There is nothing more certain than change. And nothing has changed how people work more than the rapidly evolving technology of the last two decades. The way employees work and how companies approach productivity have both dramatically changed. The question to ask yourself is: does your company have the right tools in place to keep up with these changes?
Increasingly more companies are planning on introducing work from home programs as an employee incentive. The modern workplace is changing, and the driving force is technology. It’s changing the way people work, and the way productivity is approached. But in order to be able to move in this agile world, you must take stock and ask: Does your company have the right tools to help you navigate these changing times?
Following are some reasons the businesses tools your used to and once relied on, just aren’t going to hack it and need to change.
#1. The growing millennial workforce
Millennials have been entering the workforce for a number of years now. This is a generation that has never known anything but technology as part of their everyday landscape. A study predicts that a hefty 75% of the workforce will be comprise of millennials by just 2020. This is the generation that has not experienced life as an adult without the internet. They view technology as a given, an integral part of life and never as an external tool, but as almost as symbiotic part of their existence. If they are doing it, there is a high likelihood that technology is somehow involved. They bring this into how they use technology in the workplace as well.
Technology is now, more than ever, intrinsic to how businesses operate. The vast majority of the existing workforce is not just familiar, but comfortable with technology. This works to your advantage. By expanding the functionality of, say email for example, with a more robust unified communications platform that incorporates voice and messaging, you create more meaningful and efficient ways for your team to communicate.
#2. Growing focus on mobility
Today’s workforce would rather not be confined to their cubicles. In terms of the modern employee, productivity is not quite related to how much time they spend in the office. Completing their work is not dependent on that happening at a single, physical location. It’s determined by the tools with which they are equipped that allows them to do more, wherever they may choose to do it.
Take the traditional landline, for example. If you’re in customer service, depending exclusively on a telephone means being tethered to your desk to take client calls. Now, thanks to technology, you can choose to carry a smartphone that allows you to work remotely. Hosted VoIP platforms allow for smartphones to also function as a business phone making keeping in touch with you effortless for clients and colleagues alike, regardless of where you are.
#4. Consistent drive for cost-efficiency
The need to cut costs, or even just be more efficient with the available capital, is one of the most common and convincing reason that businesses move to newer technology. In just about every function from operations to production, and everything in between, technology can typically offer a solution that significantly reduces expenses.
For example, businesses that have reliable and feature rich communication tools in place have the opportunity to expand their talent pool by hiring remote staff while avoiding the overhead cost of additional office space. Such tools can also be used to enable improved communication between remote teams, closing gaps and minimizing errors.
