How to choose the tech tools that create a happy workplace

There’s a lot of talk around town about how creating a positive experience for your employees is just as important as nailing the customer experience. An easy way to achieve this? Giving them the right tools for the job.

Having access to new technology is proven to boost staff retention. Recent research from DocuSign found that 57% of employees become more committed to their jobs if they have the latest tech. In other research, 82% of workers say that a workplace’s technology would influence their decision about whether to take a job or not.

Modern devices and applications help employees to work smarter, faster and more flexibly. Collaboration tools enable remote workers to become part of the team; tablets and detachable laptops give sales teams more portable and professional ways to engage out in the field. With the right technology, productivity and profits both climb, and you’re less likely to see your best employees walk out the door.

So where do you start?

You know that new devices and apps will boost employee engagement. Yet how do you juggle your employees’ expectation for modern devices with your finance manager’s expectation that the budget will remain in check? And how do you work out which technologies and tools are really going to add value, versus the ‘fad’ applications that get ditched after only six months?

A quick Google search will surface endless lists like “The top 10 collaboration tools of 2019” or “Best project management tools for small business”. Choosing and assessing business technology can be hard – but it’s definitely worth the effort. Adopting new technologies in a timely manner will help you continue to deliver on your employee’s increasingly digital expectations.

Once you’ve identified a business problem that you want to solve with technology, start researching the options. For example, if your business problem is costly delays in getting contracts signed because of postage, then you’re likely after an eSignature solution that can easily be integrated with your existing productivity apps. Shortlist some options and weigh them up by looking at:

  • User experience: how easy is it for employees to use the technology? Do they need to be trained or upskilled, or is it a seamless addition to their existing work practices?
  • Reviews: what do other customers of similar size or industry say about the product?
  • Accessibility: is it delivered as-a-service, and accessible by all employees no matter where they are?
  • Scalability: is the solution scalable, so that it can continue to support your business as you grow?
  • Cost: what are the licensing fees? How much will the solution save you by eliminating older, slower processes?

Armed with all these insights, you’ll be in a much better position to choose the technologies your employees want and need.

Beyond implementation

Once you’ve procured and implemented a new technology in your workplace, it’s important to help employees get up to speed with it quickly. Research out of Queensland shows a poor connection between technology investment and productivity, and points to the importance of working hard to get your team on board with it.

Remember that humans are creatures of habit. It can take some convincing and cajoling to get people to change the way they do something. A good place to start is with your leadership team. Get your leaders using new tools, and the rest should follow.

To see for yourself how you can use DocuSign to inject a little happiness into your workplace, sign up for a 30 day free trial.

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DocuSign
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