When we talk about conferencing and collaboration solutions and other digital incursions into the workplace, we tend to focus on things like cost and productivity and security. But at the end of the day, what’s most important are the people who will end up sitting in front of those screens and using the technology. If the technology doesn’t work for them--if it doesn’t make the job easier or more fulfilling--it ultimately won’t work for your company. So how do employees feel about technological innovation in the workplace? A recent survey by Aruba has some answers.
If there is one takeaway from Aruba’s survey, it’s this: employees (your employees!) are thinking about the ways you and your company implement (or fail to implement) new technology in the workplace. And it seems clear that companies that don’t keep up with employees’ expectations risk losing top talent to organizations that are better at keeping pace with technological advancements.
Nearly two-thirds of employees surveyed by Aruba said that they thought their company risked falling behind if new technology wasn’t integrated into the workplace. 71% of those surveyed said they think the workplace of the future should be fully automated, while 72% stated that the workplace should become a completely integrated environment. 61% of employees want virtual and augmented reality to eventually play a larger role in the workplace.
Whether or not virtual reality and full automation are good (or even feasible) ideas, it’s clear that employees expect a future in which technological advances shape and reshape the nature of work and workplaces.
There’s a reason employees are optimistic about a tech-ennabled future: they have seen their work lives improved by the solutions introduced into the workplace thus far.
Of the employees whose companies have invested in digital technologies over the last year, 73% said that digital technology has increased their productivity. Even more importantly, 74% of those employees said their job satisfaction is good or very good, while 70% said their work-life balance was good.
Those with access to new technologies were 59% more likely to say they were learning new skills on the job, while 61% were more likely to say they effectively accomplished multiple tasks during a work day. 65% believed their role is vital to their organization.
What we are seeing here is that digital integration helps employees not only feel more important in their company, but also happier and more fulfilled. Although you might have your eyes fixed on the bottom line, it would be dangerous not to consider just how important it is to cultivate an engaging and evolving workplace for your employees, whether they are on-site or working remotely. Invest in technology. Invest in people.
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