Could Your Technology be Impacting Employee Morale & Retention?

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Could Your Technology be Impacting Employee Morale & Retention?

Have you ever been taken off course by an event that is going on in your business? It may not even directly impact what you do every day. That thing whatever it is, steals your focus.

We had just this type of distraction in the month of September. I was on my way to work the morning after we had 10 inches of rain, and I got a call from Brian, our Client Services Manager. He was first to arrive at our office, and he found our office was flooded. After navigating through traffic from the freeway being closed due to all the rain, I finally made it in. There was standing water everywhere!

We immediately shifted everyone to working remotely that morning. We were able to keep providing our customers with excellent service despite the location change. No equipment was damaged. It took all week for our building manager and his crew to get things dried out and make sure things were mold free. It turned out to be just a major inconvenience. I’m thankful that everything was okay, and our ability to provide service was not impacted, but it sure was a distraction! All. Week. Long.

I think sometimes IT can be like this. If not managed well, it doesn’t always stop work. We get along even when it is not quite right. We work around those glitches. We figure it out. However, it is a distraction, and over time, it steals focus, and people get frustrated.

If you think about it, just how important is good IT management? Could it be that great IT improves the morale of your team? Could it be that it even creates better employee retention?

One of the things that I enjoy the most about running an MSP business is hearing that we have had a dramatic effect on people, and how they work. Some of the highest praise is that we have made someone’s life better through technology and our services. From a business perspective, when people’s lives at work are made easier, and their company is progressive about supporting them, they feel valued and are more likely to stick around.

Here are My 5 Simple Ways that Well-Managed IT Creates Better Employee Retention:

  1. Eliminates the frustrating support cycle. It surprises me sometimes how many people put up with a frustrating cycle of support. When a phone call or ticket is created to get help, and either no help comes, the wait is long, or the help is not really helpful. Often employees grow tired of the wait, try to Google the answer, or disrupt someone next to them to see if they know what to do. Frustration rises, work piles up, and team members live in annoyance. An IT management resource with a disciplined service desk has a process for answering tickets within a certain amount of time, solving the issue, and communicating the solution. Feedback is gathered on performance, and genuine care for the employee is conveyed.
  2. Stops the 11 PM emails to yourself. Have you done this? You really don’t want to be thinking about work when you are lying at home trying to sleep, but often it is the first time your brain has slowed down enough to think. And, if you don’t make a note for tomorrow, you will forget it or won’t be able to sleep until you know it is noted. Automation technology can take some of that memory overload off your lap. If you use business process automation to automate your team’s daily workflow, the reminders, deadlines, and next actions are handled by the software.There is less need to “remember to do that,” so there is less mental overhead. If you don’t have to keep track of so many things, your brain is freed up for what is important, especially after the workday. More automation means a happier team member.
  3. Creates confidence in your company’s leadership. We have all heard that negativity that can quickly permeate a team. Something like, “We can’t even get the technology we have to work right. How could we ever do something innovative?”. Poor technology management often impacts the worker’s opinion of leadership, which adds to dissatisfaction among the ranks. It isn’t a stretch to say that if you boost the excellence of your IT support, people are happier and even have a better opinion of their employer.
  4. Keeps things from breaking. Some accept that IT is constantly breaking down, and some companies seem to have a negative aura around their IT. The reality is that the negative aura is very often just poor management. If you don’t buy the right quality of equipment or replace it on a specified cycle, your IT is prone to breaking down. If your IT support people just band-aid the problem, it will come back. A proactive stance toward purchasing, cycling, and choosing solutions makes things run smoothly and increases everyone’s morale!
  5. Educates team members on security. I’ve been in some environments where the employee told me they were unsure how to handle certain emails. Or perhaps they had already clicked on something bad and have been branded forever. That guy who opened the FedEx update email and encrypted everything is now known as “FedEx.” An effective education program that helps people be smart about security issues, phishing, and other tactics hackers use can empower employees and make them more confident and happier team members.Most knowledge workers spend every day, all day, on the computers. An internal IT department or an external managed service provider that is not getting the job done can have a significant impact on morale, and even the retention of employees.

If your IT is not great and you have been living with it, it could be doing more damage than you realize. If you are already a client and have a testimonial to the change CTaccess has created for you, I would love to hear it.

If your IT is frustrating and you would like to consider a change, I would be honored to speak with you.