For the small or medium-sized business owner, keeping up with all the latest information technology can be challenging. You’re already incredibly busy with day-to-day business concerns, so you may simply not have enough time to do everything. The only problem is your employees may be slowly building up resentment and frustration towards the company because they feel like the company’s IT practices and policies aren’t what they should be.
A great deal of employee dissatisfaction may relate to efficiency. Your employees view technology as an important tool, one which is an integral part of allowing them to do their jobs properly. A badly deployed system or an undependable tool can give employees plenty to complain about – and it may give them too many chances to make excuses about poor productivity. The following three issues can cause huge issues with your employees, but fortunately these problems are solvable.
Outdated Technology
Most small and medium-sized businesses rely pretty heavily on technology today. If your company isn’t providing employees with the tools they need to do their jobs at peak efficiency, it will inevitably lead to frustration. Are you using hardware or software that is years old? If so, it is likely slowing your employees down, making it hard to work, and even costing you money. Employees would prefer to spend their time making money for the company and for themselves rather than fighting with technology that just doesn’t work like it should. The more time employees are forced to spend spackling together technology solutions, the more man hours you’re losing to this issue.
Bans on the Use of Personal Devices
It is understandable that companies want to protect their data and keep it secure, and this leads many companies to ban the use of personal devices. This can mean employees can’t use smartphones, tablets, or their own laptops while at work. Unfortunately, this type of policy can cause more problems than it solves. Often, employees are already very familiar and comfortable with the systems they are running on their own devices. Using these established systems can really speed up work and make employees more efficient. Allowing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) at work doesn’t have to lead to security issues. Simply make sure that the BYOD policy is written with a focus on protecting company information. Employees will usually be so grateful that they can use their own devices that agreeing to this type of strict policy is no problem. Another major bonus of a BYOD policy is employees can work from anywhere, at any hour.
Frustrating IT Department Interactions
Many small and medium-sized companies struggle with an under-staffed or over-worked internal IT department. Employees often dislike interacting with the IT department because their concerns may not be addressed immediately. This leads to angry employees in every department. The IT workers are likely overwhelmed with work, and it’s not their fault – but this still means that nothing gets done on time or in the most efficient way. Even if the IT department is not in-house, employees may find it upsetting to deal with them if they don’t have fast response times and quick fixes for problems. Hiring the right IT technicians can make a big difference not only with direct interactions, but also with other issues like BYOD policies and outdated technology.
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