Companies slashed away at nearly every corner of their operations in order to reduce their costs over the past several months. This means hiring was paused, workers were laid off, offices were closed indefinitely, and more.
However, one arm of the workplace that saw expenditures increase was digital technologies. In fact, a Gartner survey showed that over half of midsize companies increased their technology spending and 69% plan to increase their spending in 2022.
Now that many companies are making the transition to hybrid work arrangements, the need for digital tools is only going to increase. So how can leaders and employees both improve their digital dexterity as they are immersed into a world that requires it?
According to a 2018 Gartner Digital Dexterity Survey of over 3,000 employees, an open mindset and workplace agility were found to be critical for digital dexterity. However, only 16% of leaders have high digital dexterity according to the data.
In order to create a foundation that allows managers and employees to achieve high dexterity, leaders need to identify how to optimize workflow, collaboration, budgets, policies, and other aspects that foster the business, rather than hinder it.
Business leaders can emphasize the importance of digital dexterity by showing how improved digital skills can help workers in the long run. Not only does it give them more opportunities to upskill and achieve new career goals, it makes their current work day run more seamlessly.