JEDDAH – Every single day, members of a new generation are entering the workforce, and bringing with them their smartphones, tablets, and personal laptops. And, they fully expect to be able to use such powerful devices to do their work. Some companies in the Middle East are working towards creating more efficient, collaborative spaces, such as Etisalat, Ooredoo, and Emirates NBD. Yet more organizations in the region need to make the most of today's trends and can do so by following a more strategic approach to the way they design and organize the workplace. That means taking into account all the different stakeholders employees interact with—their co-workers, customers, vendors, suppliers, partners, even friends and family. Then, they need to make good use of a variety of emerging technologies that can enable employees to work together in teams, across geographies in real time. After all, the business world is continuously evolving and employees are required to work – collaboratively – around the clock to meet the needs of the increasingly global economic environment. In parallel, in recent years, new and innovative technologies have sped up the digitization of businesses across industries, allowing them to better monitor operations and get much closer to their customers. As a result, to make the most of these trends, companies today must adopt a more strategic approach to how they design and organize the workplace. In line with this premise, global management consulting firm Booz & Company has formulated a framework for how to create the digital workplace of the future – one that can boost productivity, improve employee morale, and attract the next generation of talent. The business world is moving faster and faster, and becoming more global and mobile. Working together in teams has become standard operating procedure, and new digital technologies are being developed to help workers communicate, collaborate, and share resources. In fact, according to a recent study conducted by Teknion, an office design firm, nearly 90 percent of companies plan to increase their investment in productivity-enabling technologies – such as voice activation and sophisticated videoconferencing – by 2015. “The emergence of new, digital technologies has altered the very fabric of the business landscape,” said Ramez T. Shehadi, a Partner with Booz & Company, leading the firm's Digitization platform. “Now, companies looking for a competitive edge must view the workplace itself as a strategic asset to boost performance, optimize costs, maximize customer contact, reduce time to market for new products and services, and attract and retain talent.” He also added: “In order to do so, however, companies must understand the factors that are forcing the radical changes in the workplace, the challenges those factors have created for companies, and how they can overcome them to build a fully digital, truly strategic workplace.” If companies are to successfully design the digital workplace, they must fully understand the trends that are so rapidly transforming how work gets done. – SG
