{"id":494943,"date":"2021-06-01T08:51:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T06:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=494943"},"modified":"2021-06-01T09:36:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T07:36:50","slug":"if-we-can-do-better-for-our-customers-we-can-do-better-for-our-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/494943\/if-we-can-do-better-for-our-customers-we-can-do-better-for-our-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"If we can do better for our customers, we can do better for our employees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past decade new technologies have been embraced by companies looking to create exceptional customer experiences. But funnily enough we\u2019ve not invested the same thought or energy towards providing an equivalent experience for employees.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ioco.tech\/anytime-anywhere-workspace\/?utm_source=Business%20Tech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_campaign=High%20Touch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here for more information about iOCO<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Until quite recently, it was almost expected that employees should suffer through a myriad of separate systems: performance management, administration, payroll, communications, career guidance, employee wellness. The result was inefficiency and user frustration and friction.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>Employees in the front seat<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>But now, driven by the big workplace trends remote work, hybrid workspaces, increased freedom, and competition in job markets, we\u2019re seeing the employee experience of the future really take shape.<\/p>\n<p>The same technologies and approaches used to delight customers \u2013 API ecosystems, user-focused design, integrated platforms, advanced analytics \u2013 are now being used to do the same for employees.<\/p>\n<p>There are challenges to effectively introducing such an all-encompassing environment. We\u2019ve found that an organisation\u2019s ability to build this sort of experience doesn\u2019t depend solely on smart people or the right technologies.<\/p>\n<p>Having the right organisational structures and effective change management is equally important. In our experience, this organisational change needs to be driven by executive mandate and effective communication. This requires understanding and commitment from leadership.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>A map and a super app<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The journey to an effective new workforce ecosystem starts with consultation, understanding objectives and capabilities, followed by a process of \u201coutside-in\u201d design, i.e., design focused on the experience of the end user and supporting organisational objectives.<\/p>\n<p>This is followed, ideally, by the development of a \u201csuper app\u201d that gives employees everything they need, whenever, wherever, from hiring and onboarding through to a lasting, productive employee\/employer relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a closer look at this \u201csuper app\u201d. The app is a portal to a network of underlying systems that speak to one another and are logically connected.<\/p>\n<p>These connections and communication channels are enabled through APIs \u2013 Application Programming Interfaces \u2013 which are tools that allow disparate systems to work together.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve been widely employed in service of unified customer experiences and platforms, but they have massive potential for employees as well.<\/p>\n<p>They handle the integration between your payroll systems, your employee onboarding systems, your COVID-19 screening apps, your service-desk apps, your teams, your collaboration platforms, etc. API ecosystems facilitate the integration of all of those technologies.<\/p>\n<p>The super app then becomes, in effect, a single interface to all of these systems. You no longer need to know the intricacies of your IT department in order to log a service request.<\/p>\n<p>Nor do you need separate applications for scheduling meetings, sharing documents or applying for leave. It\u2019s all handled through one seamless, intuitive interface.<\/p>\n<p>The benefits of such a unified platform are substantial. Employees have a seamless, convenient, and single point of contact.<\/p>\n<p>That means they\u2019re able to work more efficiently. Headaches and friction are minimised, and they\u2019re free to concentrate on their value-adding work.<\/p>\n<p>Behind the scenes, because systems are integrated and data rich, processes can be rationalised, and duplication and redundancies rooted out.<\/p>\n<p>The result \u2013 if this is all done well \u2013 is increased productivity and employee satisfaction, and a reduction in costs.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"my-4\"><strong>Open road<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>We\u2019re beginning to see an increasingly unified vision of what a compelling, competitive, and productive employee experience will look like, one that doesn\u2019t depend on contact with a physical workspace.<\/p>\n<p>Wherever you are in this journey, iOCO is well placed to offer the full range of solutions to companies looking to exploit quick wins or build the ultimate employee ecosystem; from intelligent design to API ecosystems, security and connectivity to software development, change management to facilities rationalisation.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll speak to a single team that can understand and solve for your specific challenges, making sure work isn\u2019t duplicated and is always in service of the end goal: an employee experience that differentiates and elevates you in the new world of work.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ioco.tech\/anytime-anywhere-workspace\/?utm_source=Business%20Tech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_campaign=High%20Touch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Click here for more information about iOCO<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Written By Rudi Barnard, Director, Strategic Sales at iOCO.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the past decade new technologies have been embraced by companies looking to create exceptional customer experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":494945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[14402],"class_list":["post-494943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-ioco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494943"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495037,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494943\/revisions\/495037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}