Research Article: Managing the Digital Workforce: 5 Areas of Focus for Sustainable Success

In 2020, businesses around the globe suddenly shifted to become somewhat or entirely digital — whether they wanted to or not. The Covid-19 pandemic forced many organizations to embrace digital workforce arrangements more quickly than they had ever anticipated.

Some, of course, never anticipated embracing digital work at all. What many have learned, though, over the past year, is that not only can it be done but, in many cases, it can be done more effectively and more efficiently than in traditional synchronous, face-to-face work models.

In a study conducted in February and March 2021, based on input from 284 HR professionals across a wide range of business verticals, we explored the current state of the digital workforce and implications for business practices in the near and long term. Through our research, we identified key findings that have implications for businesses of all types as they adjust their business practices and business models to not only survive, but to thrive, in a world that is not only more remote, but also more digitally connected than ever before.

We asked respondents to identify the most important characteristics of a digital workforce. Two factors stood out:
 

The next most cited factor (at 37%) was having smart tools to enable employees to be more efficient, allowing them to focus on value-added work.

A digital workforce can include employees as well as freelancers, contractors and contingent workers. The availability of technology to help these individuals to be productive is obviously important. Unfortunately, when asked which of the elements they had identified as being key for digital working environments were prominent in their organizations, only one was cited by a majority: the ability for employees to communicate via computer technologies (63%).

While not all digital work environments look the same, they all require certain management best practices to ensure engagement, efficiency, and productivity. And all have opportunities to leverage new ways to attract, retain and deploy human resources to achieve business goals.
 

In analyzing the data, we were able to segment respondents into two groups: digital workforce leaders and digital workforce laggards. Leaders are those who “strongly agree” or “agree” that their organization’s managers have the tools, technology, education and training required to manage their remote workforce well.

Here we take a look at each of these areas of focus for sustainable success and explore the best practices that must be in place to efficiently and effectively manage the digital workforce based on the survey results.

The pandemic has had a significant impact on the way organizations hire. Today, the vast majority of organizations are using video technology in their hiring process (81%). The use of this technology, for some, is streamlining the hiring process, with 37% indicating a reduction in the time spent on hiring and interviewing; only 23% indicated that this required more time.

Digital leaders are leveraging technology to a much greater extent than laggards. For instance, 90% of the digital leaders are using video more in the recruitment process, compared to 75% of laggards.

Organizations have been able to expand their candidate pool by opening more positions to non-local candidates. Again, the digital leaders lead the pack here at 35% compared to only 7% of the laggards; 22% of digital leaders and 9% of laggards say they will be hiring more staff in the future that will be 100% remote. A broader, more remote workforce, holds a number of potential benefits for both employers and employees.

The pandemic has had a negative impact on onboarding for some organizations. Nearly half (45%) of respondents stated that their organizations are experiencing delays or other issues with the onboarding process.

Managers, themselves, can hinder the process. Many are working remotely and may find it difficult to adapt to new ways of onboarding new hires. Employees, also, may face barriers related to poor computer infrastructure or other technology issues.

Those who say they are experiencing no onboarding delays or issues (56%) tend to be smaller organizations and are more likely to be making use of technology, including electronic signature software, to help expedite the process. Digital workforce laggards are more likely to rely on manual processes.

There is a cultural divide in many organizations that exists between those who can work remotely and those who can’t. One thing that digital workforce leaders do differently, according to our analysis, is to focus on providing a culture to support remote work environments—45% compared to 29% of those categorized as laggards. To support this culture, digital leaders:
 

Another interesting finding in support of a strong remote work culture is that digital leaders are far less likely (24%) to have concerns about staff meeting work expectations than laggards (42%). Trust is a critical component of management in any setting; in a remote setting, though, it is critical.

Policy considerations are likely to be different for employees working from home, or remotely, than for those on-site. Even policies that may have been in place prior to the pandemic addressing work-from-home issues may need review and revision. With better insight into employee preferences and costs associated with a digital workforce, meet with senior leaders to discuss your findings. Should the organization need to change its policies or processes to support remote working environments, communicate to employees what is on the horizon for leading that change.

Managing in a hybrid environment where some staff are on-site and others are remote can pose unique challenges for managers, especially for those managers who are also working remotely. It’s important to provide managers and supervisors with the information, support, training and tools they need to manage remote staff effectively. In addition, since many managers will be responsible for both on- and off-site staff, it’s important to consider ways to effectively engage both of these groups—and to help them effectively engage with each other.

Performance feedback can be particularly challenging in a remote setting; consideration of training to help managers become comfortable with this could help ease the anxiety they may have and ensure a more positive process for employees.  

Covid-19 has forced many organizations to embrace digital workforce arrangements more quickly than they had previously intended—not all are adapting well to this sudden shift. Our research suggests, though, that there are some important areas of focus and potential best practices exhibited among digital workforce leaders that others could adopt to achieve better results. Remote work is likely here to stay with the new standard that of a hybrid work world, requiring different strategies and approaches. While some companies still lag in this area, overall, our research shows that many organizations have taken major steps forward to effectively manage a digital workforce.