Businesses that invest in digital technologies for employees are seeing boosts in productivity.
That is one of the headline findings from a new study entitled People, productivity and the digital workplace – 2018 by BT.
The study said that from a survey of 1,100 business executives and 600 IT decision makers, from 11 territories across the globe, including Ireland, Nine out of 10 respondents agree that mobile tools and collaboration services are improving productivity in the workplace. In Ireland, 94% reported greater productivity as a result of improving digital employee experiences.
“Only one five Irish executives describe their current digital experience at work as excellent,” BT report
However, only one five Irish executives describe their current digital experience at work as excellent. A strong majority (79%) said were they to be CEO, boosting productivity would be top priority, which BT says is up from just 57% in 2015. Unsurprisingly, more than nine out of 10 (91%) of executives highlighted security as a growing concern over the last two years.
Five pillars
Of the technologies that build employee productivity, five emerged as the top priorities, namely a more connected, video-led workspace; easier working and collaboration away from the office; corporate apps, instant messaging services and better devices.
Interestingly, nearly two thirds (65%) of Irish executives said what would help employees work more effectively at the office was better Wi-Fi, compared with less than a third (30%) who said more meeting rooms. Almost half (47%) said interactive smart collaboration screens, and 22% said video rooms.
A strong 71% of Irish executives expressed a preference for IT departments to invest in better technology for use “when on the move” rather than at work. This compares with a global average of 57%. When it came to tools that made Irish employees more productive, half (50%) of Irish executives specified Instant Messaging (IM) over email.
Fully engaged
“Our research tells us that Irish employees are fully engaged and ready to use new technology to digitally transform their business, but their digital experience needs to improve to facilitate this change and boost productivity,” said Joe Walsh, head of Unified Communications Proposition, BT Ireland.
“The good news is that there’s a straightforward way to boost workplace productivity. New, smart ways of working can be achieved through mobile and collaboration tools deployed as cloud-based services and backed by wireless connectivity. Our teams of specialised professional consultants can help customers design and implement solutions that fit their needs. Digital transformation may sound daunting but ensuring employees get a great mobile and collaborative experience is a very good place to start,” said Walsh.
IT difficulties
A strong majority (82%) of IT decision makers said employees often do not understand how difficult it is to make our IT work effectively, compared to the global average of 76%. This group expressed the sentiment that delivering a more digital experience for employees is piling even more demands on already long to do lists.
More than two thirds (69%) of IT decision makers said their organisation’s video conferencing facilities needed updating, compared to the global average of just half. The majority (59%) of this group said they need to build mobile apps so employees can use internal business systems and processes wherever they are, compared the global average of two thirds. Despite being a decade old, technology to converge voice and data systems is still only at the planning stage for two thirds (60%) of Irish IT decision makers are still at the planning stage for such convergence, despite it being viewed as one of the crucial first steps in the digital transformation.
Investment priorities
The survey found that IT decision makers are prioritising investments in cloud to support collaboration and mobile services, with 59% saying they want to move all applications to the cloud. Despite this, nearly two thirds (63%) had not yet moved all collaboration tools to the cloud. In fact, more than a quarter (28%) said they have separate platforms for the contact centre, and voice/unified communications, compared to the global average of 58%.
The full report is available here, with a registration required.
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