A Workplace with No Borders 
Three Important Things to Know

A Workplace with No Borders Three Important Things to Know

For years, the boundaries in our world have been fading. From the simple coupon you get on your phone when you pass your favorite store to your refrigerator ordering a new water filter to quickly expanding a local business to a global one. Many advancements are making our lives more boundaryless. But don’t stop with video conferencing on Zoom. Innovations will allow a company to re-create the workplace experience equally to all employees. The workplace will become a more immersive way to collaborate and communicate as a team.


In my last article, Hybrid Workplace: Five Actions for Success, I wrote, “Organizational planning and excellence require a strategic design on reporting structure, but it is also essential to create an ecosystem of workplaces that make a borderless office. These spaces will need to take various forms – hubs for maximizing collaboration, satellites for facilitating harmonization, and shared offices to enable focus.” 


Here are three things that executives need to know about the emerging boundaryless workplace.


THE FIRST THING TO KNOW: Organizations Should Start Now

The pandemic has accelerated a changing workplace. Employers must talk about and address employee experience. The Employee Experience is the conversation that executives can no longer avoid. Those that do not build a strategy around employee experience will struggle to hire and retain top performers in their industry. What is the employee experience? It does include compensation, but it is more than pay. Employees expect the resources to help them succeed. Employees are looking for different career outcomes. Employees are looking for more flexibility which includes designing a schedule that fits their projects and tasks. Employees do want to earn a new-century wage.  

Companies will need to address in 2022 where work needs to be performed, where employees can work, how employees can collaborate, what tools are required to be productive, and how to train managers to measure performance and productivity in this new environment.

But here is the rub. The historical data on a boundaryless workplace is almost non-existent. Many of the decisions that companies make will be wrong at first. Successful companies will be those who plan, try, and plan again. They will be the ones who have a robust conversation with employees and keep the communication lines open. 

 

THE SECOND THING TO KNOW: Consider Equality for Employee Experience

Managers will either make or break this transition. Managers cannot use former performance monitoring based on walking around the cubicles. If managers measure productivity on the old visibility model, the company will be on track to discrimination and a broken workplace. 

The boundaryless workplace could be an excellent idea, but executives must learn how to equally deliver this experience to all employees. A working parent may not be as flexible as their colleague with grown children. An employee who gets accommodation at their onsite workplace may need the same accommodation at their home office. An employee working remotely on Tuesdays and Thursdays needs the same opportunity to lead the unique project as someone who only works remotely on Fridays. The employee on a Zoom call from home needs the same opportunity to ask questions or contribute ideas as the co-worker in the conference room. 

We all have become accustomed to excellent customer experience. Companies that have invested in building customer experience have indeed reaped the benefits. Invest in the people, the policies, the platforms, and practices that create an excellent and equal employee experience. Employee experience should be a high priority. If employees are satisfied with their job – customers will notice!

THE THIRD THING TO KNOW: Share Services Can Deliver A Seamless Workplace

During the last ten years, I have been helping companies establish shared service centers to streamline processes, improve employee experience, lower costs, and create a seamless workplace. During the next few years, many companies will start Shared Service Centers. These Service Centers will include HR, IT, purchasing, legal, finance, compliance, and payroll processes. 

Shared Service Centers are more than just centralizing service delivery in a lower-cost state or country. Shared Service Centers must create a continuous improvement environment where business processes are mapped, reviewed, streamlined, and automated. Continuous improvement is a service. For years, Shared Service Centers have had a “back office” approach. But the new model is a “center office.” The back-office model focused on service delivery; the center office model is focused on cross-functionality using automation, data analytics, continuous improvement, and customer experience. 


The views expressed in this article are those of the author and based on his experience and research. They do not reflect the opinions or business structures of his current or former employers.

Debra Oser

Business Sales Manager

2y

I think they should thank their lucky stars they a have a job. Jobless for over 4 months really gets to me when I hear people complaining sorry just my take!!!!

Deborah Davis

Chief Operating Officer

2y

Thanks Damon! I like where you are going with this. There are too many conversations that start on the premise that working remotely is easier than slogging your way to the office. Both work environments have a complex set of variables and need contemplation on how to ensure our teams are in a productive environment. It is good to consider how we might rethink shared services to delivery a better experience.

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