How much time does each of your employees waste dealing with software issues in your business each week? What do you think your employees could do and achieve if this time wasn’t being wasted? What kind of problems could they solve?
Research has found that the average employee is wasting close to 40 minutes each day in the United Kingdom. This is likely to be pretty similar in Australia and works out to be 21 days every year, due to inefficient or slow technology.
Along with the wasted time, you also risk losing potential opportunities to scale and your best employees could jump ship. In one study, more than half of the workers surveyed said that if the company they worked for had better technology they would be more productive. 14% said they would no longer be looking for a new job.
IDC found that the average IT professional and information worker spends 4.5 hours a week just looking for the documents they need. Not only is this incredibly frustrating for employees, but it’s also a massive waste for businesses. Without the ability to access the right information quickly, these employees simply can’t make the best decisions. Instead, the decision-making process can be rushed and/or ill-informed.
Here are a few ways your outdated software may be impacting your employees’ productivity:
Missed Collaboration Opportunities
Communication and collaboration are key for employees, regardless of the industry. When team members rely on each other for feedback and input, the ability to communicate can be the difference between a task completed and a customer or client feeling ‘wowed.’
This is especially true if your employees are located around the country or work from international locations (or even their home office). The latest software solutions make it easy for employees to work from anywhere- whether that’s an airport in Tokyo or their living room in Melbourne. They can collaborate on the same document or task at the same time, see updates in real-time, and all information and data is kept safe and secure.
Lower Happiness
We’ve mentioned the link between employee engagement and motivation and efficiency before. But it’s not just your company culture that plays a part here. Staff morale is unlikely to stay high when your team members are wrestling with slow, outdated software every day.
Employees like to feel productive. When they’re not moving forward at work, and the ‘small wins’ are missing, they’re likely to become disengaged. This is a cycle, as disengaged employees are unproductive, inefficient, and often end up leaving for greener grass elsewhere.
Outdated software leads to low-morale, frustration, boredom, and dissatisfaction. And all of these things have a devastating impact on productivity.
Security Threats
Nothing slashes productivity like being hacked or having your data held hostage by cybercriminals. When you’re using outdated software, you’re painting a target on your company’s back. And it’s often only a matter of time before you’re targeted. Did you know, for example, that companies still using Windows XP are 6x more likely to be infected with malware than those running newer versions of the business software?
The problem with legacy software and outdated applications is that cybercriminals have had plenty of time to figure out the backdoors that allow them to be hacked. Often, malware will completely shut down an entire network, holding it hostage until either the ransom is paid, or the professionals manage to completely remove the threat. Not only will your employees be completely unable to work, but your customer service is likely to be non-existent during this time. Not to mention, you’ll probably spend thousands of dollars getting the problem fixed.
Are you hoping to improve your employees’ productivity? Is your outdated software holding you back? If so, get in touch to learn how we can help.
