The bigger your company gets, the easier it is to become disconnected from the concerns your employees at the bottom have. This can affect any area of an organization, of course, but in our work we often hear the same technology-related complaints over and over again.
In some cases, the small gripes employees and managers tell us about aren’t a big deal. In other situations, though, they represent real weaknesses that can hurt your bottom line.
To give you a sense of what these complaints are like and how they could affect your company, let’s look at a few things your employees probably aren’t telling you about IT…
Our IT Person (or Vendor) is Hard to Deal With
Odd as it may seem, this is a complaint we hear fairly frequently. Maybe there is something about our industry that tends to attract difficult personalities, or perhaps most in-house IT departments are overwhelmed. Either way, you don’t want to have unfriendly people working on your staff because it deters your team from getting the help they need. Once that happens productivity suffers in a big way.
We Could do a LOT More With Better Equipment
It’s surprising how often we see employees using the wrong devices, software, or “workarounds” to get basic tasks and functions accomplished. These kinds of measures might work in the short-term, but over time they can cost you hundreds of hours in wasted wages and effort… all while lowering morale. It’s worth it to look from time to time to see what kinds of new opportunities inefficiencies can be created with better technology. You might be surprised.
We Don’t Know How to Use the New Hardware or Software
What happens when a company has invested in a brand-new hardware or software system (for example custom tablets or improved CRM) and the employees don’t know how to use them? The answer is “not much.” Every time you introduce something new and different to your team, it’s worth checking to see if they have the proper training and understanding to utilize the features. If they don’t, you’re just wasting time and money.
We are Using Tech to Waste Time
Naturally, employees don’t usually tell us they are wasting time on games and social media, but we can usually figure out if there’s a problem pretty quickly. You might not ever be able to completely eliminate the urge for certain people to slack off, but you can take steps to limit the number of distractions they have at their disposal. This is one area where your IT team can take small steps to help you that show a very immediate and powerful benefit.
Ready for a Smarter Business Tech Strategy?
At Fantastic IT, we don’t just work with hardware and software, we also offer IT consulting – including an outsourced CIO service. That means we can help you with every aspect of your company’s technology, from service and budgeting to strategy and contingency planning.
To learn more, contact us today and schedule a free consultation!