Building a Digital Employee Experience (DEX) That Combats Inefficiency

Nothing kills productivity like inefficiencies in a company’s internal process, and in no area is this more apparent than in the digital employee experience (DEX). A solid DEX can be the difference between a project getting done in a day and roadblocks and inefficiencies dragging it out for a week. 

The benefits of a strong DEX are impressive: increased productivity, higher profits, and improved employee morale. But in a world of growing technology and dispersed workforces, creating a cohesive digital experience for your team isn’t always straightforward.

Without a focus on DEX, employee productivity suffers. A negative DEX can discourage employees and prevent them from completing work quickly. We can’t overstate the importance of getting this piece of your company culture right. 

What is the digital employee experience?

Digital employee experience is employees’ relationship with the software and technology they need to get work done. Their overall sentiment around digital touchpoints is impacted by software quality, the number of tools required to accomplish a task, and the internal IT support they receive.

Digital employee experience is closely tied to employee satisfaction and overall employee experience (EX).

Employee experience is a team member’s overall sentiment, perception, and interactions in their work environment. Building a solid employee technology experience requires a holistic approach to company culture, technology, communication, and management styles.

Why focus on building your DEX? 

Most of us have been the victim of an inefficient digital process. It’s frustrating and often prevents you from completing even the simplest tasks. On the other hand, an excellent digital employee experience can enable clear communication, simplify collaboration, and increase productivity.

Outside of productivity increases and fighting inefficiencies, what do companies stand to gain from focusing on their employees’ experience with digital touchpoints?

• Boost employee satisfaction: well-supported teams not weighed down by inefficient tools and miscommunication will inherently be happier and more efficient. 
• Prevent roadblocks: with a robust digital culture, it’s easier to spot and prevent roadblocks across your organization. With integrated technology and automation, teams are less likely to have their work delayed, and meeting deadlines is easier.
• Improve internal security: When you take control of your digital processes and tools, you can improve your organization’s security — potentially saving money by preventing data breaches and fraud.  

Investing in your employees and their experience with digital touchpoints creates a cycle where satisfied employees drive success, increasing profits and productivity. 

What can you do to improve your DEX?

From an EX perspective, it is concerning that 67% of employees say “digital experiences in personal life are better than digital experiences at work.”

What can businesses do about their digital employee experience? We believe it’s all about communication. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to building a healthy relationship with your team and the tools they use. The first step is asking employees what tools they need, how company-mandated tools work for them, and using their input to shape your policy. 

The key is to get your team involved in the process. Ask employees what tools they like to use, get feedback after introducing a new tool, and be sure you can manage and optimize each tool in your tool stack. 

What does DEX look like in practice?

To solidify the value of DEX, let’s step into the real world and look at some examples of what a digital employee experience looks like — both positive and negative. 

Examples of a positive digital employee experience

• Finding a tool that can help you manage your digital employee experience. At Hubstaff, we built features that improve DEX directly into our software, including:

• App usage: See the apps & URLs your team uses broken down into categories — use this to make purchase decisions based on your most-used tools.
• Insights into industry benchmarks: Use the Activity benchmarks add-on to see how this data aligns with other Hubstaff users in your industry. This can help you make sure your team’s productivity is on target. 
• Workforce optimization: By allowing managers to view productivity analytics and removing project management barriers, Hubstaff enables teams to do their best work.

• Leadership building a technology stack with consolidated software and integrations. If your team uses multiple tools during their workday, you must set up integrations and automation to transfer their work from one tool to another. Another key is to be aware of the number of tools your team uses and consolidate those tools whenever possible.
• Management sends surveys or sets up meetings to discuss tools and get feedback. When you introduce a new tool, check in with your team on how it works for them. Sometimes, a slight tweak in the workflow or a change in settings is the thing that gets someone on board with a new tool after initial concerns. 

Examples of a negative digital employee experience

• Management introduces tools with a steep learning curve without proper training. There are tools out there that are incredibly powerful in the right hands; take a tool like Jira, for example. With the right developer, Jira is versatile and robust. However, Jira is widely known to be a complicated tool to learn and can lead to frustration and roadblocks in the wrong hands. 
• Inconsistent communication about security and software usage is confusing employee expectations. For example, if you set up the expectation that your team uses a VPN but don’t clarify how and when to use it, this can lead to confusion and prevent adaptation of the tool. 
• Employees are not on board with crucial software required to do their jobs. It’s hard to find one tool everyone on your team will love; we all have our preferences. However, you must give your team time to give input and try out a tool before purchasing it for daily use.

We’ll leave you with this key takeaway: talking to your team is the best way to improve your digital employee experience. Invest in their satisfaction by considering their opinions when building digital processes and getting new tools, and you will almost certainly see increases in productivity and employee engagement.