The digital workplace is not just a set of tools, but a strategic approach to transforming how organizations operate and deliver value. In this blog post, we will explore the concept of digital workplace maturity, which measures how well an organization leverages its digital capabilities to achieve its goals. We will also provide a guide with some useful tips and resources for business leaders to assess and improve their digital workplace maturity.
Digital Workplace Definition
The term “Digital Workplace” has been around for numerous years. According to Techopedia, the term was popularized by Paul Miller in 2009 and was defined as “the collection of digital tools provided by an organization to enable its employees to perform their jobs”. Today, when more and more work for both information workers and frontline workers is increasingly digitized, the term grows in scope and strategic importance.
More and more organizations are realizing the benefits of putting a strategy in place for their Digital Workplace and having a dedicated leader/team/organization focused on continuously improving it. Storyals has previously written blogs about the importance of having a Digital Workplace Manager to drive business success and shared best practices for Digital Workplace Managers to optimize business outcomes. In this blog post, we wanted to share more insights into Digital Workplace Maturity.
Maturity Models
In general terms, a maturity model is a framework to access your capabilities and processes within a specific area. Typically, a maturity model comprises several steps, each with distinct criteria that must be met to advance to the next level. When it comes to Digital Transformation and Digital Maturity models in general, there are various tools and frameworks provided by different vendors and consulting companies, including Capgemini's Digital Mastery, PwC’s Digital IQ, and Microsoft’s Digital Transformation Framework, to name a few.
Digital Workplace Maturity
When it comes to Digital Workplace maturity specifically, one of the most recognized frameworks is Gartner’s Digital Workplace Maturity Model and their Digital Workplace Maturity Assessment Tool. This model outlines five levels of maturity: Reacting, Supporting, Enabling, Empowering, and Transforming (previously Optimizing).
Reacting: Organizations at this stage handle digital workplace initiatives in a disjointed and reactive manner. They don’t have a clear vision or strategy, and employee engagement and satisfaction are low. They find it hard to keep up with changing business needs and customer expectations, facing high risks of disruption and technology becoming outdated.
Supporting: Organizations at this stage have a basic and functional approach to digital workplace initiatives. They give employees the tools and services they need to do their jobs, but there’s little innovation or differentiation. There’s some alignment between business and IT, but they still work in silos and lack agility and adaptability.
Enabling: Organizations at this stage take a proactive and integrated approach to digital workplace initiatives. They help employees work effectively across various locations, devices, and channels. They have a clear vision and strategy and promote a culture of collaboration and learning. There’s strong alignment between business and IT, allowing them to quickly respond to changing business needs and customer demands.
Empowering: Organizations at this stage take a strategic and transformative approach to digital workplace initiatives. They empower employees to work autonomously and creatively, making data-driven decisions. They focus strongly on employee experience and well-being, using advanced technologies like AI (Artificial Intelligence), IoT (Internet of Things), and AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality). They are highly innovative and can anticipate and shape market trends and customer preferences.
Transforming: Organizations at this stage take a visionary and disruptive approach to digital workplace initiatives. They change how work is done and redefine the role of human workers in the digital era. They have a holistic view of the digital workplace and use its full potential to create new value propositions and business models. They are highly resilient and sustainable, thriving in uncertain and volatile environments.
The 5 steps of Gartner s’ Digital Workplace Maturity Model
As you might expect, most companies are in the lower stages of the maturity model. Of the companies that have done the assessment (773 organizations as of July 2024) the majority are in the Supporting (55.1%) and Reacting (30.9%) phases. So don’t feel bad if you get a low score., many organizations have opportunity to increase their maturity. You can access an on-demand recording of a Gartner webinar on how to improve the Digital Workplace Maturity where they share an overview of the model and a link to the assessment.
Business and IT collaboration is key
As with all initiatives, increasing your Digital Workplace maturity requires resources, and to get resources you need executive sponsorship. In addition to executive sponsorship, close collaboration between Business users and IT is key to success. According to Gartner, organizations that reported a close collaboration between Business and IT scored 105% higher on the Digital Workplace Maturity Assessment. In addition, it is important to set the right expectations. You can’t expect to be in the “Transforming” or even “Empowering” stage if you have a limited budget to invest in necessary tools, talent, technologies, and training.
Tips for Improving Your Digital Workplace Maturity
A best practice is to do some kind of Digital Workplace "mapping" or maturity assessment to have a baseline, and then put a strategy in place for what you aim to achieve given your current resources. Use data to measure various metrics including productivity scores, employee engagement and employee satisfaction of their digital workplace. A good recommendation is also to engage with peers in other organizations to share best practices and ideas. As Storyals, we can warmly recommend WorkScape Circle, which is a forum designed for leaders pioneering the digital workplace of tomorrow. We hope to see you there!