How to Create an autonomous workforce: User Self-Enablement with Digital Adoption Platforms

Introduction

“Autonomy leads to empowerment.”   So applicable for Digital Adoption Platforms and how they can benefit your enterprise.

These are the words of businessman Bobby Kotick. An autonomous workforce can mean different things for different people. For example, having the ability to work from anywhere, a more flexible schedule, or being able to make independent decisions with less red tape during your daily work tasks.

But basically, an autonomous workforce is one in which employees have greater freedom in their jobs. With greater freedom, comes greater happiness and motivation for employees.

Technology is one key pathway towards supporting a more autonomous workforce; however, cumbersome or impractical technology can leave employees frustrated, ineffective and more dependent than before.

Luckily, digital adoption platforms can dramatically help make technology easier to use and empower your workforce. This just requires a little bit of strategy.

Overview

So, what exactly are digital adoption platforms (DAPs) and what benefit do they bring? These are platforms that support the easy use of software, through making the user experience less difficult and helping to increase efficient use.

Implementing a DAP has several benefits for your organization and your employees. This includes wasting less time on onboarding, building deeper buy-in from your team to embrace new technologies, greater efficiency and, ultimately, more autonomy.

There is another element of autonomy: self-enablement. According to the SAP blog, self-enablement aims to supply the individuals and groups with both the necessary “knowledge and skills”, but also the “resources and tools.” This leads to more independence.  

When employees are self-enabled, they have a great involvement in the processes they are completing, and so their contribution is deeper, providing space for more creative solutions and skills development.  

How to use DAP’s for Self-Enablement and Autonomy

Know what to Avoid

To successfully use DAP’s to support autonomy, it’s important to first be aware of some challenges, and get a plan for how to overcome them.

Challenge to avoid: Not paying Attention

You need to tune in to your employees. Find out not only how they are performing at work, but how they are feeling. Do they feel supported or do they feel constrained? Do they think that your technologies and software are making their jobs easier or more difficult?

Find out specifically where the pain points are, so that you can go about addressing them. Your employees cannot successfully use technology, even if it’s designed to be helpful, if they are not trained.

Challenge to avoid: Insufficient Support

Your employees need support. While it may seem ironic that fostering independence requires holding up your employees, the idea is not to provide more support, but smarter support. For example, using customized support in the form of digital adoption platforms. OnScreen is an example of providing your employees customized, specific support to help them get their jobs done without needing to look for additional help or guidance. 

With OnScreen, you can easily create interactive guides to support each employee in their specific uses for SAP and other enterprise platforms. By using a DAP to assist employees in an individualized and tailored manner, everyone is able to do what they need to do with ease and freedom. 

Challenge to avoid: Poor Onboarding

Strong onboarding is key.

Remember that every individual has different preconceived notions about a new technology, as well as different ways that they learn best. Be strategic and careful with bringing new employees or retraining current employees with new technology. Digital adoption platforms are intended to make this easier, so be sure that 

The Right Digital Adoption Platform Will Support Creativity 

According to a study which considered the working conditions of more than 120 in sales and marketing, creativity is a key part of feeling satisfied in their job. 

Creativity at work doesn’t just mean designing beautiful presentations or drafting beautifully worded reports; rather, creativity relates to the ability to think out of the box and generate solutions.

Research states that “the freedom to choose how to accomplish tasks, is shown to have a positive impact on individual creativity.” Both autonomy and creativity directly relate to supporting digital transformation, including embracing DAPs.

Technology will continue to transform our lives – including how we work – and so our mindsets must keep up. To change with the times successfully, businesses must support their employees in having space to learn. DAP’s make learning and using software easier, opening up more time for workers to put their energy towards problem-solving and accomplishing new skills.

Integrate Autonomy and Digital Adoption a part of your business plan

More than half of companies revealed their members resisted digital adoption, according to a  study. 

This means more than half of your workforce might be feeling conflicted or holding out against new technologies. Yes, this is a challenge. But it’s also an opportunity. Integrate values alongside technology into a strategic action plan.

For example, place autonomy or self-enablement as a key pillar of values for your organization. Then, build strategies – ranging from onboarding approaches, technology training and long-term development plans – around that key value.

As explained by Constantinos C. Markides of the London Business School, there are two specifications to help guide decision-making for your company. This includes identifying the difference between decisions that are strategic and those that are operational. Strategic decisions fall under the top management, but operational decisions are an opportunity to reflect the organization’s morals and values in action. If the values are “ingrained in the organization’s DNA”, they will serve as a compass to guide employees. If autonomy, along with other values such as productivity and innovation, are grounded into the work culture, they will help guide the use of technology as a tool for betterment. 

Use the momentum of a culture of independence and support to build buy-in from each employee for new technologies and DAPs.

Conclusion

A study which compared data of 20,000 employees found that autonomy in the workplace increased work well-being and job satisfaction.

Digital adoption platforms, when used smartly, can directly support greater self-enablement and autonomy in the workplace. This creates a cycle of independence, growth, and keeping up with technological changes.

Consider DAP’s like OnScreen, which works with a variety of common enterprise platforms. Schedule a demo today and check out how it can benefit your organization. OnScreen allows trainers to easily create step-by-step walkthroughs in a matter of minutes. This helps your employees use enterprise platforms without tension or wasting time. 

Wasting time and feeling stuck creates an unhappy workforce. Feeling in-control and impactful leads to better sentiments. 

What could your business achieve with higher work satisfaction and a happier workforce?