Unified Communications – a cultural tsunami or simply a rethink?
As business practises develop to embrace more efficient and collaborative models, the way companies communicate internally is being challenged. Enterprises are moving to Unified Communications (UC) for a number of reasons, most notably operational efficiency, flexible working, cost savings, recruitment and staff retention. Although operational efficiency is an issue close to Damovo’s clients’ hearts - as confirmed by research recently commissioned by Damovo which found that both large and small companies alike share a common interest in using their Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network primarily to optimise operational efficiency - it is in attracting and retaining the best candidates that UC is perhaps being most revolutionary.
The very fabric of an organisation’s culture must now be scrutinised as new tech-savvy candidates enter the workforce and use elements of what has been coined ‘enterprise 2.0’ from their everyday lives providing them with significant efficiency gains and allowing them to work flexibly, remain connected to their peer group and maintain a better work life balance. Although operational efficiency and cost reductions gain considerable attention, it is in implementing UC to attract talented staff and retain them that can pose the biggest challenge.
Simultaneously companies are increasingly seeking to cut unnecessary overheads such as office space, travel costs and adopt greener practices, which will inevitably mean that more will realise the value of remote workers. As employees are therefore given increased autonomy, businesses must look for new ways to engage and thereby retain remote staff. If a sizeable portion of the working day is spent away from a traditional office environment (either working in the field or from home), an employer must learn to manage its remote workers and ensure productivity is not affected. Employers also have a duty to ensure that these workers do not feel isolated, and adoption of UC is central to this. By equipping the workforce with collaborative and presence technologies, not only will remote workers feel part of the central team, they will also work more efficiently. For example, presence technology will enable them to see where colleagues are if they need to get in touch and the use of applications such as instant messaging (IM) allows quick communications which could replace the office conversation.
With the advent of new business practices and technological developments it is inevitable that corporations will face some resistance from the workforce itself. For example, an individual who has been used to using their desk phone as the main method of contacting another colleague may out of habit fail to realise the benefits of using IM instead. Similarly, some workers may be unable to conceive a workplace where there isn’t a desk phone provided, let alone where much of the work is done remotely.
Ultimately, enterprises will have to modify the corporate culture to reap the full benefits of UC. In order to overcome the cultural hurdles it is the responsibility of companies to educate their workforce both in how to use this technology, and why it is beneficial. Only by instituting comprehensive education programmes and updating company policies, with the cooperation of key functions within the company (such as Human Resources) will the full return on investment from these technologies be achieved. Companies should work with their ICT providers to ensure that the proper plans are in place before bringing in such revolutionary changes which will transform the way that companies communicate internally.
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