Incorporating digital technology into your operations and making good use of data can help your business save time and money while producing superior results for your clients and customers. However, it’s easy for employees to feel less essential when you increase your focus on tech. Employees who feel forgotten and unneeded can become disengaged from your company, leading to poor performance and high turnover rates. As you implement new technology and processes, make an effort to ensure your employees know how valuable they are! Here are some tips from Small Business Brain to consider.
Use Technology to Eliminate Busy Work
First, show your employees how your tech upgrades will make their lives easier. Automating time-consuming tasks and streamlining bulky workflows will enable your employees to get their work done with fewer hassles and headaches. Plus, eliminating busy work can free up time for your employees to work on more meaningful projects!
Use technology to optimize business processes and save your employees from redundant or repetitive tasks. Process mining uses data to improve workflows and boost productivity. This can enhance your employee satisfaction, increase your sales, and help you avoid mistakes so you can make decisions with greater confidence. To get started with process mining, you’ll have to identify data sources and key stakeholders related to your business goals.
Offer Flexible Work Options
According to FlexJobs, 80% of workers would choose employment that offers a flexible schedule over jobs that do not. Many value schedule flexibility over extra vacation time! If that’s not enough, job seekers are willing to take an 8% reduction in salary to work for a company that offers flexible schedules. Dive into the data and use business tech upgrades to offer this in-demand perk to your employees. Offering flexible work schedules will help you attract top talent, improve employee engagement, and make your team more productive.
Collect Employee Feedback
If you really want to know what your employees think about your tech improvements, ask them! Collect feedback from your employees to understand how they perceive your organization and learn what you need to do to keep them happy. HubSpot suggests a variety of useful apps you can use to gather insight from your employees. For example, you can create quick surveys with 15Five and Officevibe to poll your team about their opinion on your tech projects. This data is a great way to determine if your employees are confused about new systems or feel overwhelmed about the transition to new tech tools.
Invest in Professional Development
Many employees, especially younger workers, value professional development opportunities when considering their employment options. Offering your employees the opportunity for growth is a great way to show that you value their contribution to your team and want them to succeed in their professional lives. Encourage your employees to attend relevant conferences and trade shows, offer in-office training seminars, and start a mentorship program within your organization. Having senior employees guide younger workers is a great way to promote professional development while keeping your costs low.
Offer Tech Training
For employees who feel hesitant about changing their workflow to accommodate your new tech upgrades, some workplace training can alleviate feelings of overwhelm. Older workers, in particular, can feel wary of adopting new technology, especially when they’ve been working the same way for many years. If you don’t want to spend money on tech training, appoint some tech-savvy employees who can help everyone else get up to speed with your new technology.
Adopting the latest technology can help your business get ahead of competitors and avoid time-wasting tasks that eat up all your resources. Just make sure to consider the needs of your employees, as well as utilize valuable data within your reach, as you make decisions. Ensuring your employees feel needed and valued through significant business changes is key to keeping them around!