Four ways to improve your digital employee experience

A consumer-grade digital employee experience is essential for attracting and retaining great employees. Here are four ways to improve your organisation’s digital experience

Technology is a massive part of our day-to-day lives at work and home. In the workplace, we use a variety of software, tools, and apps to work effectively, which all combine to create the ‘digital employee experience’. When that experience is positive, employees are more engaged at work and are more productive. But a poor digital experience can cause dissatisfaction, low productivity, and can even prompt resignations. Here, we’ll explain the components of the digital employee experience, why it’s so important, and how you can improve it in your organisation.

In this article:

• What is the digital employee experience?
• Why is the digital employee experience important?
• What types of technology can improve the digital employee experience? 
• Four ways technology can improve the digital employee experience 

What is the digital employee experience?

Almost every employee is dependent on technology to perform their role successfully. If you’ve ever been stymied by a printer that just won’t print or been unable to remember multiple passwords to access an essential app, then you’ve been subject to a poor digital experience. If employees are routinely hampered by technology – by programs that frequently crash or are extremely slow, for example – that will have a serious negative impact on their happiness at work.

Technology should enhance the working day for employees, not hinder it, so it’s essential to invest in the right technology (and support) for your organisation and your people.

Why is the digital employee experience important?

Since 2020, most office-based workers have become used to working at home (or in a hybrid way) – making them even more reliant on technology to stay connected and feel part of your organisation’s culture. Having a positive digital employee experience is vital for enabling your employees to access information remotely and to communicate with their team.

Technology can ease employees’ workloads by taking care of routine administrative tasks and allowing them to focus on their day-to-day role. It’s also critical for successfully hiring and onboarding new starters, who might not meet their team in person for weeks (if at all).

What types of technology can improve the digital employee experience?

There are many types of technology that can be beneficial in improving the employee experience. These are some you might consider implementing:

HR software

HR software is essential, as it is the technology employees use to record their absences, request holiday, access their pay and benefits, and keep up with any training they are required to complete. If you have nothing else, you should have an HR system to ease the admin burden on HR staff and empower employees to look after their own personal data and understand how your HR processes work.

Communication/collaboration software

Most organisations will utilise communication technology, such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, for meetings and general chats. These are particularly important for companies where employees are working remotely because these apps will often be the primary internal communication method.

Project management

Project management solutions such as Trello and ClickUp can allow employees to manage their workloads and individual/team projects more effectively in real time.

Four ways technology can improve the digital employee experience

A positive digital employee experience will help ensure your employees are working efficiently and constructively by making the administrative aspects of their jobs as easy as possible. Here are just four ways to improve your organisation’s digital employee experience:

1.      Improve your recruitment process with an applicant tracking system

To help your organisation grow and succeed, your HR team will always be on the lookout for new talent. An applicant tracking system (ATS) or specialist HR recrutiment software takes the strain out of recruitment, enabling your organisation to hire for multiple roles simultaneously, create talent pools of qualified candidates, and easily filter out unsuitable applications. A modern ATS will also help to improve your relationship with candidates – such as by sending automated messages and reminders – helping to deliver a better impression of your business as an employer and speed up the time to hire.

2.      Create a better onboarding process

Some employees will leave within the first week (or even the first day) if they don’t have a positive experience during the onboarding and induction process. Using specialist onboarding software can allow you to ensure employees have access to any training they need, can provide and update their personal data more easily, and that they can meet their new team, even if they are working remotely.

3.      Integrate other apps with your central HR software

Ensuring your systems, including your HR software, are integrated can enable employees to move between systems quickly without needing multiple passwords. With many employees working remotely or accessing their emails on the go, it is vital that you can access the technology anywhere and at any time.

For HR teams, integrating people data via the central HR system improves the accuracy of information, and enables you to see a more detailed, holistic view of performance within your organisation.

4.      Offer tailored learning and development opportunities

We know that offering employees the opportunity to update their skills regularly helps them to be more engaged at work, feel more valued, and stay with your organisation for longer. Choosing an HR system that integrates with a learning management system (LMS) helps you to offer tailored, ‘just in time’ learning interventions that will make the biggest difference to employees, right when they need it.

It does pay to invest in technology to improve the digital employee experience, especially as your organisation grows. Therefore, it is worth considering improving your technology to enhance the employee experience in an increasingly digital world.