One in ten consider quitting over tech challenges

Employee experience is climbing up the agenda. As organizations grapple with the retention crisis titled the ‘Great Resignation’, they need to ensure that their workers have a great experience at work, and that they are motivated and productive.

While employee experience is normally talked about in terms of perks and benefits, research by software support company Userlane found that HR tech also plays an important role into whether employees enjoy their jobs.

Userlane’s study of 2,000 workers in the UK and Germany found that 85% were happier if they could use software without getting frustrated.

95% said that easy-to-use tech fed into higher productivity; 61% told Userlane they lost 30 minutes a week on challenges with technology and 37% said they postponed important tasks because of tech issues.

These findings are a concern given that 35% of workers told Userlane they were frustrated and had difficulty using workplace software.

As a result, one in ten actually refused to continue to use the software, and another 9% considered leaving their job over their challenges with technology.

Tackling employees’ tech frustrations

As a result, employers urgently need to step up to improve employees’ experience with tech (and more generally at work). If 18% of employees are avoiding using the technology – and instead completing tasks manually – then what was the point of the organization investing in the tech in the first place?

Userlane CEO Hartmut Hahn commented: “Improving digital adoption is clearly not just an IT issue, but an employee experience challenge too.

“For this reason it’s even more essential that it becomes a priority for businesses.

“If employees are struggling to use software, businesses are not receiving the best possible return on investment and, in fact, they are actively losing both time and money.

“In other words, digital transformation can only truly succeed with strong digital adoption. And strong digital adoption ultimately improves the employee experience.”

Thankfully, employers are aware of the need to improve their return on tech investment.

94% of the 500 German and UK business leaders also surveyed by Userlane said they struggle to get employees to take full advantage of the investments that have been made in workplace tech; 28% see less than half of their software investments as seeing an adequate return.

39% said this led to an increase in IT costs, 30% saw a rise in training costs – to an average of £2,000 in the UK, and almost €1,500 in Germany, per employee per year – while 26% have experienced a decline in productivity.

So what are the solutions to drive better digital adoption and employee experience?

Employers must make sure they are implementing easy-to-use tech, and that it’s a tool that employees will actually find useful in their day-to-day work.

Workers may not get on board immediately – but organizations should then take the time to actively communicate the benefits of the tool (only 36% of those surveyed are already doing this).

Userlane also recommends that organizations invest in good quality training – whether that is in-person or online learning and development.

Those that get training right will “experience better engagement, improved employee experience, and – ultimately – higher efficiency, greater ROI, and superior customer service”, according to Userlane’s report.

No, none of this will be cheap, but neither is wasting money on tools employees don’t use or having to replace talent that has quit over your bad employee experience.