For years, technology has shortened distances, provided ease of life, and become part of your everyday lives. We communicate with each other via the plethora of free social media and messaging platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc., to friends, families, or acquaintances worldwide. Video and streaming technologies like Skype allow us to talk with distant family members face-to-face for free.

The same can be said about the working environment. Many tasks undertaken by employees in today’s age and time are possible because of technology. Whether collaborating with a colleague in another country, helping a customer navigate a complicated product installation, or applying for vacation and time off, employees use technology at work to do their jobs.

As a leader, it’s important to understand how technology works or doesn’t work for your employees. It directly impacts their experience, how long they’ll remain with the company, and ultimately, the reputation and success of the business. As such, a good company leader should regularly be asking yourself regularly: Is your Company providing sufficient and the correct technology to help your employees perform?

Working post COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work and led to the Great Resignation. The past two years of working from home have been great, proving that one does not need to be in the office to get things done, if the right technology is in place.

A company that has proven its adoption or willingness to adopt technology significantly improved its chance of attracting top talent and retaining them. The opposite was also true. Companies with poor reputations for employee technology could lose as many as six out of 10 employees, according to a Randstad US survey conducted in 2018.

The study, which surveyed 800 C-suite executives and 3,000 workers across the United States, found that companies with superior employee technology were more than 165% likely to achieve their business objectives while saving costs, increasing revenue, and improving ROI for their shareholders.

The survey also found that a company’s reputation as a digital leader would influence their decision to apply to work at a company. Some relevant findings:

• Using the latest digital tools would attract 80% of the respondents.
• An innovative digital culture would attract 72% of the respondents.
• A company that had a reputation for being a digital leader would attract 62%.

Use Technology to Improve Employee Experience

Leaders need to be thoughtful about how they use technology to improve employee experience in the workplace. The task of retaining good employees remains difficult. You want to give them the technology that will best understand them and enable them to do their job, at the same time, not abusing and making them feel micro-managed.

Provide your employees with meaningful technological tools that leave them feeling like they’ve used something almost magical. Instantly approved vacation time requests, found important client information with one click, holding a video conference with 10 coworkers located across the country.

Streamline those unnecessary or complicated processes with proper HRM Software, e.g. Cadena HRM Series 5. No one loves repetitive processes or navigating through multiple complicated systems. For instance, applying for vacation leave should not be so difficult, having to email HR to check your leave balances, then to management for approval, and back to HR for compilation with final notification. Your technology should allow them to perform all these tasks with the click of a button.

Find the Right Tools. When employees use technology at work, they want to use technology that helps them get their job done. Yet only 30% of employees in a 2021 Qualtrics survey said that their company’s employee technology exceeded their expectations. Providing new technology for its own sake or just because it is cheap or free, only makes matters worse. You don’t want your employees taking time to learn how to use some new app or software when it’s not going to help them do their jobs better.

Employers must engage workers more than they have in the past. Executives and leaders need to create feedback mechanisms to communicate with their employees. Leaders should gather feedback from their employees every quarter if the technology provided is sufficient to do their jobs. Leaders need to engage in active listening too. While surveys and feedback loops help, leaders who actively listen to what their employees have to say will learn why this technology is important and why employees want to use it. This will help these leaders make better decisions.

Following through on any promised change is just as important as listening to what workers tell you about their experience with technology. Employees want to know that they’re being heard. If you tell them that you appreciate their contributions and suggestions and yet do nothing, you’ll only drive them away. Keeping employees updated about technological changes, how they’ll help them, how long they’ll take to implement, and other important details will help retain them and improve their satisfaction with the job.

How HRM Software Has Changed the Workplace

Whether the employee works in a remote, hybrid, or office setting, HRM Software technology such as Cadena HRM Series 5 has changed the modern office and how companies do business. If you have any doubts about how technology affects the workplace, consider the following factors:

Improved Productivity has been noticed among remote or hybrid employees through technology. Another way Cadena HRM Series 5 increases productivity is through time management. Cadena HRM Series 5 enables workers to spend less time dealing with redundant processes, HR with ease of clock in/out data compilation or getting that vacation leave or overtime approved, and provides them with more time to focus on important matters.

Better Security compared to lock and file. Personal data is gold for hackers. Many companies made it easy for hackers in the past because they used outdated systems and networks. In 2022, companies are updating their old systems. They use innovative strategies, such as enhanced security software and algorithms to safeguard their employees’ data.

Cost reduction is another benefit of engaging Cadena HRM Series 5. While some technology will inevitably allow companies to use fewer employees to get the job done, it also means that employees using the technology will benefit. As employee technology improves, workers will be able to do their jobs more efficiently and quickly. This doesn’t just increase productivity; it also allows them to reduce costs.

Technology widens your recruitment reach and helps filter out the best fit with a single click. Previously, job seekers may have only come from the immediate area where an opening was advertised. Technology allows anyone in the world to apply. Every time an opening is posted, all sort of Tom, Dick, or Harry will send in their applications. Cadena HRM Series 5 can help create algorithms that will eliminate Dick and Harry and only show you the best Toms available. It simplifies your search, making available a much wider pool of talent from which to hire a new employee.

Onboarding Tom with Cadena HRM Series 5 will make the process easier too. It enables companies to create a paperless onboarding process and increases satisfaction and employee retention. It makes it easier for the HR person responsible for onboarding Tom to create a single window where vital information about Tom can be inputted into the system. It also enables digital training or orientation, which helps new employees get up to speed without having them follow someone around the office to learn the ropes.

Employee Performance Management has enabled companies to get a much clearer idea of their employees’ workplace performance and productivity than ever before through Cadena HRM Series 5. Performance management tools provide employers with accurate data about employees’ activities. While some employees may regard this as intrusive, the reality is that it allows companies to develop talent in a way not possible when they’re only receiving performance reviews once a year.

“Knowing what your employees can and cannot do is an essential part of running an efficient workplace,” Andrew Martins wrote in the Business World Daily in 2021. “While watching them perform on a daily basis gives you some insight, it doesn’t always tell the whole picture. With performance management software, you can pinpoint key data points to get a better idea of your employee’s strengths and weaknesses.”

Conclusion

Almost everything an employee does involves technology of some kind. Leaders and employees both also need to be aware that the HRMS technology they’re using now will change. Leaders need to implement good, reliable, and updated HRM Software like Cadena HRM Series 5 that allows them to constantly interact with their employees to provide them with the tools that will work the best for their job, thus increasing revenue and productivity for the company.

When you provide employee technology that helps workers do their jobs, you have a greater chance of retaining them beyond three years, improving your relationship with customers and thereby increasing your chances of success.