Top-Shelf DEX: The “Digital Workplace Mixologist’s” Approach to Digital Employee Experience 

It was exactly a year ago that I took a four-week bartending class at my local community college. Why? Because I—a long-time bourbon aficionada—wanted to learn how to make a spectacular Old-Fashioned (and perhaps a perfect Manhattan). Since we had to use dyed water during the class to master a couple dozen canonical cocktails, I stocked up at home on the real deal from my local ABC Store. Gins. Tequilas. Liquors. I even bought Butterscotch Schnapps! Practice makes perfect, right? I was my own guinea pig. Little did I know that so many other spirits could tickle my fancy.  

Coincidentally on International Whiskey Day today, this walk down memory lane is relevant to my key takeaways from the Gartner_® Digital Workplace Summit I attended earlier this month in Grapevine, Texas. What in the world do whiskey and cocktails have to do with Gartner DWS? It’s clear! Gartner’s Vice President Analyst Tori Paulman had me at “mixologist”! In their opening keynote with Distinguished Vice President, Analyst Jason Wong, Paulman highlighted the fact that today’s digital workplace leaders must be able to blend technology initiatives and business drivers—that is, they must be “digital workplace mixologists” who have successfully shifted from solely managing technology to leading business-minded technologists (aka, people). Staying in one lane (like always sticking to “neat”) will limit their business influence, impact, and innovation. 

Since this theme flowed throughout the conference, let’s consider how the “mixologist” analogy shakes out, as applied to implementing and orchestrating a digital employee experience (DEX) strategy.  

1) Personalization is the signature cocktail of today’s digital workplace. 

Any digital workplace leader charged with maturing the enterprise company’s DEX strategy must be the best bartender in town, serving up personalized devices right-sized to an employee’s role—and with a tray of apps curated with individual tastes in mind. If an employee does not have the workplace-compliant apps they need or want to make their job easier, it is likely that they will find another watering hole (that dark, seedy place known as “Shadow IT”) to get what they want.  

When it comes to personalization, employees will say “Cheers!” to leaders who can proactively reduce digital friction. You can do that by building a digital workplace where everybody knows your name. While your knowledge-worker Cliff may need a more basic laptop primarily for web browsing and Word docs, Frasier in data analytics may require an AI PC with the power of an NPU to process and re-process robust data sets to arrive an acceptable and applicable analysis and insights. Getting DEX personalization right yields cost savings and, just as important, more engaged and productive employees who are loyal to your shared corporate mission.  

Who in the “IT crowd” doesn’t want to frequent the popular spot called Lakeside SysTrack, which enables you to right-size hardwareby personas to optimize resources? 

2) Digital dexterity is a skillset everyone needs—not just the dart player in the corner. 

Digital dexterity is not just for digital natives who are entering the workforce across enterprises in every sector. Nor is it a niche capability only for diehard techies—the workplace equivalent of that unbeatable dart player in the corner. Instead, digital workplace “mixologists” must recognize the importance of facilitating digital dexterity across workforces that now comprise five generations—and enable it by infusing digital dexterity into the esprit de corps of the workplace.  

From Gen Z to Boomers, employees have varying levels of digital savviness and know-how. A successful digital workplace leaderwill prioritize the training and adoption of relevant tech that can boost productivity and engagement instead of repeatedly missing the mark with new tech deployments. Especially for AI investments, CIOs, senior IT leaders, and LOB tech stakeholdersmust showcase the business outcomes of employee adoption, empowering a mind shift to welcome the new kid in town. 

How do you know you’re spot on with any IT transformation rollout, including Windows 11 migration and widespread app deployments? By making a DEX platform such as Lakeside SysTrack your go-to tool for monitoring and optimizing every end-user’s experience with their digital tools. Establishing a mature Proactive IT practice helps to eliminate digital friction and employee frustration with tech (old and new) by making sure their laptops and apps always work seamlessly—whenever and wherever they are needed.  

3) Employee engagement and productivity go together like Aperol + champagne. 

It is a long-known truth that happy employees are productive employees (and perhaps vice versa). But did you know that, according to Gartner (as I discovered at Gartner DWS), CIOs now have a more positive influence on overall employee experience than the chief human resources officer? Our CTO Elise London called for DEX to be inextricable from CHRO-led employee engagement nearly two years ago, but I didn’t know that the CIO influence in this area has taken the reigns as second-in-command after the CEO.  

One reason why CIOs play a crucial role in fostering employee engagement is because they can empower IT teams to stave off employee frustration with their day-to-day workplace tools—just as an Aperol Spritz can make any bad day great! On their own, bitter employees (Aperol) could grow dusty on the back shelf but, charged with enthusiastic and infectious flow (champagne) when their devices actually work, end users can unleash productivity, creativity, and innovation. Indeed, a superior digital employee experiencebrings out that perfect pairing—one that makes sure your employees are never silent sufferers when dealing with poor digital experiences.  

Let’s raise a glass to the Employee Royale! 

As Lakeside’s CTO Elise London puts it, a strong digital employee experience is all about getting the computer out of the way of employees being able to do their jobs. Accordingly, the classic employee engagement issue also is a productivity issue—an Employee Royale. It is the chief “digital workplace mixologist” who must raise the bar on enabling and orchestrating DEX as a business strategy—not just a tech issue. After all, as Gartner revealed at DWS, the higher the DEX score, the lower productivity loss. That’s a win-win for the employee and the enterprise! Let’s all raise a toast to that!