News & Analysis

Positive Digital Employee Experience Is Key To Company Success

digital employee

Employees at organizations that deliver a better digital employee experience report faster
revenue growth, says a new study. Companies that provide a positive digital employee experience are more likely to be able to attract and retain top talent, according to a VMware study that surveyed 6,400 employees,
HR professionals, and IT specialists across 19 countries. Conducted by global research
firm  Vanson Bourne , the survey finds a startling gap between what IT thinks it is delivering
and what employees say they are.

Findings of the Digital Employee Experience survey show correlation between enabling
employees with a positive digital experience (i.e., device choice/flexibility, seamless access
to apps, remote work capabilities) and an organization’s competitive position, revenue
growth and employee sentiment.
“Too often, the conversation about digital transformation focuses on the technology and
leaves out a key ingredient to a winning strategy – attracting and retaining the best talent.
To compete for the best talent, companies are prioritizing employee experience, which
encompasses technology, workstyle and culture,” said Shankar Iyer, senior vice president
and general manager, End User Computing, VMware.
“Leaders committed to improving employee experience are adopting the digital workspace,
a platform that fuels modern digital experiences, which our survey revealed as being
critically important to current and prospective employees as well as improving other key
business outcomes.”

Here are some of the key findings of the study:

Delivering on Digital Employee Experience Correlates to Key Business Outcomes 
Employees’ ability to access the apps and information they need, from whatever device or
location they choose, affects their ability to effectively plan, collaborate and execute.
Results from the VMware survey affirmed the notion that providing employees with a
seamless digital experience as they access these resources positively impacts business
outcomes including rate of growth, employee sentiment and talent recruitment.

The more competitive respondents rate their organization, the more likely they are to
have a good digital employee experience. 
Today’s leading companies are prioritizing their employees’ digital experience. In fact,
employees who rate their organization more competitively, as a “leader” or “pioneer”, are
significantly more likely to have a good digital employee experience at work, compared to
those who rank their organization as a “follower.”

Employees at organizations that deliver a better digital employee experience report faster
revenue growth. 

Eighty percent of employees at companies experiencing high- or hyper-growth (more than
15 percent revenue growth) report they can easily find and install the right app for any new
task/process at work, compared to 42 percent of employees at companies that are
underperforming or not growing (-1 to 0 percent revenue growth).

Employees are far more likely to recommend their company (net promoter score) if it
provides a great digital experience. 
Delivering better a digital employee experience also plays a role in workforce sentiment.
Respondents who say their organization gives them the ability to work from anywhere as
easily as from the office are significantly more likely to say they are proud of their
organization, compared to respondents whose company does not enable the freedom to
work from anywhere (71 percent compared to 27 percent, respectively). They are also more
likely to claim their organization has a progressive culture (71 percent vs. 28 percent), is
recognized as one of the top places to work (70 percent vs. 29 percent) and provides good
work-life balance (69 percent vs. 30 percent).
In addition, employees are far more likely to recommend their organization (net promoter
score) if they work at a company that provides a great digital employee experience. For
instance, promoters were significantly more likely than detractors to report being able to
choose between Mac or PC (60 percent vs. 33 percent), use personally-owned devices (67
percent vs. 43 percent) or work from anywhere (74 percent vs. 47 percent).

Job candidates consider digital employee experience before they apply or accept a
position. 
Finally, when it comes to attracting new talent, digital experience is something candidates
are also noting. A whopping 73 percent of respondents agree that the flexibility of tools
(e.g., technology, apps and devices) that they might need to use for work would influence
their decision to apply or accept a position at a company.

There’s a Gap Between What IT Thinks It’s Delivering and What Employees Say They Are 
Approaching all (95 percent) of IT decision maker respondents claim that IT provides
employees with the digital tools they need in order to be successful in their job. However,
nearly half of employee respondents (42 percent) said they do not have the digital tools
they need. And, nearly two-thirds of employees (64 percent) do not feel they have a voice
when it comes to which digital technologies they use at work; whereas 83 percent of IT
decision maker respondents said employees do have a say in this.
Although delivery perceptions differ, both IT and employee respondents do agree on this —
digital employee experience projects should be a top priority for their organizations. In fact,
87 percent of IT respondents agree with that statement compared to 78 percent of
employee respondents.

Digital Employee Experience Is a Team Sport 
The VMware study revealed another gap that employers will want to note – there is a
question of who is ultimately responsible for the overall employee experience. IT decision

makers most often identified the Chief Information Officer, HR decision makers most often
identified the Chief HR Officer, and employees most often identified the Chief Executive
Officer.
Despite differences in perception of who is accountable for digital employee experience,
nearly all respondents (89 percent) believe that HR and IT could work better together to
improve the digital experience of employees.

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