Virtual Reality

One of the defining characteristics of the Future of Work is digitization. Enterprises are now operating with more remote and hybrid workplaces. Thus, technology is imperative to a cohesive and efficient workforce. What this means for the individual employee is more daily immersion in various technological platforms and solutions. Upskilling will be a critical aspect for workers as they harness more advanced technologies to communicate, collaborate, and execute their roles.

Digital employee experience (DEX) is a term that describes how effective workers are in using digital tools. DEX is a growing area of interest as companies adopt a plethora of digital tools to augment their dispersed workforces. Companies want to ensure the tools they have integrated into the workplace are intuitive and enhance worker productivity.

Tom Haak, director at the HR Trend Institute, says, “Technology offers enormous opportunities to improve the life of people in and around organizations. In HR, the focus is still too much on control and process improvement, not enough on really improving the employee experience.”

Today, with remote and in-person workers, enterprises must bridge those two environments and focus on technologies that both attract and retain workers regardless of where they work. Technology that supports the Future of Work comes in a variety of forms. Often, artificial intelligence (AI) permeates many digital solutions, providing automated processes and data outputs for better workforce decision-making.

Throughout the remainder of the year, the Future of Work Exchange will be highlighting several technologies from blockchain to e-wallets, and how they impact Future of Work strategies. However, the following are technologies that business leaders and employees are using now and, in the future, to enhance the DEX and drive workplace efficiency and community.

Communication and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic put communication and collaboration to the ultimate test. Enterprises and employees experienced first-hand the potential of digital communication as they grew accustomed to using Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms proved that remote work could, in fact, be accomplished with the same productive and strategic outcomes as in-person work models. It is one of the major reasons why remote and hybrid workforce options were embraced by enterprises post-pandemic.

There are several communication and collaborative tools to serve the enterprise and its remote and in-person workforce. Basecamp provides both a communication and collaborative platform to keep projects on schedule and lines of communication open. Trello also makes project management run smoothly regardless of where an employee is based.

Beyond these more common collaborative solutions, companies are utilizing chatbots for internal use for collaborative purposes and employee support. ServiceNOW, for example, offers its Virtual Agent solution to bring people to the same collaborative workspace or provide answers to employee questions.

Another evolving collaborative offering is the virtual whiteboard for use during company and team meetings. Companies such as Miro, MURAL, and Stormboard provide effective tools for diagramming and presenting in real time.

Big data (predictive and people analytics). Volumes of data flood enterprises from a variety of sources. For HR and other business leaders, big data is crucial to their Future of Work strategies, generating analytics across the talent acquisition and talent management landscape. Predictive analytics, for example, will grow as a key component of direct sourcing initiatives to curate a pipeline of potential job candidates.

According to a post on the Future of Work Exchange (FOWX), “While predictive analytics are not commonplace today, soon, a majority of enterprises will look to scenario-building as a way to enhance overall talent intelligence. Predictive analytics, in this realm, will augment the organization’s overall knowledge of its in-house skills as well as the expertise available externally (across all talent communities, including talent pools).”

Where predictive analytics will help prepare the enterprise for its future talent needs, people analytics are necessary to understand how employees are embracing digital tools and applications. Are shared applications being utilized by the workforce? Is there participation in virtual workspaces? What are employee sentiments around an enterprise’s digital transformation? People analytics help answer these questions and provide key insights into employee productivity, well-being, and digital adoption.

Virtual reality. In a previous post, FOWX explored the possibilities of the metaverse. Virtual reality will stretch the limits of employee interaction and community. Virtual workspaces where employee avatars can converse and strategize are likely to come to fruition in the coming years. It levels the playing field for remote and in-person employees by creating a setting for everyone regardless of location.

Artificial intelligence is also a major piece of the virtual reality offering. Currently, employees can create an avatar to complete repetitive tasks using AI or communicate with customers to answer product questions. As technology advances, the potential influence of virtual reality on the Future of Work will only increase. Today’s chatbots are just the beginning of how enterprises can leverage the virtual world and bridge humans with AI.

Just as the Future of Work evolves, so too will the technologies that support it. There are dozens of software applications on the horizon to benefit business leaders and their employees. Explore the options and how they align with your workforce strategy.