Unisys has just presented its annual report on the digital workplace in which it highlights the progress of European companies, and especially Spanish ones, in terms of productivity and sustainability of the workplace.
Around the world, transformation processes towards the digital workplace have become part of the innovation strategy of hundreds of thousands of organizations, which, however, are achieving uneven results. Although all companies seek to create productive and safe work environments, the strategies used to achieve them differ, sometimes drastically.
According to the Unisys study, European organizations lead the generation of business value from digital workplace services. Compared to other regions, European organizations have seen greater success in key business metrics such as ROI, productivity and customer satisfaction since they began implementing their current digital workplace strategy. The data from Spanish companies stands out in this sense: as a result of digital workplace strategies, 97% claim to have improved productivity (compared to 89% of French organizations, 71% of Italian organizations or 53% of Australian organizations); 95%, security and ROI; and 91%, customer satisfaction. In all cases, these are the highest figures in the countries analyzed.
A digital workplace that leverages AI promotes organizational improvements
Digital Workplace Services create an integrated environment designed to foster collaboration, improve employee engagement and agility, and leverage advanced technologies for optimal productivity. This ecosystem seamlessly combines diverse applications, data, devices and services that work together to deliver a simplified and empowering digital experience.
European organizations recognize the benefits that generative AI can bring to the service desk. The technology offers quick assistance to employees experiencing technical issues at any time of the day. More than three-quarters (78%) of European organizations say generative AI plays a critical role in reducing downtime, compared to 62% of US organizations and 55% of Asia-Pacific (APAC) organizations. This figure rises to 96% in the case of Spanish companies that admit that support services using generative AI have improved response times
Additionally, driven by results in IT support, European organizations are looking to expand the use of generative AI. More than two-thirds (67% globally but 87% in Spain) feel comfortable allowing technology to operate independently in the service desk environment, compared to 58% of US organizations and 53% of APAC organizations.
Teleworking in decline despite the advantages in the form of sustainability
The early 2020s saw an exponential rise in remote work. Recently, organizations have begun to reverse that trend. The Unisys study shows that 32% of employees now work entirely from the office, while another 33% come four days a week. One consequence of this is increased travel, which can have an indirect impact on the environmental footprint. European organizations seem more aware of this issue than their counterparts in other regions and are focused on making the transition as sustainable as possible.
More than three-quarters (76%) of European organizations say sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor in digital workplace investment decisions, compared to 58% of US organizations and 53% of APAC organizations. This is reflected in their budgets, as 51% of European organizations have increased their investment in managed sustainable workplace services. These solutions use real-time office data to monitor occupancy, optimize energy use, and make smarter resource decisions while meeting employee needs.
European organizations are already seeing the benefits of their investments: 77% say they have struck a good balance between encouraging face-to-face collaboration in the office and reducing their overall environmental footprint. Only 64% and 53% of US and APAC organizations, respectively, report achieving that same balance. By optimizing energy use, European organizations have also reduced waste to a greater extent than those in other regions, supporting both sustainability and profitability.
