Many businesses are struggling to fulfill expectations and appeal to employees of all ages, who now expect flexibility and seamlessly integrated IT, according to a recent study commissioned by Ingram Micro UK and Microsoft. Continue reading below to find out how cloud technology can help modernize the workplace.
There are endless ways you can use technology in the workplace and many reasons to do it. Not only will your business become more efficient but you can also save money. Employees want modern technology used in the workplace but find senior management and adversity to new technologies are holding back digital transformation.
What do employees really want?
1. Collaboration
Collaboration is a key concern for employees. They want to use technology that enables them to communicate efficiently which leads to higher levels of productivity. By using collaborative communication methods, you will promote a creative and innovative work culture and help your business stay competitive in disruptive environments. Tools such as instant messaging, file hosting and sharing tools and skype, etc. can make it easier to communicate between departments/ offices etc.
Due to a lack of modern technology in their workplace, many will use these tools even if these are not supported or provided by their employers. This raises many security issues and needs to be resolved in case this happens in your workplace.
2. Innovation
Many businesses are struggling to keep up the rate technology is going. Staying up to date with technology and innovation is key to any business’s success today. What’s more, this lack of innovation is causing the younger workforce to become frustrated, as they want to make an instant impact and drive business outcomes. If you want to attract young talent today, you need to prioritize innovation and technology or you risk losing talented employees.
3. Flexibility
Employees want flexible working conditions and the option to work from home. A survey by The Conference Board of Canada found “almost nine out of 10 (or 86% of) Canadian organizations are now offering at least one type of flexible work option.” So how can your organization implement flexible working? There is no one solution for flexible working; you have to carefully design a strategy that works for you and your employees. A major concern employers have about flexible working is productivity, however studies have shown that employee productivity increases. It comes down to trusting your employees or you can also use software that tracks hours worked by employees.
Why you need to prioritize what employees want?
1. Brain drain
Companies are finding it hard to hold on to talented workers, especially high achievers. While salary is important, having meaningful work and being challenged at work are key to retaining employees. A recent survey by the American cloud computing company ServiceNow, Inc. found that 6 in 10 workers would rather ask their manager for more meaningful work than a raise. Employees want to be challenged and feel like their work is appreciated and important. By ensuring that the working environment allows employees to be innovative and share ideas, they will be more likely to stay. Employees do not leave jobs; they leave bad working environments.
2. Compliance and Security
Compliance and security are two of the most important issues today especially with EU laws like GDPR and MiFID II, and HIPPA, PCI DSS; Dodd-Frank in the US. If your employees are using technology not provided by your company, you are a risk of non-compliance and data breaches. The best way to overcome this is by using innovative technology that can be easily integrated with other technologies used. There are lots of cost effective cloud technologies available, that allow you to keep everything secure and lead to more collaborative teams, including Microsoft 365, skype for business, dropbox or cloud solutions Recordia and eComFax. These tools give employees what they want, while ensuring compliance and security requirements are fulfilled.
3. Leads to better customer service
Having a good working environment and supporting staff are key to having good customer service. Providing training, opportunities and development as well as innovative technology, will lead to happy and fulfilled employees. Happy employees are more productive employees, and as the saying goes if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers.
What are Recordia and eComFax?
Recordia and eComFax are cloud solutions designed to help businesses transfrom how they communicate. Both applications are aligned to a growing trend of “solutions as a service” (SaaS) platforms. Recordia lets you capture, encrypt, record, and exploit data in the Cloud, with maximum data security. eComFax is a virtual fax service that allows you to send and receive faxes and SMSes from virtually any place that has an Internet connection: either via email or through the cloud-based platform of the fax provider