Cutting-Edge Technology To Attract and Retain Employees
72% of UK employees report that state-of-the-art technology is more important in creating the ideal workspace than office design and on-site amenities.
Which makes tech the latest perk in your employee attraction and retention toolkit. Yet only 15% of UK workers believe their employer offers technology that’s ahead of the curve.
This article reveals the technical solutions that will help your business exploit this gap and attract the best and brightest.
Flexibility Improves Productivity
New employees want to be able to make an impact from day one and ageing tech that’s not fit for purpose won’t help them. One way around this is to implement a Bring Your Own Device scheme that allows employees to use their own mobile technology for work.
Benefits
When new hires work on a familiar device they can hit the ground running with reduced training needs. 70% of HR professionals think generation Y employees perform faster if they’re allowed to use their own mobile devices instead of computers.
You’ll also reduce your hardware spend, licensing and maintenance costs and improve flexibility and choice for employees. Plus, the flexible working that mobile technology allows supports recruitment activities and improves productivity.
Risks
If not handled correctly, BYOD can pose cyber security challenges and put business systems at risk.
The key to making a successful transition is to implement policies that help employees make the right choices. Protected cloud services can be set up to automatically update software and ensure employees have everything they need to be fully operational and secure.
Hire Equipment for a New Lease of Life
If BYOD feels a little risky, consider leasing the latest IT for your business.
Benefits
Leasing gives you more control over the devices in use and reduces the difficulties associated with BYOD schemes that inevitably introduce a wide range of devices to your organisation.
You also side-step the issue of obsolete and depreciating equipment and aid cash flow with predictable monthly expenses. When your lease is up, you choose new equipment to keep your business at the cutting edge of technology and ahead of your competitors.
Risks
As with most lease-hire agreements, you’ll pay more in the long run. However, factor in the softer benefits, such as improved productivity, enhanced employee engagement, improved retention, and lower hiring costs and leasing looks very attractive.
Flexibility and Efficiency with Cloud Services
More businesses than ever are moving to cloud-based technology because it’s flexible and scalable to business growth.
Benefits
Cloud services are the ultimate in flexible working allowing your business to be truly responsive to customer needs. Employees can work from client offices, on-site or from home offering improved customer service. Being in the right place at the right time with the right information could be the difference between capitalising on new business opportunities or not.
This approach could even save you money when negotiating wages for new hires; according to Deloitte, 64% of employees would opt for a lower paying job if they could work away from the office.
Hire a new employee and simply add them to the software licensing agreement; when someone leaves, remove them from the license and access list to control costs and ensure security.
Risks
The main risks for cloud services are cyber security and continuity of access for employees.
Moving your systems and data from your own servers to the cloud means you are putting your business and customer information in the hands of a third-party supplier. Mitigate this risk by using respected companies, like Microsoft, who provide security, back-up and disaster recovery you can rely on.
Working with a specialist IT firm can help you transfer securely and smoothly to a cloud-based system and can provide the support you need to ensure access is continuous.
One Password to Rule Them All
Numerous independent systems mean multiple passwords that are hard to remember and often written down. Which isn’t great for your cyber security. Cloud services connect software systems allowing access via single sign-on. This means employees only need one password to access a range of apps, software, and systems.
Benefits
It’s likely some of your employees will already use the same or similar passwords across multiple systems despite knowing that this reduces security. Which makes moving to a single password for all systems less of a shift than you might expect.
What’s guaranteed is that employees will save time and effort associated with multiple logins. It also makes accessing a variety of systems seamless and easy and reduces help desk support calls to reset passwords.
Single sign-off further enhances cyber security because employees only need to sign out of multiple systems once.
Risks
If an employee’s single sign-on password gets into the wrong hands it can open up all your systems to people who shouldn’t have access. Minimise this risk by requiring a two-stage authentication process; this will make it less likely someone would have all the information required to get in and will only slow employees down a little.
Restricting access to files within the cloud on a need-to-know basis will also segment the data that employees, and anyone who gets hold of their details, can access.
Cutting-Edge Technology That Trains
Cutting-edge technology is no longer to do with providing the fastest desktop or a bigger screen. Now employees are asking whether the technology their employer provides is advancing their skills.
Benefits
Up-to-date systems can help you sell your company during interviews. If your business values include flexibility, openness, and collaboration, having the systems and tools in place to support these behaviours demonstrates you live your values.
New technology also demonstrates a commitment to growth both for the business and employees and it’s something to reference at recruitment to give your business the edge in securing talent.
Risks
The main risk here is taking an ad hoc approach to the introduction of new technology. Auditing your existing systems and developing a strategy to provide what your business needs is the best way to future-proof your business.
As tech progresses at lightning speed, employers must provide access to the latest technology or risk losing top talent to competitors who aren’t afraid to digitise. From cloud services to mobile technology, investing in modern tech will improve your cyber security, enable business growth and enhance the way you do business. So, if you want to grow and you’ve been thinking of an IT review, now’s the time to do it. To find out more about the benefits of cloud technology, read our recent article What is The Cloud & Why Should You be Using it?
