Addressing the challenge of hybrid work and digital inclusion

The Covid-19 crisis has indeed changed our relationship with work.

It accelerated the digital transformation of businesses by about 7 years (McKinsey). As a result of this acceleration, the gaps in the use of digital technology have widened: there are those who have exploited the change of context to explore and progress (41%), those who have maintained existing practices (27%) or those who have undergone changes that have generated negative effects (28%). . (Lecko, state of the art 2021).

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In parallel, the phenomenon of”Great resignation” comes to fruition: 55% of people working in August 2021 intend to look for a new job in the next 12 months (Bankrate). A trend that seems to be spreading all over the world. To counter this wave, organizations need to focus more than ever on cultivating the engagement of all employees.

With Bastien Le Lann, associate director of Lecko, an internal digital transformation consulting firm, we share our vision to counter this wave of disengagement in the world of work.

• What are the major changes observed in businesses today?
• What are the challenges and risks associated with these fundamental changes in the way we work?
• What are the available levers for an inclusive and engaging digital transformation?

🎬 Discover the answers on video thanks to the replay of our intervention with Lecko at Chemins de l'Innovation 2021.

The most used communication tools must evolve

Email remains the most used collaboration tool in businesses. Office staff are locked into email and video conferencing while field staff mostly use mobile phones to communicate. Les Digital Workplace are only at the end of the ranking of tools used in businesses with only 29% of respondents.

However, companies have increasingly important strategic digitalization goals in order to engage all of their employees in the face of the increase in teleworking and hybrid work.

1 company out of 2 is in the process of scaling up or optimizing its digital transformation. They were less than 20% in 2017.

Gartner 2021

What are the challenges and risks associated with fundamental changes in the way we work?

Get out of the ”Any email“ requires the implementation of digital collaboration tools. However, it is not enough to implement new tools without supporting change. We can't ”modernise without transforming“ according to Bastien Le Lann to avoid the digital divide and the disengagement of the least connected employees.

Les Digital Workplaces and collaboration tools have multiplied in recent years without necessarily being integrated into the workflow of employees: for a successful digital transformation, it is necessary to fully understand the needs of the different profiles of employees in your company in order to offer them the most suitable solutions. It is necessary to reconcile employees to their digital work environment by integrating directly where they are, without multiplying tools.

Les Deskless Workers and Frontline managers must be taken into account by corporate communication via tools that are already integrated into their daily lives. It is important to engage them as much as office employees since they are the local relay for the company and its image.

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What are the available levers for an inclusive and engaging digital transformation?

The first essential lever is to fully understand the career path of your employees: there are different degrees of digital maturity depending on the positions and functions in the company. The communication channel must therefore be adapted to the various collaborators.

Chez la SNCF TER Grand Est, non-connected field agents represent 50% of the total workforce and only considered themselves to be well informed at 40%. For this population, the communication screen is a local relay rooted in their daily lives that allows them not to miss out on certain important information from the headquarters.

For employees who do hybrid work (a mix of teleworking and face-to-face), the challenge is to reach and engage them without necessarily knowing if they are at home or in the offices. To do this, Cenareo offers a multi-channel internal communication solution that makes it possible to push engaging messages on physical screens AND on the Digital Workplace already in place in the company (Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Slack...).

“This is THE scenario of the link with the existing working environment. Data must then make it possible to monitor and measure the implementation of its tools to accelerate digitalization.”

Bastien Le Lann, Lecko.