Weak HR-IT collaboration hurting employees

It’s really affecting the employee experience

BY Nurhuda Syed 03 Aug 2019

Insufficient collaboration between HR and IT in APAC firms is leading to unsatisfactory digital employee experiences, finds new study.

There is stark perception gap between leaders and employees: while majority of APAC IT decision makers (95%) believe that employees have the digital tools they need in order to be successful in their job, 46% of employees disagree.

The mismatch presents a challenge to organisations looking to harness digital transformation initiatives, highlighting the need for IT and HR to collaborate further to realise the true value of the digital employee experience.

According to VMware’s study, Singapore organisations are still struggling to deliver the optimum digital employee experience.

Employees in Singapore cited reasons including:

Lack of understanding of what employees want and need (52%)
Lack of technical skills (47%)
Lack of senior support (33%)

The study also found that almost nine in 10 (86%) of APAC employees agree that HR should have more responsibility for the digital employee experience within their organisation. This is higher than other regions including EMEA (80%) and North America (74%).

Most respondents (95%) also recognise that HR and IT could work better together to improve the digital employee experience, indicating that a closer collaboration between the two departments is imperative to delivering superior experiences.

“As Singapore continues to go full steam ahead with its smart nation push, it is imperative for organisations to prioritise the digital employee experience today so the workforce is well-equipped to keep up with the digital economy of tomorrow,” said Adrian Hia, country manager at VMware Singapore.

“The Singapore government is taking the lead with the launch of its digital readiness blueprint to support organisations and employees and this is a great first step.

“However, organisations must also seize the initiative by embracing technology heterogeneity at the workplace to attract and retain the best talents. The prioritisation of the digital employee experience is critically important for organisations in Singapore looking to improve their business outcomes.”