Digital workplaces: Swiss companies well positioned
For many, digital workplaces are still a long way off: employees in the warehouse or with personal customer contact are often still left out, and collaboration via digital channels is still hardly a given. This is shown by a survey in which Swiss companies score quite well in an international comparison.
Compulsory home offices and hybrid working are driving the digitization of communications, but mainly among office workers. As a result, 80 percent of the global workforce of so-called frontline workers, who are in personal contact with customers or work in production, are cut off from digital corporate channels. Companies have recognized this problem, but implementation lags well behind the mark. This is confirmed by a survey conducted in December 2021 by techconsult on behalf of the consulting firm Campana & Schott was conducted among 300 executives in Germany, France and Switzerland.
Digital jobs lacking for frontline workers
According to the survey, traditional channels are still used for communication. For example, 68 percent of managers use e-mail and 60 percent the telephone to reach frontline workers. Intranets (41.3 %), collaboration tools (29.7 %) and employee apps (24.7 %) follow at a considerable distance. Germany in particular is traditional here (e-mail: 76.0 %, telephone: 65.0 %) compared with Switzerland (e-mail: 62.0 %, telephone: 54.0 %) or France (e-mail: 66.0 %, telephone: 61.0 %).
"Companies need to invest in digital workplaces for frontline employees as well - especially in view of the shortage of skilled workers. This will not only help them get closer to their most important goal, which is the rapid transfer of information. When frontline workers experience the tangible benefits of digital communication and processes, productivity and employee satisfaction also improve," explains Marco Heid, Advisor Modern Frontline Workplace at Campana & Schott.
High costs, inappropriate IT infrastructure and software as biggest hurdles
According to the survey, the most important reasons why companies have not yet realized the integration of all employees into digital workplaces are too high costs (33.7 %), inadequate IT infrastructure (29.7 %), unsuitable software (28.7 %) and low employee knowledge (26.0 %).
The good news: Many of these hurdles can be overcome with current solutions. "Initially, the costs for hardware and software can be quite significant," says Christian Koch, Advisor Endpoint Management & Telephony at Campana & Schott. "To reduce these initial investments, it is possible to operate hardware and IT infrastructure as well as applications as managed services. Experts who bring specific knowledge can adapt solutions well to the needs of frontline workers."
Use of private devices helps with digitization
One starting point can also be the use of private devices. Experience shows that many employees would like to use their smartphones or tablets for business purposes. These correspond to their personal preferences and needs. Moreover, they then only have to use one device. However, this option is not very widespread in Germany so far: Only one in five frontline workers uses their private end device at work (BYOD). In Switzerland, on the other hand, it's one in four, and in France it's one in three.
Securing corporate data on mobile devices is where 57 percent of companies in France see the greatest need for improvement. In Germany, 45 percent of executives would like to improve access to company data on private devices. In Switzerland, the figure is only 32 percent. The issue of security is currently viewed more critically in Switzerland (40.0 %) than in Germany (32.0 %).
Companies at different levels during introduction
The status quo in the country overview paints a very differentiated picture of the digital workplace for all. According to the survey, only 10.7 percent of companies have fully equipped their frontline workers with digital tools and devices. 8.0 percent are in the middle of the rollout, and 16.7 percent have implemented initial use cases and pilot projects. Most companies are only in the conception (26.0 %) or planning phase (29.7 %). And 9.0 percent are not yet dealing with the topic at all.
When solutions are installed, frontline workers in 88.8 percent of companies use the same collaboration solutions and internal tools as employees with office workstations. This highlights the potential for shared applications. A current white paper from Campana & Schott shows which application scenarios are suitable for manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and retail and which issues need to be considered. This can be obtained here be
