Blog: Establishing a seamless digital employee experience

As we approach the end of the year, you’ll no doubt be considering the fact that the run-up to Christmas in the office is going to feel pretty different this year. With so many employees likely working from home some of the time – or maybe even all the time – the normal end-of-year spirit probably won’t be quite the same.

Of course, this is only a minor downfall of the rising ‘work from anywhere’ culture, and if implemented properly, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives for businesses and employees alike. But to get to this point, businesses must navigate a range of challenges, both logistical and technical, so that employees can maximise their productivity, wherever and whenever they work.

In this blog, we’ll explore why employee experiences are so important in the post-pandemic world of work, and the ways in which technology can help you deliver those experiences.

Consistent experiences are vital

The key to making flexible working practical for both employer and employees is to blur the lines between different locations. Employees must be able to work just as productively from home as they do from the office and vice versa: that means they need full access to data and applications at home, and it means they need the space and environment to focus when they’re in the office.

They also need to be able to move seamlessly between wherever they work, in terms of the devices they use and how they’re able to communicate with colleagues and clients. Without putting the technology and processes in place to enable this, employees’ human nature will kick in and they’ll work as much as possible from the place they prefer, however much of a compromise this causes business operations.

If you think the importance of this consistency – and of employee experience overall – is overstated, then consider this recent finding from EY: as many as 50% of workers will look for another job if their current employer won’t offer them flexible working. In short: if you can’t offer your employees the experiences they want, they’ll go and work for someone else who can.

How document security can help

A major part of enabling seamless flexible working is ensuring that employees always have access to all the documents they need, wherever they’re working from.

This is where outsourced document services, supplied by an expert partner, make a difference. Through managed print services, mail digitisation, scanning, archiving, and other related technologies, employees get full access to all relevant information. This includes documents posted to the office which are then scanned and sent to remote workers digitally – critically important when the letter or papers sent require urgent or immediate action.

When these services run effectively and therefore support a strong flexible working model, businesses can enjoy significant cost savings. These can be found not only in the real estate and utilities efficiencies from being able to downsize the physical office but also in moving the management of document services into operational expenditure that is much kinder to the balance sheet.

Removing pain points

A managed approach to document services can be hugely beneficial in a number of different areas, and address many of the logistical pressures that can easily emerge when a workforce becomes more distributed:

• Document collection: no longer do employees need to travel to the office to pick up important documents or posts. These files can be scanned and emailed to them on the day of arrival, or on-demand in the case of archive files
• Data traceability: digitising all paper documentation makes it far easier for businesses to understand who is using which documents for what purpose, and to keep better control of who has access to sensitive pieces of information
• Data security and compliance: full control of documents within a single managed ecosystem (such as SCC’s UVu platform) allows more comprehensive security to be applied and enables easier reporting for proof of compliance
• Technological flexibility: working with an expert partner means businesses can ensure they get a service that perfectly meets their needs, cuts out any unnecessary expenditure and allows them to enact cost-effective changes or enhancements as and when required
• Manual process burden: by utilising the automation facilities available through a shared service centre, many of the actions of scanning, archiving, and distributing digitised documents can be taken care of by technology. This relieves much of the admin burden on the existing print room and post room staff, and speeds up the process of getting access to the information

SCC’s range of Document Services is ideal for businesses wanting a secure, compliant, and accessible data estate, fit for the demands of hybrid and remote working.