Business dynamics is in a time of transformation. A scenario in which terms such as business mobility, teleworking and flexible working will no longer be exclusive to companies and positions becoming part of the routine of millions of people in the world, thanks to digitalization. These, will offer the collaborators important benefits, will allow to work from any place and to select the schedules that more agree.
However, it is also a situation that poses different challenges to organizations in areas of maintaining productivity, employee motivation and their place in their well-being. Even more so, when some symptoms of wear and tear have already been identified, which, if not taken in time, can lead to physical and mental illness.
A situation that has taken the alarm of organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) which included Burnout or ‘burnt’ worker syndrome within their list of illnesses. It is a type of work stress, which manifests itself with physical or mental exhaustion, which can affect people’s self-esteem and productivity.
“All organizations set specific goals. However, to achieve them it is important to consolidate motivated, productive work teams that have the support of all kinds of alternatives that allow them to develop their work in a healthy and safe environment. To guarantee their well-being, it is possible to rely on different technological solutions, as elements that improve their experience and with which the full potential of the collaborators can be developed ”, affirms Juan Pablo Villegas, General Manager of Citrix Colombia.
These are elements that allow you to set up flexible and efficient work environments, which provide accessories to the tools that people need and prefer for the development of their work. Today all companies are able to implement them, thus ensuring a greater commitment of the teams and for their productivity.
A situation that is supported by data from the Starting a new era of digital well-being, a study was released earlier this year by Quartz Insights in partnership with Citrix Systems, which has taken into account the views of different business leaders on the role of technologies and their impact on digital well-being. It can be determined that 90% of collaborators from economies such as the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, China, Japan and Australia expressed more products, being able to have access to technological tools that facilitate their work.
How to promote digital well-being in organizations?
In times when most employees have been working from home, it is important for organizations and leaders to understand what types of technologies are essential to help the worker and prevent wear and tear. This, as an element that allows you to optimize, simplify and organize your work. What is the way forward?
New role of leader
One of the main challenges posed by this new work reality is the way in which leaders and team leaders will be able to guarantee the well-being of each of their employees. Therefore, they must consider different scenarios that will be essential for a balance to be found between professional and personal life. First of all, it is essential to set clear goals. Once this is done, each of the employees will be able to establish execution time and have other spaces to respond to another type of obligation. A scenario in which flexibility plays a key role.
Communication plays a key role in this new role of the leader. In spaces where collaborators make known their progress, doubts, and other requirements, the limits of work can also be informed and negotiated in a clear and direct way. This is in line with the right they have to disconnect for job expectations that are completely transparent to each of the parties.
The role of technology in well-being
It is estimated that a worker can use up to 9.4 applications per day to perform their tasks. A situation that can cause fatigue and stress due to different circumstances such as: lack of control and knowledge of the tools, permanent adaptation to new contexts and functionalities of the solutions and a lack of autonomy of the workplace.
Today organizations can contain solutions that are able to offer that balance and flexibility that employees require to carry out their work more efficiently and in less time. These are tools that offer the possibility of accessing the necessary resources, without having to interact or use different applications during the day. We find technologies such as Citrix Workspace that has been endowed with unique access to the applications and files they use most in everyday life.
Implementing the right technological tools reduces the number of non-essential interruptions, allowing collaborators to focus on the activity they are advancing. There are solutions that allow you to configure the systems, thus eliminating Slack notifications, email, or calendar updates during business hours. Today it is possible to integrate into these application systems of artificial intelligence and Machine Learning, with which it is possible to automate certain tasks that are not a priority.
Involvement of the areas of Human Resources and IT in welfare strategies
The Human Resources offices and the technological development areas of the organizations have a great challenge to be able to configure these environments that must guarantee the well-being of the employees. They will have to work together to develop a strategy that, in addition to meeting the expectations of collaborators, offers the conditions to implement a positive and fluid work experience.
In this process Human Resources must focus its work on understanding their particular needs of employees and the personal environment of each of them. This information will make it possible to determine the appropriate work models and tools for each case. Once with this, the IT area is able to establish a strategy adaptable to its connectivity expectations, task flows, access and information security, this in order to offer a valuable experience to the place.
Today, technological tools become the main allies of all organizations to ensure business continuity and productivity. But its potential is much broader. Its prominence is more relevant in terms of singing, providing the possibility of generating environments that guarantee the well-being and health of employees, allowing it to establish a balance between their personal and work life. They are solutions that offer great benefits insofar as they allow to simplify the work routine, the flow of tasks and the development of its functions of intelligent form.