Every organization must follow their own path to a secure digital workplace as every business has its unique requirements. There are, however, some guidelines that organizations should consider when building their digital workplace strategy.

First, perform an assessment of your current digital workplace footprint. The goal should include determining strengths and weaknesses of systems currently in place. This evaluation should be enterprise-wide, and often begins with a survey of employees to understand the tools currently in use, their opinions of current software and what can be done to improve the workflow for their jobs, and what roadblocks stand in their way. The digital workplace should be focused on removing those roadblocks and making their jobs – and communications – that much easier.

After completing the assessment, it is important to engage business and IT team leaders throughout the organization to agree on a common goal, and clear vision for its adoption. Without everyone working towards a clear and concise goal there is little chance of enterprise-wide buy-in by employees, especially those who do not understand what the benefits of this transformation are. It is also critical that the C-suite communicates their support for rapid adoption, and that the top executives work to ensure buy-in from all levels of the organizations.

Then, since digital workplaces are focused on improving communications and collaboration, these should also be critical elements of the rollout of a digital workplace strategy. Project management should practice what they preach and utilize messaging, intranet, wikis, and enterprise social media tools to inform the employees as to the status of digital workplace rollout. All these communications should be available to employees regardless of where they are or what device they are using to access corporate communications. It is also critically important that communications to employees are very transparent about the process, and highlight where the organization is on their path to a digital workplace, what problems or snags have been uncovered and dealt with, and how everyone is working together towards a common goal.

 Finally, make sure there is adequate training on the new digital workplace, both for existing employees and to help onboard new hires. Change is always stressful, and many employees will be leery of a new work environment, no matter what the benefits are perceived to be. A solid training program that provides necessary insight into tools – and why they were chosen – can help employees rationalize why these changes are so important and help increase their comfort level while they learn. Training – and the resultant documentation – will help offset fears of existing employees and help new hires become more effective from their first day on the job.

Digital workplaces help organizations build deeper relationships and a strong culture, which can help increase productivity, improve overall business performance, and increase company loyalty. Employees’ job functions are surrounded by this new digital experience, which puts employees themselves at the heart of enterprise transformation.

Collaboration and communication tools in a digital workplace greatly improve management’s ability to hear issues from employees throughout the organization and can foster a stronger relationship between management and employees alike. When employees think they are being heard they will be more likely to share insights that can make a difference with a single customer or across the organization.

Since employee satisfaction and engagement are so critical to organizational success, delivering a superior employee experience benefits everyone in the organization, from task worker to executive.