Do Happy Workers Make More Productive Workers?
It is no secret that happy workers are more productive. A recent study by The University of Oxford states employees are 13% more productive when happy. The link between happiness and productivity has often been discussed in relation to pay, healthcare and other essential and non-essential fringe benefits, but not necessarily in relation to the business tools employees can use, or are provided with, to do their roles every day.
Let’s have a look at how technology can help employees be happier in their roles.
Workers Want Companies to Become More Digital
Post COVID-19 there is the added challenge that many sectors are facing, staff shortages across a variety of hospitality and retail sectors. The shortage of labor coupled with their demands for more digital technology, is dominating market survival and organisations need to pivot and update their operations to a more digital world – and quickly.
In the retail vertical, SOTI’s From Bricks to Clicks: State of Mobility in Retail 2021 Report highlighted that over one-third of customers would like sales associates to use mobile devices that allow them to purchase items on the sales floor instead of at the cash register. It stands to reason this avoids waiting in lines that may not be physically distanced – this could make the shopping experience stressful for some customers. As a result, the abandon rate in-store could be increased. These and other factors are nudging retail to a more digital and online world. This may not be improving the in-store shopping experience per se, but by focusing on digital and the online experience, the retail sector is adapting to the current needs of the customer and staff as part of a longer term digital or e-commerce strategy.
Stacey Kane, business development lead at the online builder’s merchant EasyMerchant, says “Digital business models signify the company’s flexibility and fluidity which perfectly conforms to the needs and demands of worried and anxious post-pandemic job hunters. This also opens up the company to global channels where international talents that are potentially cheaper can be sourced.”
The Retail Gazette states that the solution here is to replenish workforces with fresh talent by pivoting to digital business models. By making the leap to full/hybrid tech-centric and remote-based operations, retail companies can thrive and dominate both the market and the candidate pools.
Focus On the Right Tech For the Right People
Often faced with a range of new tech to adapt and get used to, it can become overwhelming and difficult for employees to adjust. Harder still can be pivoting an existing workforce to digital and allowing the time needed for their adjustment.
Avoiding tech overload is key and enabling staff to use their preferred devices where possible really helps to drive results. The lockdown feature found within SOTI MobiControl restricts access to applications on specific devices. Device user profiles created in SOTI MobiControl can be updated and easily maintained with access to the right applications for the user profile only. This avoids providing access to everything to everyone and facilitates user adoption.
In-house applications can be tricky to get used to, let alone costly to create and update. Getting staff involved in any new mobile device strategy or migration must be factored into the mobile application strategy longer term. Also, getting employees involved in application development is a great idea to help with usability and adoption. A simple drag and drop rapid application development platform like SOTI Snap provides a quick and easy, affordable way to create new applications in a simple format.
In a recent PWC report, Carrie Duarte, Dan Staley and Bhushan Sethi say, “When you don’t have a clear and accurate understanding of how your people use technology in their jobs, and what they need and want from those tools, the overall experience people have at work can suffer. A subpar employee experience can have a ripple effect across the organisation, shaping everything from how engaged people are to their enthusiasm for delivering a superior customer experience."
Often devices and technology chosen is governed by trends in that sector or by new features that fit in with current legislation. For example, changes to food labelling legislation such as Natasha’s Law are resulting in high demand for 2D and 3D barcode scanners on handheld computers in the UK. With SOTI MobiControl, organisations can configure, deploy and manage these devices while also ensuring all relevant data is captured and logged for compliance. With this, any changes to food labelling or ingredients for retail is updated on the backend for suppliers with notifications pushed out by SOTI MobiControl to all devices in the chain. Updates to the automated order processes regarding stock levels in the warehouse are also pushed out. Handheld devices will need to sync to onsite printers to print out updated labels as required, or as alerted on the device as substitutes are provided. SOTI Connect enables this connection to these third-party printers.
For end users themselves, factors such as battery life, weight, ease-of-use, memory and any supporting accessories may need to be factored in, other than price per unit and pure compliance and printer capabilities.
Be ‘Remote’ Enabled
Technology needs to work out of the box. While everyone is in the field or working remotely as businesses continue to adapt to changes from the global pandemic, there is little to no face to face help with device issues or software. Having a device and software combination that can be updated, maintained, rolled out and fixed quickly helps keep workers stress-free and happy, as well as customer satisfaction rates high at a time of great competition in all sectors.
SOTI MobiControl works with any remote working strategy to be part of a longer term productivity focus. Remote control is a core part of the SOTI MobiControl solution and allows for web based access to devices where there are operating issues. It not only provides a deeper understanding of the issues, but a quicker resolution as well. Speed for resolution is key for productivity maintenance and to keep workers happy and productive in the field.
For more in-depth analysis and faster resolution time, SOTI Assist can be deployed as a plugin alongside SOTI MobiControl. This powerful combination enables full diagnosis of device issues for IT support teams to learn from for future cases, and to help with updates of device issues across the entire fleet if needed. The shared space, with joint whiteboarding and remote control to resolve the device issue as quickly as possible, allows for improved collaboration across an organisation.
For more information or to book a free trial, please contact SOTI.
