The Drive Towards Digitisation in the UK

Technology can be used to improve collaboration at work and maximise employee engagement. But what is fuelling the drive towards digitisation, and what are the other benefits that it can bring? What is a Digital Workforce? The digital workforce is a popular concept where technological and automated solutions are aligned with employees and existing business processes. “It’s the collection of all of the digital tools provided by an organisation to allow its employees to do their jobs” says Chris Tubb, Digital Workplace and Intranet Consultant. The primary purpose of this is to improve operational efficiency and productivity. Digitisation also encompasses the deployment of digital solutions to improve customer experience. A key characteristic of the digital workforce is the idea of a scalable suite of software systems that can work alongside existing solutions to improve user experience. This boosts productivity, as automated systems take on vital but simple, repetitive processes allowing employees to focus on tasks that add value. Why is there a need for a Digital Workforce? Younger generations of employees are beginning to enter the workplace, and their expectations of, and familiarity with technology are much higher than those that have preceded them. The increased use of smart devices and new technology could also prove vital in closing skills gaps for older professionals. As Gartner have identified, “The Digital Workplace enables new, more effective ways of working, raises employee engagement and agility and exploits consumer-oriented styles and technologies.” Therefore organisations must keep up with technological change to fuel growth and capitalise on the real-time data insights digitisation provides to build a competitive edge. What are the benefits of a Digital Workforce? Digital working allows employees to create their ideal working environment, be it in the office, at home or elsewhere, it helps to improve work-life balance, increase motivation and ultimately, productivity. Leading Digital Workplace Consultancy, Digital Workplace Group, explains that “Organisations need to take a widescreen and holistic view of the scope of digital initiatives which cover technology, people and the places they work” Additionally, a digital workforce delivers significant benefits for the environment. For instance, information tools such as cloud file sharing and electronic archives can complement or replace paper processes with digital workflows, minimising carbon footprints over time. Not requiring employees to commute every day helps to significantly lower emissions. “Over the next few years, most large enterprises will start exploring how to best deploy digital solutions into their organisations to commercialise data, simplify consumer interactions and improve customer service, and to drive wave after wave of continuous improvement and quality standards into operational and back office processes.” Deloitte, Managing the Digital Workforce, 2017. How SCC MPDS can assist in your Digital Transformation SCC MPDS creates secure environments for you to manage your documents, improving the efficiency of your business. Our services cover digital scanning, archive scanning and intelligent imaging with our state-of-the-art Optical Character Recognition (OCR) platform. Almost all documents can be transformed into digital files, including document bundles, cheques and invoices, creating a searchable electronic library and e-bibles. SCC MPDS prides itself on easily integrating solutions that work with, and add value to the existing infrastructure of your organisation, minimising disruption.