Publications
Partners
Over the past several years, business leaders across industries have been urged to “embrace digital” and join the technology-driven workplace revolution.
Countless press releases and how-to editorials expand on just how every business should be integrating new tools and leveraging transformative IT innovations.
Yet beyond the very obvious fact that most employees are now bringing their own smart gadgets in to work with them (and spending a great deal of time on social media networks), how far have businesses really come in terms of digitising and transforming the workplace?
In a recent survey of over 3 000 business and IT executives worldwide, consulting firm Accenture revealed that 33% of the global workplace has already been “impacted by digital”.
The survey also found that 86% of respondents anticipate that the pace of technology change will increase at a “rapid or unprecedented rate” over the next three years.
The survey’s companion report, Technology Vision 2016, urged companies to take a people-first approach to digital adoption. Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology officer highlighted that “Digital means people too…”
“…a cornerstone of this year’s Technology Vision is people first,” Daugherty stated. “Companies that embrace digital can empower their workforce to continuously learn new skills to do more with technology and generate bigger and better business results.”
In South Africa, it appears that true digital transformation has yet to be unlocked. Indeed, analysts say that the local early adopters tend to be start-ups and the more nimble small- and medium-sized businesses.
Annette Muller, CEO and founder of DotNxt, a Cape Town-based strategic innovation management firm, says that only a handful of early adopters are “using and enjoying” the efficiencies of new technology tools and platforms.
“I don’t think we are making full use [of digital tools] in South Africa in general at all,” says Muller. “Mostly, I think it is because of a lack of knowledge.”
She notes that many of the companies releasing new workplace tools and technologies are based in the US or Europe, with very little PR and marketing activity in the African market.
“So we are 100% reliant on word of mouth,” explains Muller, adding that it is often only through working with internationally based companies and suppliers that local companies realise the full extent of new innovations and their potential to drive efficiencies.
“Secondly, I believe [our lack of adoption] is due to local corporate policies, which are still very restrictive when it comes to using and standardising the more useful, modern and, most importantly, cloud-based tools in the workplace,” adds Muller.
“South African companies are still slowly wrapping their heads – and their policies – around cloud-based tools, and only once that hurdle is overcome will we see mass adoption…”
For those companies that have already dipped their toes into the digital realm, however, it appears that the tools and technologies that drive collaboration and real-time communication appear to be having the most profound impact on modern work styles.
Simon Dingle, who is currently heading up product development at London-based fintech start-up Curve, says that Slack, which is a cloud-based team collaboration tool, has transformed the way teams communicate.
“The app has all but eradicated email in the three start-ups I work with,” says Dingle.
“It has also become a platform for notifications, alerts and collaboration in these businesses. I think people realise that tools like Slack, Google Apps and Uber have transformed the way we work, but perhaps not the full extent of it. I mean, we can’t remember how we worked before we had smartphones… Cognitive dissonance keeps us away from realising the full impact of such profound changes in our behaviour.”
Augmented reality and machine learning?
Looking ahead, Dingle says that augmented reality (AR) products are going to have a “major impact” on the way people work in the next 10 years.
He highlights a US start-up called Magic Leap, which is currently working on a head-mounted virtual retinal display that superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real-world objects.
“Their product might have an even more profound impact on society than the smartphone has had,” adds Dingle.
Given the proliferation and mounting influence of various social networks, Muller of DotNxt predicts that we will also begin to make more data-driven decisions when it comes to whom we choose to work with – and what we choose to work on…
“Throw some machine-learning in there, and soon an algorithm – very much like that which powers online dating – will match us to our perfect co-workers, bosses, teams, clients and companies!”
SA contact centres keeping up
Few could argue that the one area of business that could most benefit from digital efficiencies is the call/contact centre. In many instances, it is the focal point for corporate sales, service and support.
But are local contact centres adopting the technology platforms that would enable them to provide quicker and more efficient customer service?
Bruce von Maltitz and Jed Hewson, founders of 1Stream, a local cloud contact centre service provider, say that South African contact centres are indeed leveraging the benefits of innovations such as cloud computing and enhanced data analysis.
“Perceptions exist that being a developing market, South Africa is lagging behind its First-World counterparts. Yet this could not be further from the truth. By examining how local contact centre environments operate, it is clear that their approaches are not markedly different to what is happening in other parts of the world,” insist Von Maltitz and Hewson.
According to research released by 1Stream, Cloud computing has been the most powerful technology driver in the contact centre market.
Interestingly, despite the prediction that home agents would play an important role in the evolution of the contact centre, this trend has been limited by a more “traditional-minded approach” across the industry.
This article originally appeared in the 25 January 2016 edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.
