As a result of the pandemic, barriers to conducting business remotely tumbled down overnight, spawning a huge workforce transformation opportunity. Many organisations are now discovering that their employees want to retain the flexibility of continuing to work remotely permanently, at least on a part-time basis.
Work From Home and Remote Work is Here to Stay
Of course, work-from-home (WFH) and remote work were already growing trends – the crisis has just fast-forwarded the transformation. It’s interesting to see how perceptions have also dramatically changed. We’ve all heard the old, overused jokes. Cue memes of people chilling on the couch with a beer, watching a box set with one eye on the computer. That’s all changed. Suddenly, existing WFH people are regarded as the most productive team members, already well versed in effective, remote working.
Organisations are certainly listening and responding. According to a recent S&P Global Market Intelligence study, close to 80 percent of those surveyed said they have either implemented or expanded universal work-from-home policies, while 67 percent expect these policies to remain in place either permanently or for the long-term.
You Need a Workforce Strategy
As a result, companies are realising that they need a longer-term workforce strategy, not a quick fix. Work is no longer a place – it’s an activity. And, it’s no longer enough to just have a laptop dropped off at your employee’s home. You need to be able to address the following challenges:
- How do you provide your team with the right tools to allow them to work productively and securely from home?
- How do you ensure the team is up and running immediately and are not grappling with set-up problems, wasting time and becoming frustrated?
- How you manage IT support services remotely?
- How do you ensure your team is backing up company data and accessing the latest software updates?
- How do you deliver business resiliency?
- How can you remotely enhance employee satisfaction?
Organisations are realising that if they get this right, they can empower employees and improve the employee experience while also achieving cost savings. The good news is Dell Technologies Services can help make your workforce transformation easier.
Delivering a Consumer-Like Experience
BP is a great case in point. With a hugely diverse workforce deployed around the world, individual requirements range from employees needing rugged products or virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) through to more standard laptop technology. Imagine 70,000 people across 79 countries working in offices, trading floors, oil rigs and ships. Our experts worked with BP to understand its corporate culture, how it does business, and its vision for transformation. We developed ‘personas’ – profiles to match different work styles, roles, and conditions. Developing personas was important and using them was the key for BP to ensure that laptops, peripherals, and devices on offer were aligned with individual employee needs.
Empowering Remote Employees
Now, when a member of the BP team needs a new laptop, they simply go to a dedicated online portal, select the model and accessories desired, and place the order using their corporate credit card, expensing the purchase. There’s no approval process or delay. It’s as straightforward as buying a retail product online. The laptop is delivered directly a few days later with zero intervention by BP’s IT team. The PCs are imaged and provisioned in our factories so they arrive with the right applications, enabling the employee to be productive from day one.
We provide configuration services, including image loading, domain join, active directory enrolment, BIOS settings and asset tagging followed by delivery to anywhere in the world, backed up with the full lifecycle of services. If you’re interested, you can see more in our Global Configuration Center virtual tour video. Importantly, BP’s Procurement, Finance, and IT teams no longer need to be involved in hardware updates, freeing them up to focus on more value-add activities. And, from an environmental perspective, there are no wasted miles, no unnecessary touches or interventions.
Increased Employee Satisfaction Plus $30m in Savings
For BP, this isn’t just an exercise in replacing hardware. It’s about empowering employees and delivering an easy, consumer-type experience. It’s about creating a trustful environment that fosters innovation and productivity. The results speak for themselves. BP has reported a significant increase in employee satisfaction as well as realising $30 million savings per refresh cycle.
As Andy Kaye, Programme Director, Workforce Transformation at BP says, “This program has transformed how our people work. In the past when a colleague needed a new laptop, there were delays and downtime. By giving our people the right tools, they can now choose where they work, how they work, and when they work. Apart from the business benefits, this fits into our broader strategy and vision as a company. With plans to be carbon neutral by 2050, we are challenging how we work today and how we attract top talent. Our partnership with Dell Technologies is helping us optimise our IT assets and resources and has radically transformed the way our people interact with our IT team.” Watch the full story here.
How to Get Started
Our customers have told us how hard it can be to get started on workforce transformation. In response, we designed a multi-hour Accelerator Workshop, a fee-waived engagement, where we show our customers the art of the possible. The goal is to open the conversation, move past the IT infrastructure and focus on the most important part – your people and your processes. During these interactive sessions, our experts will move you through a structured process designed to uncover your most pressing business challenges. We will then work with you to develop a high-level roadmap.
If you are planning to transform your workforce, we will help you achieve higher employee satisfaction and save money. Do join the conversation. Please add your feedback and any questions about our Accelerator Workshops in the comments below.
Stream On-demand: Rapid Strategy Development for IT Transformation
You will learn about ProConsult Advisory Services the services helping you assess and plan for transformations that achieve measurable outcomes in just a few weeks!
Additional Resources:
- For more about Dell Technologies Accelerator Workshops, contact your Dell Technologies Account manager.
- For more about Dell Technologies Workforce Transformation Services
