There’s no denying it: our workplaces are more digital than ever. Whether you’re a four-days-in-the-office hybrid worker or fully remote, the way you experience work is now inextricably linked to the technology you use on the job. And as AI continues to advance, that technology is only going to become more intricate. The tools workers use to collaborate, communicate, and get things done are increasingly important, because that’s how the energy of a workplace is conveyed. 

Now that the buzzy atmosphere of a lively office isn’t a constant for most, that culture needs to be replicated through workplace technology. If it isn’t, there can be negative consequences. In the same way that loud phones calls and niche music choices might have irked open plan office workers in the past, glitchy collaboration tools and dated software are now a source of frustration in many hybrid workplaces—and workers are quitting because of it.

Retaining talent is a key issue for a majority of employers. A study from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which surveyed UK-based HR professionals in April 2022, reported that 60 per cent of employers find talent more difficult to retain compared to the year before. There are plenty of factors causing this that employers have no control over (such as employees’ existential crises post-Covid), but there are some that can—and should—be fixed. 

One common bugbear for modern employees is the Digital Employee Experience (DEX): The quality of the tech they need to use in order to do their jobs, from chat platforms to productivity tools. As our experience of work grows more and more digitized, the technology provided by employers has become a key part of a company’s culture—but many aren’t treating it that way.

Thanks to the shift towards hybrid and remote working, the line between our home and work lives has grown even more blurred. That means workers now expect their workplace technology to be as good as the tech they use in their personal lives—but more than two thirds of respondents to a 2022 Gartner research report said their work tech is noticeably worse. And, for many, that mismatch between expectations and reality is a good enough reason to quit. 

“Digital employee experience is no longer a ‘nice to have’,” says Margarete McGrath, Global Advisory & Strategy Partner Lead at Dell Technologies, explaining that any company looking to retain top talent must have a reliable DEX strategy. “By providing employees with a seamless, intuitive and personalized digital experience, organizations can create a culture of innovation and collaboration that drives business success,” McGrath continued. Great tech isn’t just about a glitch-free interface—organizations can also use it to facilitate programs that support employees’ mental health and wellbeing, for example. 

Dell has for years been stressing the importance of keeping workplace tech fresh. Its 2016 Future Workforce Study reported that one fifth of the UK’s workforce would quit their job to escape poor workplace technology. And, since the pandemic, that number has surged even higher. Studies in 2021 and 2022 respectively, found that 49 per cent of US workers and 49 per cent of British Zoomers would leave their jobs if they were unhappy with the technology they use to do it.

Unfortunately, it’s not enough to simply splurge on the latest programs or devices—especially as AI continues propelling systems forward. Companies need to know what technologies their employees actually need to do their jobs more easily, effectively, and enjoyably. Dell achieves this within its own ranks using a whole ecosystem of measurement and education tools, which other companies can implement too. One such element is its Workforce Personas—broad digital twins of its employees that are used to predict what challenges teams will come up against ahead of time, so they can be equipped with the best technology to respond. Since Dell brought them into play, its team member satisfaction scores have climbed from 50 to 80 per cent. 

These types of DEX-enhancing tech are useful, but they’re only one piece of the puzzle. As EY’s Global People Advisory Services Leader, Kim Billeter, says: “Technology is an enabler, but it’s not the sole solution.” She explains that companies need to take a more holistic approach to DEX “that focuses on culture, leadership, and technology”.

For workplace tech to stay effective, it needs to evolve alongside the people using it. That means the departments usually sat at opposite ends of the boardroom table—HR and IT—need to get close. “Creating a digital employee experience is about connecting strategy to the integration of multiple technologies so that employees can have a seamless experience of work,” says Andy Lomas, EY EMEIA People Advisory Services Digital HR Leader, explaining that this has become increasingly important since the pandemic gave rise to remote work. Now, he says, there is “mounting pressure on Cioses to get more value from their technology investments.

“Platforms are now, for many, the lens through which they interact with and develop their perception of their employer, and so whether it’s for collaboration, CRM or finance, design and configuration, technology must be optimized and made coherent across platforms in order to create the experience employees now expect and rely on to work.”

By working in tandem with the CIO and other technology partners, the CHRO can more easily match employee needs up with the right technologies, and also use tech to better equip employees and understand what they need. Telemetry data, for example, could be automatically collected from IoT sensors, mobiles devices, website metrics, and the like, and then be used to better understand organizational problems and create personalized solutions, or an e-learning program could be implemented, allowing employees to gain new digital skills, which—according to Dell’s new Future Proof research—40 per cent of Gen Z workers think is essential.

Even more excitingly, however, this merging of the very-different-minds could allow these odd couples to reimagine what technology can do to promote employee satisfaction and retention, and innovate the ways we work. Who knows what the digital equivalent of sought-after “water cooler moments” could be? 

This transition can be tricky, and could be eased into with the help of Dell and their consultancy partners, but setting up these systems and collaborations is an important step in upping your DEX game. A company’s culture is defined by how people exist within it, so these digital employee experiences can no longer be underestimated. 

Dell Technologies partners with organisations like EY to help leverage the power of technology to drive human progress. To learn more about Dell’s offering for the Digital Employee Experience, please reach out to Dell.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK