As we start to emerge from the pandemic and see light at the end of the tunnel, companies are realizing that working from home (WFH) didn’t kill productivity after all.
In fact, employees are more resilient and engaged than ever.
Instead of going MIA as some employers feared, employees crushed it. Eighty three percent of employers say the shift to remote work has been successful for their company, compared to just 73% in June of 2020.
Now that hybrid or fully remote work is a part of our business infrastructure moving forward, companies need to make sure they are helping employees rather than hindering them. And since finding a job close to home (or even in the same state) is no longer a parameter for many job seekers, it’s game on for companies who want to find and keep top talent.
Turns out, technology plays a major role in how employees evaluate employers and whether they stay or go. Nearly half of all workers - 49 percent - say they’re likely to leave their current job if they’re unhappy or frustrated with workplace tech.
That’s huge and demands immediate attention. Let’s take a look at the top three “givens” employees want and expect from their employers and how providing it can help you up their game and keep your talent.
#1 - Streamlined Information
Control V. Control Z. Repeat. The average employee cuts and pastes information 134 times a day between 44 different applications just to do their job in a typical workday. That’s bonkers.
McKinsey estimates employees spend 1.8 hours a day searching and gathering information. The tech gurus at IDC put the number closer to 2.5 hours per day, or 30% of the workday.
If employees are spending that much time looking for information, you can almost guarantee they’ll also be looking for another job soon. Do whatever you can to eliminate the cut and pasting and put information at their fingertips. Great employees need great tools to do their jobs well. Help them help you.
#2 - Modern Work Planning and Strategy
According to the Adobe Workfront State of Work Report, employees spend only 43% of their day on primary job responsibilities, mainly due to a lack of strategic alignment, work planning, work status communication and standard processes for workflow.
Employees want direction from their employers. They want to know the game plan so they can execute. When technology gets in the way and sends them back to the dark ages, it’s frustrating. And here’s why it should really matter to you if you care about recruiting and retaining the best talent, especially millennials:
- 20% of Millennials are more likely to apply for jobs if the company has a reputation for great technology.
- 34% of managers, directors, and executives have turned down a job because the technology was out of date or hard to use.
- 84% of all knowledge workers say their companies are missing opportunities by not moving to modern technology solutions.
- 83% of workers across age groups say having the right tech improves productivity.
There’s a lot of technology out there you can invest in. Choose to invest in your people first and everything else will follow.
#3 Collaboration Tools
Employees want to feel a sense of purpose and know how their work is driving the business. Collaboration is a big part of that. Across all generations and geographies, 72% of workers say that technology is important in supporting collaboration.
Take a look at your systems and do a diagnostics check to make sure they are connected and primed for collaboration. This is especially important if you offer WFH, job sharing or have job functions spread across geographies that require one employee to pick up where other leaves off. Check out our Top 10 Signs of a Disconnected Workplace to take an honest look in the mirror and see how your company is faring.
Sometimes just by re-architecting and augmenting the systems you already have, you can better align teams with company strategies, transparently convey marketing and ROI costs, and foster collaboration that drives better business results across the entire organization. Not to mention save a lot of money.
More than ever, the way to an employee’s heart is through technology that woos and wows their desire to do great work, with great tools and great people. It’s up to all of us to help make that happen.