additionally, they should reflect on how transformation will shed a new light on already existing reskilling needs and change leadership requirements.

Safety and convenience will continue to be priorities, and so technology will continue to play an essential role, but employees need, more than ever, to feel part of something meaningful, and be engaged in a fully humanized way while they do their jobs. Thus, employers need to step up and renew their commitments to providing a richer, more impactful employee experience, relying on the digital world, but without ever losing sight of the human touch.

a magic lamp... half full

Barriers were surpassed when it comes to digitalization and technology embedment into businesses and the workplace, but problems and challenges did not just vanish into thin air, they simply shifted. Now that the digital genie is out of the magic lamp, organizations and societies need to be aware, because new ‘viruses’ might be in for the kill.

could we be widening social inequalities?

COVID-19 has exposed the digital divide like never before and brought to light new (or maybe old?) forms of social inequality. If, on the one hand, it has accelerated the digital transformation process of companies and governments, by enforcing a widespread adoption of digital solutions, on the other hand, it has exacerbated differences, exposing the gap that separates the “connected” and the “unconnected”. The warning comes from the United Nations[9]: the digital world is working with many benefits, but not equally for everyone. By not being able to democratize access to digital tools, bigger risks of increased asymmetries were created, and social differences were sharpened.

Take the example of digital payments, the new normal in today’s context: according to World Bank, more than 1,7 billion people are unbanked, and so may not have easy access to it. Such access also relies on internet availability and, at the end of the day, we know that only 60% of the globe’s population is online[5].

Another paradigmatic example is education. During the confinement, learning was “heavily dependent on the level and quality of families’ digital access. While virtual classes on personal tablets may be the norm in many countries, students in less developed economies rely on lessons and assignments sent via mail. Moreover, the less affluent and digitally savvy individual families are, the further students are left behind”[10]. Even so, we saw some efforts being made. “Telescola” – an approach to education that lived in Portugal between 1965 and 1987 and was brought to life again in 2020 – was reborn to mitigate inequities in technological access.

could organizations be losing sight of the inclusion battle?

In times of crisis, diversity and inclusion matter more than ever, but a new side to the problem as now surfaced. COVID-19 exposed the digital divide at work too, by revealing the sharp technological backwardness of many.

Digital access and the internet were the answer to most organizations’ lockdown problems, but what about the billions of employees who can’t get online to work? “Even in developed countries, internet access is lower than we might think. Take the United States for example: more than 6% of the population have no high-speed connection”[11], and “1 in 5 adults access the internet only through their smartphone and do not have traditional broadband access”[7].

So, among the many sources of inequality, digital divide might surprisingly become one of the fiercest in the time coming, and organizations’ inclusion and diversity challenges could become even more extreme if access to work becomes dictated by personal access to digital technology. Additionally, “as companies send staff home to work, they could be reinforcing already existing exclusive behaviors and unconscious biases. Unequal sharing of childcare and homeschooling responsibilities and unequal availability of home workspace could be putting women and minorities at a disadvantage”[12].

These early signs are raising a new red flag by suggesting that digitalizing the world of work could undermine inclusion even more.

could we really afford to lose the human touch?

This pandemic has brought economic and social disruption of various shapes and dimensions, and unprecedented humanitarian challenges. But the greatest of all might be the imminent threat of making us, as customers and employees, get disconnected from our inner human nature and too used and comfortable with being distant from each other.

Digital has provided essential tools for dealing with confinement, supporting remote workers’ collaboration and communication and helping loved ones stay in touch with one another[13]. And, despite all the constraints and existing inequalities, as businesses, organizations and societies were forced to load their weapons to face social distancing restrictions, they have become better equipped and prepared to make 'digital connections' paradigmatic. But is that really what we want? We don’t think so.

The challenges of providing a digital customer experience will be huge for businesses if they don’t raise the bar and provide a humanized experience too. So, there are plenty of newly emergent digital forms of customer engagement that probably will not even “sustain after COVID-19 growth spurts – some mature or less-relevant experiences, like restaurant delivery, will “return to old normal”, while others, like telehealth services, are just “exciting for now”, but will potentially be eroded after the pandemic”[1].

As more and more consumers opt for digital-first products and services, users’ expectations towards the human side of the experience will be raised, and players that can provide it in a differentiated way will be ahead of the curve. Thus, as companies have expanded their digital capabilities, they cannot forget to also make invested efforts into improving human capabilities, by reskilling their workforce and preparing them for the digital road ahead.

On the other hand, the challenges of a complete shift to a full digital employee experience for organizations can also be vast. To “maintain collaboration and productivity, preserve cultural entirety, the sense of connection, and the physical and mental health of employees, the boundaries between being physically in the office and at home must collapse”[6].

wishes for the future

The pandemic outbreak has elevated digitalization from a nice-to-have into a must-have around the world. Our expectations and obligations, as consumers, employees and citizens, have been recalibrated as the threat became real and forced businesses, organizations and societies to reset, upgrade, and devise new unspoken rules for living and working, with the helping hand of the digital genie.

Faced with store closures and lockdown regimes, consumers turn to online shopping to buy groceries, satisfy daily necessities and get access to virtually any kind of service, instilling companies to step up the game and rework their digital strategy, or even, in some cases, create one from scratch. Recent projections describe these new habits as a growing trend, so digital will continue to play a major role for businesses, as convenience and safety will continue to shape consumption trends in the future.

Moreover, working-from-home models have been applauded by HR experts as an alternative to a mass return to office scenario. An advice that was taken by many organizations: “Amazon and Microsoft gave employees the option to work from home at least until October. Google, Facebook and Spotify have extended remote work until the end of 2020, as part of a long-term shift. Twitter has offered staff the option of working from home permanently, whilst WPP says returning to office will be voluntary and flexible”[14].

Nonetheless, the fact is that not every company is tailored for this. The option to work remotely is still restricted to some and dependent on the type of business, role and internal structure of the organization. This means not every employee will be eligible, and so leaders need to be mindful and ready to implement strategies to tackle the associated challenges.

Despite the early stage fear and resistance to change, the digitalization efforts made by businesses and organizations have had fairly positive results and allowed us to see the benefits of the so-called digital economy from a whole new perspective. Even so, it is possible that the satisfaction and well-being people have experienced both consuming and working from home during the pandemic were a product of the circumstances. In the aftermath, the effects can start fading. Endurance and resilience allowed us to overcome ancient barriers, but now, looking ahead, we need to be careful and aware to prevent new, different strains of the ‘virus’ from surfacing.

We can all agree that the transition to digital was somewhat inevitable, but reimagining people’s daily routines and working lives in the post-COVID-19 era is not a simple task. Maybe some of us would rather go back to the old ways, while others wish to keep up the pace and continue down this road, simply because we have actually grown to like it. We don’t really know.

In the “new normal”, things will not be or black or white, they will be made up of many different shades of grey. New practices will be created, older ones reconstructed, and some others will even be strengthened.

In the end, what we will want for sure is to have the option, the freedom to choose. Flexibility is the prize we all want to take home when this is over.

We don’t know what the future will look like, but one thing is certain: new digital operating standards will be in place, and businesses and organizations will need to figure out how to lift them up to regain their human nature.

Even if we have to cohabitate with the digital genie that refuses to go back into its lamp, no person, organization nor society will be able to sustain an in-person-interactions-free new era. We, at pur’ple, believe digital should merge the human touch, to generate a truly relevant “human digital experience”. So, let’s call the human genie back out of its lamp again and make ourselves new wishes for the future.

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Article written by Filipa Lima, Sónia Filipe and Rui Luz

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Read more about our Trends’formation of work articles:

chapter 1 – seven drivers that shape the future

chapter 2 - purpose is an imperative

chapter 3 - rewire leadership

chapter 4 - organizations become ecosystems

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/elevating-customer-experience-excellence-in-the-next-normal

[2] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/private-equity-and-principal-investors/our-insights/commercial-real-estate-must-do-more-than-merely-adapt-to-coronavirus

[3] https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/analysts-answer-how-will-coronavirus-impact-technology-investment-across-verticals/

[4] https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/how-covid-19-is-changing-food-shopping.html