What the Digital Employee Experience of Tomorrow Looks Like

The phrase “You can’t have your cake and eat it too” has been around since 1548 when the Duke of Norfolk set the record straight with Thomas Cromwell. The story involves love affairs, stolen jewels and treason – all the makings of a good Netflix show. The famous line is now being turned upside down when it comes to taking the digital employee experience (DEX) to the next level. In a world where hybrid and remote work is commonplace, the cake is about to be served.

A new report by IT software company Ivanti shows a startling story about how employees are interacting in the digital world. The 2024 Digital Employee Experience study asked 7,800 IT professionals, executives and office workers from around the world about how they are handling DEX and the challenges they are experiencing.?

What I find most interesting is how the report clearly shows the intersecting roles of chief information officers (CIOs) and chief human resources officers (CHROs). It’s a pivotal moment for both as people and technology continue to converge. DEX involves employees’ interaction with apps, devices and workplace interfaces – from network uptime to searching for a buried email to using AI to create a meeting agenda. As with all aspects of our lives, technology is ingrained in our work life, which gives CIOs a pivotal role in making that work life better.

Why DEX Matters

If you throw a rock into a lake, you’ll see circles rippling outward into the water. The employee experience is similar as it impacts many aspects of an organization. The first circle is the most important: the employee’s well-being. Does technology contribute to their fulfillment at work or does it consume time and energy? Do digital tools make workflows feel like running through mud or taking a stroll through a lovely park? Do employees lean into technology, or do they go around it??

If digital tools are both easy and secure, employees feel less anxiety and frustration. Ivanti’s report found that 97% of leadership-level executives believe a high-quality DEX impacts employee productivity, 96% say it impacts employee satisfaction and 90% link DEX to employee retention. While many agree DEX is important, there is a wide gap when it comes to reality — particularly when it comes to remote or hybrid workers. In EY’s 2023 Future Workplace Index, 80% of respondents have “full confidence” in a hybrid work strategy, indicating that remote work is part of the new workplace.

Leveling the playing field for IT used in-office versus remotely are two very different issues. Ivanti found that just 46% of IT professionals feel it’s easy to access tools when working remotely. Top leadership however doesn’t see it that way: 90% of executive leaders say employees have the tools and access to systems to be productive in a remote or hybrid work environment. I see this gap closing as CIOs and CHROs collaborate more.

There are more circles in the water resulting from a positive DEX. I recently wrote about the focus on customer experience (CX) in financial services. I pointed out how people today expect more, better, faster. When digital tools are seamless – almost like an extension of a thought or action – the customer experience dramatically improves. Problems are resolved faster, employees feel good about resolving issues with minimal delays and customers walk away with a positive view of the brand.?

While the Ivanti study doesn’t explore customer experience directly, it does give a clear view as to the barrier to improving it: a lack of measuring DEX metrics. According to the study, 48% of respondents track DEX scores, 42% track device/user analytics and 39% track speed of ticket resolution. Imagine if these numbers were higher and you actually knew where you stood with DEX within your organization. Successfully measuring DEX calls for data, another reason the CIO is pivotal in this discussion.

Data-driven DEX and the CIO Role

More than 3 in 4 leadership executives say that “CIOs who prioritize DEX earn greater influence with other organizational leaders.” Clearly, the role of the CIO is shifting. I’ve noticed the change over the last five years. Prior to the pandemic, I remember working alongside CIOs whose agendas were much more internally focused than they are today.?

Added to the CIO’s evolving role is security. If there is no chief information security officer (CISO), then cybersecurity falls upon the shoulders of the person in charge of technology. They must have the vision to make the employee experience seamless while protecting against hackers and cybercriminals. Security protocols and frameworks directly impact employees.

The Ivanti report found that 2 in 3 (61%) surveyed take unsafe shortcuts at work with tech and retail topping the list of industries. Remote work, in short, creates challenges when it comes to easily accessing the same technologies coworkers use in the office. However, the answer is not to mandate people come into the office. Instead, a big push for CIOs is to create an “Everywhere Work” environment so that technology for working anywhere inspires productivity and ease.??

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?What’s Next?

What does the DEX of tomorrow look like? Let’s take a quick look at Walmart, a company which has leveraged technology with the overarching goal to “simplify the shopping experience.” This is achieved through GenAI, augmented reality (AR), an AI-driven replenishment system, point-of-sale system and, of course, the robust Walmart app. Walmart runs like a well-engineered clock, and one of its chief clockmakers is the CIO. The company leverages technology to improve operations, the customer operations and cybersecurity safety. One can only imagine that employees must feel technology is on their side.

Just prior to our current century – before Facebook and the iPhone and the gig economy. Nobel Laureate Robert Solow invented the Productivity Paradox of IT. He said: "You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics."?

It’s time to upend this long-held belief.?

The crossroad of technology and humanity is where we find growth, innovation and a more promising future — for employees, workplace teams, companies and the customers they serve. These circles cascade far beyond one person or digital tool when you put DEX in your line of sight. Ivanti is creating solutions for a safe and secure DEX without compromising the user experience. Yes, it’s true: Organizations have an opportunity to have their cake and eat it too with the modern CIO poised to put those success levers in motion.

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