As the world continues to hold its breath for society to return to normalcy after the pandemic, there is no doubt that its consequences will change the course of our work lives for years to come. 

Many companies worldwide mandated that employees work from home during the pandemic. Some digital decision-makers in top companies have agreed to allow remote working to continue even after the pandemic is over. These decisions cause a wave of digital transformation and consequently, an increase in the use of remote working technology. 

About 70% of all companies worldwide have been or are working on a digital transformation strategy and increasing their investments in digital transformation. During the pandemic, it was estimated that while 52% of companies cut spending, only 9% considered cutting the cost of digital transformation. Digital solutions are expected to grow and are estimated to be worth $3,294 billion by 2025. 

What is Digital Transformation? 

Digital transformation is a process of changing the way a company does business to improve its performance. This process is not only about technology innovation, but it also includes organizational transformation, work culture development, and structural changes. 

The digital era has created an environment where companies are disrupted by new technologies and competitors with different business models, which further compels companies to transform themselves to remain relevant. 

Companies must digitally adjust to today’s digital environment to provide a suitable culture for remote employees, attract customers digitally, and expand into new market sectors. Companies may analyze digitized data to gain a better understanding of how they operate and what needs to be changed. 

The Benefits of Digital Transformation 

While some companies were unable to operate because they were hesitant to implement digital technology, others were forced to make quick decisions to accelerate their digital transformation journey and fully utilize its capabilities. 

Companies can benefit from digital transformation by improving their operations, which entails transforming their business models or processes by using digital technology. This becomes a core business strategy that must be implemented in all areas of an organization. 

In today’s rapidly changing world, whether a company is large or small, and whatever its mission, digital transformation must be included to be successful. The path to digital transformation may be challenging, but businesses must acknowledge that the expansion of high-speed internet, combined with rapid changes in demographic preferences, has necessitated the start of their digital journey. 

The benefits of digital transformation in companies are immense and below are just some of its core benefits: 

1. Increased productivity 

By leveraging digital technology in automating manual and repetitive tasks that waste a lot of time, digital transformation increases employees’ productivity. When processes are automated, employees have more time to focus on important tasks and complete tasks faster. 

2. Improved business models 

The ability to modernize your company’s services is one of the core benefits of digital transformation. Consider Netflix and Spotify, these companies can provide services to millions of customers, all because of advanced digital technologies. Because of effective digital technology adoption, new business models will emerge, allowing companies to serve consumers through multiple channels, increasing their market share and profit margins. 

3. Agility and innovation 

Another benefit of digital transformation is to improve organizational agility and innovation. To thrive as a company, you must have an agile working environment that allows for quick adjustments in times of adversity. Companies must develop resilience, or the ability to adapt to change while remaining focused on their primary goal. Being able to adapt and respond to changing situations is critical in today’s interconnected world. If properly implemented, companies should be able to reap all of the benefits of digital transformation. 

4. Greater collaboration across departments 

The company’s strength is only as strong as its weakest link. To run a business efficiently, employees must be able to collaborate easily and quickly. If digital tools are not properly used, collaboration may waste a significant amount of your employees’ time. There are several enterprise solutions available today that enable team members to collaborate in achieving the desired goal. Making the most of these tools should be a top priority. 

As a result of digital transformation, the culture and basic structure of the business are transformed, resulting in a new work environment that promotes strong communication and unity by closing gaps in the communication cycle. 

5. Promote healthy competitiveness 

Digitalization is the new way to survive and keep up with the rapidly changing business landscape. The goal of digital transformation is to find ways to make your business operations more efficient, allowing you to stay ahead of the competition by being more relevant and responsive to your customers’ needs. Companies have a better chance of competing and surviving in the digital age as the business environment evolves. As digital-first infrastructure becomes the corporate standard, maintaining a competitive advantage through digital transformation, however, becomes more challenging.  

6. Increased transparency 

Transparency in business processes is one of the advantages of digital transformation as it can increase customers’ trust in your brand. Long-term success requires transparency in business processes. Higher management will have more faith in how things are done if processes and their status are digitally monitored through process documentation and transparent workflows.  

7. Faster time to reach the market 

Companies can bring innovative products to markets much faster if digital technology and automation are already in place. It is not just about communicating with customers through digital channels, but also about how the company operates internally. By improving collaboration, reducing time-to-market delivery, and increasing customer engagement, digital transformation can help bring products to markets faster and gather early feedback. 

Digital Transformation: A New Chapter for the Working Life 

Traditional workplaces undergo a digital transformation as a result of the pandemic’s demand for change. It also demonstrates that companies’ agility to evolve is the key to not falling behind in societal progress and implies that digitally transforming companies are more important now than ever before. 

In addition to the 12% who went fully remote before the pandemic, 63% of the companies that experienced going remotely said they would permanently implement the change in 2021, according to the 2021 Global Employee Survey. This further implies that the remote work arrangement benefits the whole company as it brings work life to a new chapter by transforming the traditional face-to-face work environment into online Zoom meetings. 

Ways corporate digital transformation can help create a remote work culture 

Many companies eager to launch on a digital transformation journey to foster a remote work culture are unsure where to start. Here are some ideas to apply digital transformation in any kind of business: 

Digital workplaces 

Virtual meetings through online calls and video calls successfully helped many businesses through the pandemic. If companies intend to operate remotely in the long run, however, they should completely overhaul their communication channels, make room for digitalization, and offer a virtual work environment. 

Remote employees should also maintain a good workstation during working hours, even if they work from home. Digital workplaces are intended to help employees complete tasks on time and produce high-quality output. A digital workspace should address all the company’s needs, from daily tasks to management, and analytical work. Remote employees, regardless of location, should be able to access information quickly and efficiently. 

Excuses for task delays are a major issue for any company. This is the main reason to provide remote employees with all the digital tools, applications, and IT infrastructure they need to ensure a smooth workflow. 

A company that wants to digitalize its workflow must emphasize the importance of communication and encourage teams to use digital communication tools to share all work-related information and record every transaction. 

Data automation 

In establishing a remote work culture, you will quickly discover that rules do not apply the same way when there is little physical contact among your organization’s various departments. Ensure your employees carry out administrative tasks and interdepartmental tasks smoothly by using business automation software.  

To ensure excellent work, automated HR systems, automated analytics, automated project management, reporting, help desks, and other supporting services must be implemented and put in place. To avoid losing critical information when working remotely, all data must be automatically stored digitally and managed securely. 

A custom automation tool tailored to your company’s needs is a better way to address this issue. Outsourcing business process automation to software development partners is a cost-effective solution that allows employees and managers to focus on core project activities while software solutions handle routine and repetitive tasks. 

Cybersecurity 

One of the biggest concerns with remote work is the security of your company’s data as well as confidential work documents and emails. Working from home makes you more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. However, with the right digital tools and security solutions, you can avoid cybersecurity issues.  

To start, you must educate and train your employees on cybersecurity best practices and pitfalls, as well as use advanced authentication systems to prevent any attempt at backdoor access. Here are some prevalent cyber-attacks your team should be aware of: 

• Phishing emails. According to a cybersecurity report, phishing emails have increased 600% since COVID-19. You can obtain a tool that can detect suspicious emails and alert your team. 
• The loss of personal devices allows an attacker to access your company’s data. Through multi-factor authentication and device encryption, you can help prevent unauthorized data access should your devices become lost or stolen. 
• Unsafe Wi-Fi networks. Use a proper VPN to ensure that all data access to your organization’s data occurs only through secure encrypted channels. 
• Security vulnerabilities present in personal devices. Formulate the best practices and security recommendations for your BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy and make sure your employees keep their devices up to date with all the latest security patches.  

You will need to decentralize your IT infrastructure and implement appropriate cloud-based solutions with consistent security features. To improve your cybersecurity, you can also use AI (Artificial intelligence) and machine learning-based monitoring and threat prevention systems. 

Company cultural change through the digital transformation journey 

Some companies believe that the most challenging thing in implementing a remote work model is creating a culture in remote teams. They are hesitant to embark on their digital transformation journey because they are afraid of big changes. However, all of these changes are extremely positive. 

Internal resistance may arise within your teams because of the uncertainty and changes that remote work can bring to your work culture. Every company must deal with the initial resistance to change, doubts about the changes, and potential cynical criticisms of digitization efforts.  

You need to ensure that your teams are well informed about the need for change, your goals, and how to accept the changes brought about by digital transformation. It is the leaders’ responsibility to ensure that the human component of remote work is well taken care of through proper communication and an efficient digital transformation plan. Be open to new digital innovations and cultivate an environment that encourages digital transparency and a healthy work-life balance. 

Employees’ testimonials of digital transformation 

Some researchers have investigated employees’ innate feelings regarding the integration of being online and working remotely for many companies. The majority of respondents (90%) said that they are as productive as or more productive than working in an office, while 84% of these employees are pleased with the remote work opportunities provided by digitally transforming companies. Furthermore, 57% would prefer to work full-time from home, with 46% willing to take a 5% pay cut just to work remotely. A startling 71% prefer hybrid or full-time remote work once the pandemic is over. 

These exciting statistics are supported by Ergotron research involving a thousand full-time employees, 56% of whom said remote work improved their mental health. This demonstrates that employees prefer the work environment because digital transformation increases efficiency and improves the mental health of the workforce. 

In Summary 

Help Employees Work Smarter Not Harder, Wherever They Work 

Businesses must prioritize employees first, customers second, and shareholders third. It is not always easy to prioritize employees, but the global businesses’ push to support remote work has reemphasized this point for employers as they fight to retain and recruit talent. Companies that have succeeded in getting the right technology to the right departments and employees at the right time are thriving amid the pandemic. As a result, their employees can work more efficiently and productively, improving their work-life balance. 

More than ever before, digital transformation is about people as well as technology. Employees value their physical working environment. In contrast, factors such as appropriate communication methods, being heard and maintaining a good work-life balance all rank much higher. Technology is critical for businesses seeking to create a modern workplace and happy, productive employees, but it is not the only ingredient. 

The rapid shift to remote work would almost certainly not have occurred without the pandemic, but the benefits realized as a result of the pivot cannot be overlooked. This first stage of digital transformation is critical. Almost all businesses recognize that technology can help remote workers be more productive — but successful businesses also recognize something else. Technology can help employees find a better way, which will have a direct impact on their performance. Rather than being a stick to force workers to work faster, the next phase of digital transformation will be a carrot to encourage workers to be smarter, more balanced, and more empowered. That is a win-win situation for everyone.