From the ‘new normal’ to a ‘new future’,
from the digital workplace to the hybrid work

Though Covid-19 has undoubtedly wrought untold difficulties on many businesses, for some it has accelerated positive changes they would have eventually undertaken anyway. Those who have had hybrid working 'thrust upon them' have found the model to be popular, productive and profitable. As such, it seems that this way of working will very much be part of the fabric of our future 'new normal'.

Improving productivity, collaboration and security

Digital and technology are reshaping the future of the employee experience: companies need to foster digital literacy and the skills of their employees. Innovative leaders, moreover, must integrate sustainability, digital and technology into corporate culture and identity. The evolution of organizations relies on new ways of working, including the collaboration between humans and AI-powered assistants.

Productivity & Automation

Hyperautomation is putting conversational platforms, robots, process mining, and machine learning-powered tools beside Robotic Process Automation to create powerful solutions that evolve over time, based on what engines and algorithms learn with experience.

The focus of companies is shifting from the automation of repetitive, administrative and low-expertise tasks and processes, to the integration of data-driven technologies to enable new business models/operations, e.g. in the marketing field.

Communication & Collaboration

Unsurprisingly, the majority of those working away from the office – whether by choice or due to lockdown – miss being around their teams. And, as the millions of workers around the world who have suffered from 'Zoom fatigue' can attest, video alone does not suffice when it comes to fostering productive connections.

Enterprise social networks are being used as a single access point to the entire set of information, events, training contents, and internal services provided by headquarters: especially in larger organizations, they are becoming the virtual counterpart of office life.

Security & Infrastructure

VPN and classical antivirus and antimalware solutions are not enough any longer: Extended Detection and Response solutions are as important to secure ICT operations as new technologies like SASE, Zero trust, and micro-segmentation in the back-end.

Hybrid architectures based on cloud computing and edge computing are supporting both remote working and cases where human beings are wearing AI-powered wearables (e.g. exoskeletons), or where hybrid work is powered by the presence of robots, co-bots, and drones.

Human & Organizational Development

Business disruptions will not stop and need to be faced by scaling agility and building organizational resilience. As well as retaining talent, hybrid work – which opens up access to a global talent pool – could help organisations plug technical skills gaps.

Data collection and real-time analytics have reached the spotlight of HR departments: monitoring, supervising and training employees, tracking individual productivity, performance. The need for a reshaped workforce will lead to a culture of continuous training and upskilling.

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