The pandemic has brought a greater focus to employees’ reliance on technology and their employee experience as the remote working trend started to rise in line with initiatives to curb the spread the virus.
And with many having to work from home almost overnight, the reliance on technology to complete their work is greater than ever.
According to Varinderjit Singh, General Manager of Lenovo Malaysia, when employees know what they need to get done but are limited by their technology resources, they become frustrated, and this triggers a vicious cycle of disengagement.
“Good employee experience drives bottom-line growth, as satisfied employees create exceptional customer experiences,” Singh says.
According to a Forrester report commissioned by Lenovo and Intel, although most firms have only just established their FX strategy within the last five years, it is said that on average, IT leaders are reporting a five-fold return on their current EX investments ranging from employee productivity, organizational agility, and customer satisfaction.
The report only shows that 51 percent of IT decision-makers report more than 10 percent improvement in customer satisfaction due to employee experience investments. Nearly 60 percent of IT decision-makers have seen more than 10 percent increase in employee experience scores by improving employees’ satisfaction with technology.
These decision makers also expect to almost double their investment into the initiatives over the next two years.
In the new era of hybrid work
“A year on, with hybrid working on the rise, organisations are making sure that they are prepared for it and improving employee experience will be key. With nearly 40 percent of companies anticipate most of their employees being hybrid, the new normal will be the golden era of hybrid working,” Singh highlights.
With nearly 40 percent of companies anticipate most of their employees being hybrid, the new normal will be the golden era of hybrid working. “Employees have to ensure that these dispersed employees continue to stay efficient and motivated, making sure that they are empowered to their work productively and efficiently,” he tells BusinessToday.
As a result, initiatives that are targeted specifically at creating compelling employee experience are now seen as new ways of improving engagement and satisfaction. Overall, organisations under that there are a few areas that they need to invest in.
For instance, IT tools that are purpose built for hybrid working, ranging from devices, infrastructure, services, and support. Additionally, corporates are also looking to create an office environment that is optimised for collaboration for its dispersed workforce and come up with corporate policies that matches reality.
Enhancing Employee Experience
“IT decision-makers acknowledge the need for the prioritisation of EX initiatives and a focus on employees’ technology experiences. However, there is a clear disconnect between their priorities and what employees actually want to get their work done,” Singh says.
To drive positive employee experience in today’s hybrid work environment, Singh says decision makers should consider reframing employee-facing technology costs as investments in employee experience.
He also urges decision makers to invest in new, modern PC devices in order to improve their experience and boost productivity.
“Organisations can improve employees’ dissatisfaction by increasing their refresh cycle frequency to provide newer, more modern PC devices and more device choices that meet employees’ needs. Investing in the right tools, with employees’ inputs, can create a seamless user experience that enables them to their best work,” Singh points out.
The General Manager also calls for the need to streamline overall modern workplace solutions to enhance efficiency, value, productivity and security.
“It’s not just about the devices in employees’ hands, it has been a trend where companies are moving away from on-premises IT infrastructures and are looking to adopt modern workplace solutions characterised by cloud-based resources that better facilitate hybrid work.”
Singh further encourages IT decision-makers to consider partnering with IT service providers for Managed Services and Device as a Service (DaaS) which allow them to outsource the responsibility of managing their IT infrastructure to the IT services partners such as Lenovo.
“Under DaaS, hardware and services are accessible via a lease-like model rather than being outright bought, thus making the equipment more affordable to upgrade IT infrastructures and ultimately do more with less,” he says.
The Microsoft Modern Workplace by Lenovo also allows organisations to leverage certified experts to implement productivity, collaboration, agility, and security solutions built on Microsoft’s technology stack and best practices.
With this solution, organisations can provide employees with a seamless user experience and peace of mind that enables employees to do their best work. With Microsoft Modern Workplace, in-house IT teams can focus on more strategic matters, such as planning and strategising initiatives to boost EX.
For employees looking for high productivity and performance, they may consider devices that are purpose-built for working from anywhere, such as Lenovo’s ThinkPad and ThinkBook series.
“When employees meet neither in person nor as frequently, it is important to note that they can be effectively engaged when equipped with modern, quality PC devices. Features that enhance flexibility at work, such as smart stand-by and long battery power will become much more important for seamless transitions between home, office and everywhere in between,” Singh concludes.
