About 49% of employees say they lose between one and five hours of productivity each week while dealing with IT issues, according to a March 7 report from Unisys Corp.
This plays a major role in employee experience, engagement and performance. About 62% of employees cited access to best-in-class technology as a highly motivating factor in their work performance.
“The convergence of workplace technology and employee engagement has never been more imperative. Companies continue to face tough decisions and must evaluate how they invest in creating the workplace of the future and foster a strong workplace culture that boosts employee happiness,” Joel Raper, senior vice president and general manager of digital workplace solutions at Unisys, said in a statement.
Employees want ongoing assistance with technology, and about 92% said they were somewhat or very willing to share their data if it would provide more predictive technology support.
To balance between what’s new and what will help productivity most, employers should be mindful of generational differences and the perceived value of their different workplace technologies, the report found. Millennial employees, for instance, placed higher value on chatbots, wearable devices, and virtual whiteboards, compared to their Gen Z colleagues.
As part of this, employers need to consider how technology plays a role in their workplace policies, such as hybrid and flexible work models. About 70% of employers indicated that hybrid work will continue as their primary workforce model, and about 67% of hybrid employees cited location flexibility for work-life balance as one of the top factors that motivates their work performance.
As organizations shift from their pandemic-era arrangements, leaders must optimize the hybrid model to attract and retain talent, train and onboard new team members, create new leaders, and maximize engagement and productivity, the report found. This requires a focus on well-functioning workplace technology.
Individual empowerment and employee experience are growing as key factors as well. In the survey, about 70% of employees said decision-making power is a critical factor for their motivation, as compared with 57% of managers who cited empowerment as important.
In addition, companies with mature employee experience (EX) programs found that their employees were more engaged today than six months ago — at 74%, compared to 24% of those with immature EX programs. More than 60% of both employees and employers reported that EX programs significantly affect employee productivity, talent retention, revenue and profitability.
“This report reinforces what we are seeing from our clients as organizations adapt to a hybrid-first mentality and embark on the types of organizational change management initiatives that drive long-term employee satisfaction and productivity,” Raper said.
