How Right Technology can Ensure that Most of Your Employees Stick Around Every organization must have in place the basic technology needed for its employees to function as their roles require.
By Nidhi Singh
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
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Technology plays a very important role in the workplace. Many digital tools have made it easier for HR departments to perform core functions like handling payroll, monitoring performance, collecting supervisory feedback. Compromising with outdated technology is something your company simply cannot afford. The young tech-savvy generation expects technological innovations which can cut their workload and increase productivity.
BIZ Experiences India lists down a few ways how the usage of right technology can help employees stick around in a company for long.
E-learning Courses:
Investing in employees has always been one of the most effective ways to ensure they stick around, in addition to upskilling them for the benefit of the company. It creates a sense of belonging and loyalty, which further augments the performance of the employees.
Using technology in HR can now go well beyond simply being used to provide platforms for employees for their various benefits. Arshan Vakil, Founder & CEO, Kings Learning feels various technology tools if used effectively can actually help employees stick around in a company.
"Technology now makes this much easier to do for a company of any size. The multitude of online courses and learning resources available can be leveraged to offer employees different learning opportunities. In a best-case scenario, such opportunities will increase employees job performance and keep them happier and when the learning opportunity is not related to their job role, it will still create a better working environment for the employees and keep them around," shared Vakil
Social Collaboration Tools:
Every organization must have in place the basic technology needed for its employees to function as their roles require. Zareen Bathena, SVP and Head-HR, Worldline South Asia and the Middle East emphasized that things as minor as an outdated laptop and as big as lack of knowledge sharing or opaque appraisal systems can make an employee disgruntled and increase attrition.
"The organization should invest in technology, not just from a business point of view but from an ergonomic and continuous improvement perspective. New technology should be introduced to improve productivity and enable smooth everyday functioning of individuals and teams. Also, when employees compare the facilities provided by their company vis-à-vis others (like online tools to declare investments or file their reimbursements), it might play a role in the positive or negative sentiment they harbor for the company," said Bathena.
She further suggested a few tools that organizations must encourage to make office life easier.
"Companies like ours have even developed in-house tools for collaboration. Circuit is a tool that we use globally for social collaboration. Through Circuit, we arrange local and global e-meetings or calls and have discussion forums for various functions or projects that people across countries and time zones are working on together. We also use blueKiwi, which I can loosely describe as our version of Facebook. We share knowledge with our colleagues, announce campaigns, collect feedback etc. through BlueKiwi," added Bathena.
Software to Manage Remote Workers:
Employee engagement is an integral part of any business today as an engaged employee needs to feel like they're a part of a team that's working towards a common goal, and that they're a valued member of the company & not just a tool for generating profit. With today's technologies, it's easy to use professional social media and collaboration tools to keep up-to-date on projects instantaneously.
According to Rinju Reji, HR & Admin Manager, Bombay Shirt Company, remote work, and online communication help boost employee engagement by allowing more & better communication between workers, no matter where they are located.
"A virtual workforce like Trello, Slack, Wunderlist or Cite HR also cut overhead costs and shows that you trust your employees to work remotely, leading to happier, more motivated & productive employees," said Reji.
