Updating the Next-Generation Digital Employee Experience for 2024

September 27, 2023 Leave a comment

As we prepare to usher in 2024, the flow of urgent change now required in our digital workplaces with capabilities like artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a nice-to-have aspect of the modern organization. It’s now become a mandatory new aspect of our digital work environment. This is based on the many conversations I’ve had this year with CIOs and digital workplace practitioners who are very much grappling with how to best realize AI in their digital employee experience.

To support this, I’ve developed a new update of my ongoing master views of the digital employee experience. For the last several years, this visual has served as an all-encompassing guide that charts the entire worker lifecycle — from the moment an employee is onboarded to the day they transition out. It covers crucial touchpoints like onboarding tools, training modules, collaborative platforms, project/work management aids, digital adoption solutions, and especially life changes such as promotions or departmental shifts. All these elements are carefully designed to align with and explicitly support strategic organizational goals, be it boosting productivity, enhancing employee engagement, elevating the quality of work, fostering innovation, or reimagining outdated institutional practices for the digital age. The updated master visual, now at version 1.4 that features AI (displayed below), is not just a roadmap but a blueprint for organizational transformation in 2024.

The Next-Generation Digital Employee Experience and Journey with AI

AI as the Cornerstone of the New Digital Employee Experience

The most important new feature in the updated master visual is the incorporation of generative AI into daily work, particularly through an expansive language model “garden” that will hold the various foundation models (commercial, open source, domain-specific and private) that will power AI for the digital employee experience. This AI engine — or engines — acts as a central capability, enhancing various functions across the workplace. Adding to the complexity of the situation today is a major new shift in user experience that AI is ushering in. We are quickly entering the important new era of ‘AI as UI’, where conversational experiences at work are not just a novelty but a fundamental capability. For example, AI-driven chatbots — like Microsoft’s significant new Copilot — can now handle complex tasks like drafting emails, setting up project teams and timelines, or even analyzing market trends, freeing up human cognitive space for more strategic tasks. These AI interfaces are becoming the new normal, fundamentally altering how we interact with our work environment and colleagues, while providing powerful hour-by-hour acceleration and breadth to the work we do.

To better understand ‘AI as UI,’ consider an AI-driven project management tool that not only assigns tasks but also predicts bottlenecks and offers solutions in real-time. Or imagine a virtual meeting where the AI assistant takes notes, highlights action items, and even suggests the most effective follow-up steps based on the discussion. These are not hypothetical scenarios. They are functionalities that are being integrated into modern workplaces as we speak, and AI-as-UI is now table stakes.

Generative AI: Your Personalized Work Concierge

Generative AI takes the concept of a digital assistant to the next level. It’s not just about automating routine tasks, but also about creating a deeply personalized and contextual assistive concierge that evolves with the worker. Picture a scenario where an AI concierge not only schedules meetings but also identifies the optimal time for creative work based on past productivity patterns. It can even guide workers through organizational changes by providing personalized training modules or connecting them with mentors and other timely resources/communities within the company. These capabilities are not part of some distant future, they are current possibilities that are encapsulated in the new digital employee experience.

The Dual Reality of Remote and In-Office Work

In today’s hybrid work environment, one of the biggest challenges is ensuring that AI enablement is equitable for both remote and in-office workers. Digital workplace practitioners must be proactive in integrating AI functionalities that cater to the unique needs of both tracks. For instance, remote workers can benefit from AI-driven virtual coworking spaces that simulate the office environment, while in-office workers might find value in AI-powered workspace optimization tools. My updated master visual serves as a guide for balancing these dual tracks, ensuring that every employee, regardless of their work location, is included as a first-class citizen in today’s journey in digitally transforming of work.

The Advent of 1:1 Personalized Digital Employee Experience

We are at the cusp of a new era, the arrival of the 1:1 personalized digital employee experience. This very must eschews today’s one-size-fits-all approach to digital workplace and is a dynamically customized journey that adapts in real-time to each employee’s needs, preferences, and work styles using AI. For example, an AI system could analyze worker habits and automatically adjust the lighting and temperature of their workspace, whether you’re in the office or working remotely. It could even suggest breaks or specific types of tasks based on your current cognitive load, thereby enhancing your productivity and well-being. More importantly, such personalized experiences — often enabled through an AI concierge — can suggest new and better ways of working, or innovative ideas that can be tried out in the moment, and new perspectives and data-based views on how improved business strategies can be developed and decisions made.

The Ethical and Security Imperatives of AI in the Digital Workplace

Given that the power and potential of AI is immense, I’d be remiss in not emphasizing how crucial it is to balance its promise with a sense of responsibility and caution. The AI systems we deploy must be safe, protective of sensitive data and intellectual property, and used in an ethical manner that safeguards the interests of both workers and customers. As AI becomes more pervasive, compliance with fast-emerging guidelines and regulations is will be vital. Whether it’s ensuring data privacy, preventing algorithmic bias, or securing proprietary information, careful consideration of these concerns must be built into the AI engines we select and deploy. By taking these precautions, we will create a digital workplace where AI serves as a force for good, enhancing productivity and personalization while adhering to the highest standards of ethics and security. This balanced approach ensures that we can fully enjoy the fruits of AI integration, as outlined herein, without compromising on the values that define us as responsible digital citizens.

The AI-Enabled Employee Experience as the Guiding Star

This updated view of digital employee experience will remain a dynamic framework that will continue to evolve as new technologies and methodologies emerge. It’s intended to serve as a guiding star, a useful and practical reminder that the future of work is not just about digital transformation but also human-centric and highly adaptable.

As we navigate the complexities of 2024 and beyond, gaining clarity on how we must structure our digital employee experience will help organizations stay aligned with the ultimate goal: Creating a perfect-fit employee experience that is both empowering and enriching. By embracing these principles and technologies, organizations are not just keeping pace with the evolving digital landscape, they will set the stage for a more engaged, productive, and fulfilled workforce. This updated master visual is your roadmap to this exciting future, offering a pragmatic guide to implementing these groundbreaking changes, aimed — as always — at the most fruitful shared outcomes.

My Related Research

How to Embark on the Transformation of Work with Artificial Intelligence

The Future of Work in 2024: Trends in Navigating Through Uncertainties

Analysis: Microsoft’s AI and Copilot Announcements for the Digital Workplace

How Visual Collaboration Vendors are Adding Artificial Intelligence to their Platforms

How Generative AI Has Supercharged the Future of Work

Analysis of the White House’s Guidance on Responsible AI Research, Development, and Deployment

How Leading Digital Workplace Vendors Are Enabling Hybrid Work

Every Worker is a Digital Artisan of Their Career Now

How to Think About and Prepare for Hybrid Work

Why Community Belongs at the Center of Today’s Remote Work Strategies

Reimagining the Post-Pandemic Employee Experience