In 2019 companies invested billions in digital workplace initiatives. Based on forecasts from IDC, that spending will continue. Eileen Smith, program vice president for their Customer Insights and Analysis group, predicts that “worldwide DX technology investments will total more than $7.4 trillion over the next four years.”

That increase in investments signals that companies also need to move toward new metrics to accurately measure digital workplace program success.

Let’s start with, “What digital workplace KPIs are most viable in these early stages to showcase ROI?”  Here are three outcomes you may measure as a starting point:

1. Time/expense savings resulting from adoption of collaboration and virtual meeting technologies
2. Levels of employee engagement (likes, reads, replies) within new communication channels
3. Operational cost efficiencies resulting from streamlined HR processes

Next, companies should align outcomes with KPIs. The Adaptive Insights blog defines a KPI as “a metric used to measure factors that are pivotal to the success of an organization”.  Examples of KPIs that align with the above-mentioned outcomes:

• Faster time from problem identification to decision-making tied to collaboration tool utilization that lessens obstacles to scheduling and attending meetings
• Increased employee retention and employee satisfaction rates tied to engagement levels with new communication channels
• Reduction in hiring costs tied to implementation of streamlined onboarding tools

ROI can be shown for your digital workplace programs through establishing achievable outcomes, implementing measurable KPIs that tie metrics to those outcomes and making adjustments along the way to drive continued efficiencies and productivity for business growth. However, it’s important to ensure that the KPIs identified are meaningful and “accurately represent business value at your organization”.

Taking Responsibility for DX Metrics

Driving success for DX initiatives rests on the shoulders of digitally savvy leaders who model best practices. In this McKinsey study, Unlocking Success in Digital Transformation, 21 keys to success were identified, nine of which highlight the importance of senior leaders, business process leaders, employees, and key business partners as critical factors to success:

1. Engage initiative leaders (leaders of either digital or nondigital initiatives that are part of the transformation) to support the transformation.
2. Add one or more people who are familiar or very familiar with digital technologies to the top team.
3. Leaders engaged in transformation-specific roles encourage employees to challenge old ways of working (processes and procedures).
4. Senior managers encourage employees to challenge old ways of working (processes and procedures).
5. Redefine individuals’ roles and responsibilities so they align with the transformation’s goals.
6. Provide employees with opportunities to generate ideas of where digitization might support the business.
7. Engage employees in integrator roles (employees who translate and integrate new digital methods and processes into existing ways of working to help connect traditional and digital parts of the business) to support the transformation.
8. Engage the leader of a program-management office or transformation office (full-time leader of the team or office dedicated to transformation-related activities) to support the transformation.
9. Leaders in transformation-specific roles get more involved in developing the digital transformation’s initiatives than they were in past change efforts.