03 December 2014
On average, workers lose 11 days per year due to technology problems at work - can your business afford NOT to provide up-to-date technology?
A recent study suggests that workers lose 11 days per year because of technology problems at work. Could old or a lack of technology be holding back your business?
A survey of 1,000 employees was undertaken for Chelsea Apps Factory and most respondents believed they had more sophisticated technology at home compared to their office. This suggests that companies have been slow to improve their IT, despite the costs of technology falling over the years.
According to the research, poor IT provision in the workplace contributes to an average of 22 minutes of lost productivity per day. This adds up to about one day a month. For the UK workforce as a whole, it equates to 7.5 million lost working days every week!
See the Techspectations video for more information.
Technology can be a double-edged sword. While it has the potential to help staff work quicker and more effectively, it can also be responsible for distracting workers, as demonstrated by the results of a CareerBuilder survey earlier this year.
24% of office workers admitted to spending at least an hour of their working day on personal communication, such as texting, emailing and making personal calls. Out of the ten main productivity killers, three of the top five were technology related: mobile phones and texting (50%), surfing the web (39%) and social media (38%).
Technology has been responsible for increasing the productivity of workers by 84% since the 1970s. However, as outlined above, for your business to reap the benefits, the technology needs to be up to date and used appropriately in the workplace.
One of the obvious pieces of advice would be to invest in modern equipment. If you don’t think you can afford this as a small business, remember that the risks of using outdated equipment could be more than the cost of new technology. You could also gradually improve your office tech – you don’t necessarily have to buy everything all at the same time. Here are some other suggestions:
Remember, it’s not always about technology. You can improve productivity by: