Free your employees from digital captivity with DAP

Dan Breslaw
By Dan Breslaw
Updated March 1, 2023

Digital captivity, a situation in which employees don’t know or are unable to use applications needed for their jobs, has become a major concern amongst business leaders. With enterprises onboarding 17 applications a year and employees using 27 pieces of software every week, streamlining digital processes is now an essential business KPI. 

Freeing your employees from digital captivity requires an innovative approach in which users learn to utilize software to its full potential. Digital adoption platforms (DAPs) accomplish exactly that, providing employees with tools like customizable training, self-service resources, and task automation to adapt to new software and workflows. 

Here, we’ll dive into why digital captivity has turned into a major situation, the implications it can have for your business, and how DAPs can optimize your tech-stack and improve employee satisfaction.

But first, let’s give a quick overview of digital captivity. 

What is digital captivity?

Today, many workers are stuck in digital captivity as they struggle to understand and use the software needed for their jobs. 55% of enterprises say employees do not have the necessary digital dexterity to use all their applications effectively, creating a situation that limits productivity, increases burnout, overwhelms IT teams with support tickets, and balloons software costs.   

Enterprises are seeing the consequences of digital captivity every day. 61% of organizational leaders say that poor digital employee experiences are likely to contribute to resignations.

Meanwhile, software related complaints increased by 32% since 2021, and the average enterprise loses 76 employees due to technology frustrations every year. 

With large enterprises spending $1.14 million annually on replacing employees who are frustrated with technology, digital captivity is a problem that’s too big to ignore. The question is, what can be done to get back on track?

Optimizing digital transformation initiatives

When it comes to optimizing digital transformation initiatives and getting your employees proficient in the software they need to execute their jobs, you have a few options, including:

Learning management systems (LMS)

Enterprise learning management systems (LMS) offer businesses a powerful tool to transform the way they deliver training. These platforms are designed to facilitate the creation and distribution of engaging content, such as courses, modules, and lessons. Additionally, LMSs offer interactive features that allow users to access and interact with the content in real-time. 

Knowledge management (KM) software

Enterprise Knowledge Management (KM) software provides a single, centralized platform for capturing, storing, and sharing essential information throughout an organization. This software makes it easy for employees to discover the data they need to do their jobs better, faster and more efficiently. 

Video training software

Enterprise video training software enables enterprises to develop, manage and deliver video-based training content to their employees. This technology can be used to create a wide range of educational videos, from introductory employee onboarding programs, to detailed product demos and safety instruction. 

In-person training

Enterprise in-person training is an alternative type of educational development designed to help employees learn new skills or improve existing ones. It typically takes place at the workplace, and can be either structured or unstructured.

Text guides 

Employee training text guides help ensure that employees are well-versed with the various products, services, and procedures of the company. Comprehensive guides can help reduce the risk of mistakes and accidents in the workplace, as well as improve overall efficiency. 

While all of the above solutions can be beneficial in certain situations, they each have potential downsides that can limit their effectiveness when combating digital captivity. These include a lack of scalability options that can prevent enterprise-wide use, the inability to customize solutions for individual employees, high costs, and the need to continuously update solutions for new pieces of software. 

DAPs can help get around these issues while getting your employees out of digital captivity and streamlining your digital workflows. 

Busting your employees out of digital captivity with DAP 

DAPs are quickly becoming an essential tool for enterprises intent on meeting their digital transformation and change management goals. They serve as an overlay technology on top of existing enterprise applications, enabling employees to access customizable training materials and self-service resources, while automating tasks to optimize workflows. 

Specifically, DAP provides your employees with:

  • On-demand assistance – DAP is always running on top of your software, giving employees a helping hand whenever they need it.
  • Contextualization – In-app guidance, like walkthroughs and product tours, as well as analytics and task automation simplify workflows, enable your employees to sidestep the digital friction points they might otherwise encounter. 
  • Personalization – Customizable tools allow you to create task-specific training across different departments, enabling enterprise-wide software adoption. 

With the 2022 Gartner® Market Guide for Digital Adoption Platforms forecasting that “By 2025, 70% of organizations will use digital adoption platforms across the entire technology stack to overcome still insufficient application user experiences”, DAP is poised to become a primary tool for overcoming digital captivity.

Why WalkMe?

WalkMe is the only enterprise-ready DAP designed for scalability and agility. We provide the tools you need to boost your digital transformation efforts, eliminate digital friction and free your employees from digital captivity. 

With WalkMe, you’ll be able to utilize our data-driven methodology along with personalized dashboards to ensure you realize the full value of your tech-stack while giving users the tools they need to succeed. 

Everest Group recently recognized WalkMe as the leading DAP vendor for the third year in a row, while The Forrester New Wave™ Digital Adoption Platforms, Q4 2022 named us a Leader in DAP. 

Discover how WalkMe can help you achieve your digital objectives and maximize your software investments. 

Dan Breslaw
By Dan Breslaw
Dan is a content marketer with more than 13 years of experience writing in such fields as global finance, cybersecurity, fintech, and digital adoption. As a senior content and creative manager, he is responsible for producing a variety of WalkMe content while helping to ensure it reaches the widest possible audience.