After looking at what 2022 might bring in search and customer experience, this week we look at digital transformation.
While digital transformation is itself a “2022 trend”, we are going to look at the technical and social challenges organizations are going to face over the next 12 months.
2022 is going to be a “transformative” year. So let’s dive in.
Digital Transformation Trends 2022 – The Rise And Rise Of Remote Work
With the pandemic still rumbling on, it’s no surprise to see that many companies are still working remotely. In fact, more and more companies have now put a permanent remote work policy in place. Companies like Apple, Spotify, Microsoft and Slack all now have hybrid or full remote work setups and policies in place.
Workers, especially in the digital/eCommerce space have discovered that they like the flexibility of remote work. According to a survey from Flexjobs.com, if they are not allowed to continue remote work in their current position 60% of women and 52% of men stated they would look for a new job. In that search for a new job 69% of men and 80% of women state that remote work policy is one of the most important factors when they are looking at a new role.
Remote work has also brought productivity benefits. A survey from Airtasker discovered that “on average, remote employees worked 1.4 more days every month, or 16.8 more days every year, than those who worked in an office.”
Going remote (or hybrid) can be challenging and not it’s not always suitable for all sectors. But for companies that can go remote there are a whole raft of technical tools around to minimize disruption. There are also organizational changes that can be made to ease the transition (more on that later).
Remote work is here to stay. If your company has not embraced it, you may lose talent to companies that have. You will also find it difficult to replace them, which will obviously damage other transformation efforts you may want to put in place. Which leads us to our next 2022 digital transformation trend…
Digital Transformation Trends 2022 – The Talent War
You may have read about a phenomenon called “the great resignation”. This describes a recent trend where people, in light of the pandemic, have reevaluated their priorities and decided to resign from their jobs. To pursue either different careers or work for themselves.
While it is true that many people have resigned from their jobs, in the digital space the phenomenon should really be called “the great reshuffle”. Staff who work in the digital, eCommerce and IT sectors are in very high demand. And staff in those sectors now know their worth and are keen to move. They are even more keen to move if they can find a role that offers them better working conditions (like full remote/hybrid working).
This can have a massive impact on your digital transformation efforts. Especially if you do not offer hybrid or remote working. According to LinkedIN, from August 2021 to October 2021 the flow of workers into the IT and services sector doubled year-over year and they are explicitly looking for roles that offer flexibility. Which can be a problem for some businesses.
Remuneration for staff who can aid large scale digital transformation projects is also likely to increase. Especially with the pandemic-driven shift to digital channels. So if you are a business who needs to digitally transform, recruiting in-house staff to solve your problems could be difficult. Losing talent midway through a huge transformation project can be disastrous. So make sure you listen to your staff and give them the working conditions they want in-line with the wider market.
Access to talent will be a critical issue for nearly all organizations in 2022. The “new normal” for attracting tech talent is a highly competitive landscape where talented workers have more options than ever.
With staff who can help with digital transformation projects in high demand, it can be very difficult to recruit specialists. If you have an ongoing digital transformation project you need help with, or you are just starting out, talk to us here at MAQE.
Digital Transformation Trends 2022 – Enterprise AI Services
We have discussed how AI is going to become important in the paid and organic search space in 2022. But there are an increasing number of AI companies that offer B2B services. AI recruitment companies such as Mya are helping to speed up recruitment. We Build Bots offers a range of AI solutions for different service needs in different industries.
Any process within an organization can be streamlined with AI. IT support, marketing, sales…all of these business functions can be supported with AI services. Which could really speed up digital transformation projects.
Come back next week where we will discuss more trends that could impact your digital transformation project in 2022.
Talk to MAQE
If you need help with digital transformation in 2022, talk to MAQE via [email protected]. We have helped many brands in different sectors speed up their digital transformation projects over the last ten years. So feel free to get in touch with us to discuss your needs.