The Future of the Workplace
Digital transformation is the path that companies are taking to expand their digital capabilities for efficiency gains and top-line revenue growth. It’s big talk in board rooms and meeting spaces. Companies now spend nearly half of their technology budgets on digital transformation and it’s no small undertaking. Going global on a grand scale opens up a whole new set of challenges around change management and meeting the desired productivity goals.
Workplaces thrive on flexibility
The whole point of digital transformation is to make things faster and easier so companies can respond quicker to change within the organization and to customers. Employees increasingly want better mobility, personalization and flexibility in the workplace. While chief technology people are charged with turning innovative ideas into money saving realities. The technologies have to help managers and teams work more collaboratively and productively without compromising work flow. Tools should mimic the ease of an Uber app, while taking on the social aspects of Instagram and Facebook.
Moving from strategy to change
Understanding how the people in your organization work and identifying areas for improvement are key to a successful digital transformation. Only then will you be better able to plan how to implement various technologies to engage employees on a deeper level. Once you’re clear about your plans, understand how the digital workplace initiatives will change internal process, culture and behaviors. Identify and mitigate potential obstacles before they become problems. Workplace digital transformations fail when organizations don’t plan accordingly for the change.
Smart vending checks all the productivity boxes
Smart vending is a technology that fits the criteria for digital transformation and is a new spin on an old concept—the vending machine. By automating the supply-chain process and putting supplies safely and securely onto the floor, employees have self-serve access to whatever they need to stay productive. Everything is documented electronically and reconciled in real time.
Companies that have implemented custom vending machines, or Smart Stations™, have seen a dramatic rise in productivity that translates into big returns on investments. Delta Air Lines is a good example of a company with a time-consuming problem: employees were wandering around searching for personal protective equipment to wear to stay safety compliant. This took valuable time away from their core responsibilities—fixing planes. Once they brought in a Smart Station, wandering went down and productivity went through the roof.
When used in conjunction with a digital transformation, companies with intelligent vending are able to automate the way they distribute IT supplies and other office products, providing employees quick and easy access to what they need to stay productive. And supply managers spend a lot less time overseeing the process. It’s an evolution forward in transforming workplaces to improve culture, provide more freedom and the means to stay engaged and productive.
