5 Ways to improve employee experience with technology

A Gallup poll conducted a few years back found that half of employees are disengaged from their jobs. With no true loyalty to the business, they’re only getting the bare minimum done, and the only thing they look forward to during the working day is getting home at the end of it.

Oftentimes, business leaders blame the employees for this development. Others assume that it’s all about salaries and bonuses. In reality, there’s a lot more to it than that. If employees find their jobs genuinely gratifying and rewarding, they’ll be more productive, and you’ll be able to retain the best talent in an increasingly competitive employment market.

Technology is an important piece of the employee experience puzzle. If your computers are slow, and your staff are permanently restricted to the office desk, chances are they’re going to be disengaged from their work. That’s why optimizing your technology is so important for improving employee experience and performance.

#1. Improve internal communication

The limitations of traditional business workflows often lead to information silos where different departments either aren’t willing or don’t have the means to easily share information with one another. This lack of communication typically results from arcane and bureaucratic processes and outdated and incompatible technology.

Improving internal communication helps employees work more effectively as a team, no matter where their colleagues and partners are located. Video conferencing software and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) makes that possible.

#2. Empower workforce mobility

The days of spending nine till five stuck in front of an office desk are quickly becoming a thing of the past. More people are working remotely than ever before, and the number of self-employed is rising all the time. If you’re not on board with these trends, you’ll have a much harder time finding and retaining the best talent.

Cloud platforms let you move most core business processes to the web, allowing employees to access the apps and data they need no matter where they are or which device they’re using. You can also reduce costs and boost productivity by letting employees use their own devices for work.

#3. Give employees a voice

The traditional workplace relationships don’t work anymore. Much like customers, employees now have the power to leave feedback online on platforms like Glassdoor, thus having a direct impact on your employment brand. And, also like the customers they serve, employees don’t like to feel they’re being ignored.

Since your employees are going to be the ones using any new technologies you implement, it’s important to ask for their input. Surveys and integrated reporting functions provide them a voice while also giving you access to valuable feedback that you can use to improve your operations.

#4. Provide help desk support

Technology isn’t perfect, and it never will be. But the stakes are higher than ever now that so many businesses depend on it for most, if not all, of their mission-critical processes. That’s why the costs of unscheduled downtime are rising steeply. Technology downtime is also a constant source of frustration in many workplaces.

While some downtime is a practical inevitability, the last thing you want is for employees being left unable to do their jobs for extended periods or using risky workarounds to technology problems. A help desk support service provides human expertise and guidance with maximum response times guaranteed by the provider’s service level agreement (SLA).

#5. Create a culture of innovation

The modern workforce don’t want to do the tedious work involved in more traditional business processes like data entry and manual filing. Yet many employees find themselves in workplaces with aging technology that’s older and less efficient than what they’re used to in their personal lives.

To create a culture of innovation, it’s important to listen to your employees and make it a team effort. You need to choose the right people to communicate the benefits of using new solutions and illustrate how they’ll make life easier for your employees. This in turn will also make your employees more efficient at their jobs, and happier since they are freed up to focus on more exciting projects.

Safebit Solutions provides comprehensive technology services to businesses in Houston. If you want to improve employee morale and efficiency, it all starts with the technology solutions you implement. Meet with our consultants to figure out what solutions and services fit your company.