Tech that empowers: User experience solutions for the modern business

Making work, work: Why user experience matters

Modern technology presents as many unique challenges as it does opportunities. On the one hand, it has the potential to vastly improve ways of working, and boost end user collaboration and productivity. On the other, a poor user experience (UX) with, or the inability to access that technology can result in rapid disengagement and a lack of job satisfaction. In fact, only 39% of frontline workers today think their companies invest in technologies to meet their needs. Often however, the UX is more valuable than the app or technology in question. Consequently, it’s important for organisations to identify ways to make their products and services simpler to consume and more intuitive. This helps drive end user engagement, which in turn enables employees to work more effectively and deliver results faster. But what exactly makes for a good UX? And how do organisations choose the right technology that empowers people to be productive and make work, work?

Using automation to simplify IT consumption

Despite the common misconception that automation completely replaces or offsets the job we as humans do, most modern systems are designed to augment our capabilities and simplify the way we consume IT. In other words, automation has the power to make jobs easier, faster, and safer, with humans there to support the process. Automated IT provisioning can reduce the onboarding burden for your HR or IT team. For example, imagine having to manually provision hundreds of new employees to their respected systems and applications. Such tedious tasks divert people’s time and focus from more impactful projects and are prone to human error that results in lost time and money. Not to mention a poor UX. With the ability to automatically add, change, and remove access to the systems, data, and applications new employees need – based on the level of their role – IT and HR teams can lighten the staff workload and prevent delays. This helps boost productivity and delivers a better overall employee and user experience.  

Empowering individuals with modern IT

According to recent research, 84% of workers who worked from home because of the pandemic, plan to continue a hybrid work model in the future. Forced into large scale work from anywhere, businesses are learning that placing their end users front and centre is the only way to deliver a superior UX. To do that, simplifying and automating processes is essential. For example, businesses whose IT teams rely on manual remediation of remote employee issues, may be prone to two potential consequences. First, if every issue is treated as a single problem, the fix is based on the IT person’s level of experience. Second, a lack of automation can prevent service desks achieving a higher ticket deflection rate, resulting in a dissatisfied IT experience. For businesses with remote employees waiting longer to get IT issues resolved, experiencing more IT issues, and being plagued by recurring issues, using automation to operationalise remediation can help remedy a degrading digital employee experience. At the same time this can help alleviate the IT support burden, allowing staff to focus on other value-adding tasks. Similarly, for remote employees needing to meet with colleagues in different locations, modern collaboration solutions have been transformative when it comes to enabling anywhere-productivity. In fact, according to Forrester, a potential $44 per user per month savings, including 2% improved user efficiency can be achieved with collaborative document sharing and chat, saving users an average of 50 hours per year. With the right tools, co-workers can meet virtually and instantly access shared resources. Not only does this save time and money in travel costs, meeting output and productivity can greatly be boosted with the ability to collaborate from anywhere. Data access and entry is another task that can be hugely simplified with automation. For salespeople having to manually enter customer relationship management (CRM) data and take notes during calls, automation tools can free up time and attention. This enables sales staff to provide a better, more personalised customer service. And for front line workers under continuous strain from labour shortages and supply chain disruptions, real-time data access can help overcome many of the challenges they face. By equipping them with the actionable insights needed to maintain a safer, smarter work environment, there is huge potential to drive better outcomes for the customers, citizens, and communities they serve. In fact, 87% of employees say their organisation will be more successful when frontline workers can make important decisions in the moment. Modern technology that saves time, enables seamless communication, and maximises efficiency will undoubtedly play a vital role in weathering a future of uncertainty.

Intelligent insights that help drive engagement

The era of hybrid work means it’s more important than ever before to ensure a consistent, connected employee experience and maintain engagement – no matter how or where people work. Tools like Microsoft Viva Insights offer an easy, user-friendly environment and automated data-driven visibility into how work patterns affect wellbeing, productivity, and business performance. For example, front line workers are often on-the-go all day. Managers can help them build a sense of balance and well-being, using Viva Insights to provide better guidance on time management. This can include creating useful recommendations such as protecting time in the day for regular breaks or focused work that helps boost productivity. Employees can access these insights in Teams, in a Briefing email in Outlook, or in a personal dashboard. Manager insights also provide much-needed visibility into work patterns that might lead to burnout and stress, which could be regular after-hours work or meeting overload. Such knowledge is hugely valuable in today’s highly pressurised landscape, with 66% of frontline workers reporting feeling stressed at work.

Getting the foundation right

Driving productivity and collaboration is about more than the systems or tools involved. It’s about getting the right technology into the right hands, and then looking at how well it’s serving your people. Modern technology exists to make processes simpler, faster, safer, and less expensive – but it should never be done at the expense of the end user experience. It’s also vital to make smart investments. Every business has a unique set of needs based on variables such as size and location, industry, and profit margin. Identifying the right technology is only possible once a picture has been built of your challenges, and desired end user outcomes. In the same way, implementation success will depend on many factors such as project governance, solution set up, and end user support. This is where a specialist partner can make a huge difference. At SCC we believe the reach of technology should encompass everyone. As your expert consultants we can help you choose the best UX solutions that not only maximise productivity but support you to create a consistent sense of culture that improves retention, customer interaction, and alignment with your company mission. We’re all about partnership, with a focus on expanding your in-house capabilities and defining the strategy and vision around your next steps. We’d love to hear from you and understand where you are on your journey, so please get in touch for a chat about how we can help drive your business forward.  

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