The Top 7 Technology Upgrades Employees Want to See

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Technology is most often designed to make life easier for employees and employers alike, but not all technology systems and policies comply with this vision. Companies face a number of challenges when finding and implementing new technologies for their workers, including managing expenses, finding the "right" platforms to use, minimizing dissonance when switching systems, and navigating the red tape of bureaucratic decision-making.

But ultimately, employees are the ones who will use the technology you provide for them, and their performance depends on getting the right tech in their hands. So what does that tech look like?

Most Desired Upgrades

These are some of the most demanded technology upgrades, according to workers:

1. Better training software.

Better training software allows you to get new people on the job faster, more efficiently, and with greater confidence. Not only does this improve productivity and make your turnover smoother, it better integrates employees into their work environments so they're more confident and better empowered in their individual roles. Software like TalentLMS offers gamification elements to better engage employees, and cross-platform compatibility so your employees can use it pretty much anywhere.

2. Better project management software.

After training, your employees will be spending most of their time working on various tasks and projects, according to their team and managers' needs. If your project management system is a mess, it won't matter how efficient or productive your workers are—they'll wind up confused and frustrated. Tech products like Producteev attempt to make life easier by intuitively organizing high-level projects and low-level tasks, so all your workers and supervisors stay on the same page. Every business has different types of projects to work on and productivity goals to aim for, so do your research here.

3. More consistent, integrated communication tech.

Everything in business requires some degree of communication, and the better your communication tech is, the more efficiently and accurately your workers will be able to exchange information. Standard tools like Skype are a good choice, but today's worker also wants integrated solutions; for example, they would prefer to hold small conversations in the platform relevant to that conversation, rather than opening an entirely new program. That means you'll need to scout all your new software—including project management and training software—for internal communication abilities.

4. Tech that enables remote work.

Remote work is a rising trend, with almost a quarter of workers doing some to all of their work at home last year. It's in demand, which means employees want better tech that enables them to work from home. Most of your internal processes should be digitized, with little to no reliance on tangible things like whiteboards, printed papers, or even physical meeting rooms.

5. Improved devices (or a BYOD policy).

Employees are also starting to feel more comfortable using their own devices, rather than company-issued models. Rather than juggling multiple computers and multiple phones, having one tablet or similar device to manage everything can make life easier—especially as workers come and go from the office. Consider instituting a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, possibly compensating your workers for their work-related tech purchases and optimizing your policy for your company security.

6. Regular updates.

Technology changes quickly. Every year, new devices flood the market that outcompete their obsolete counterparts by a wide margin; they're more reliable, they're faster, and they're capable of more complex functionality. You don't have to replace your employees' devices every year, but some kind of regular update policy can prevent your workers from being stuck with a slow or unnecessarily old device.

7. Minimalism.

There are hundreds of tech products out there, but that doesn't mean you need to have hundreds of tech products running in circulation within your business. Instead, most employees would prefer a more minimalistic approach, utilizing only a handful of different solutions at any one point in time. This means it's usually better to find one or two tech products that achieve a dozen functions between them, rather than a dozen products that all specialize in different areas. It makes things less confusing and easier to learn.

Balancing Costs

In an ideal world, your company would have enough money and resources to buy every new technology product and update your employees' tech regularly, but that just isn't feasible, even for the richest and most profitable businesses. Your job, therefore, is to find a way to balance your employees' wants with the resources you have available.

Talk to your employees to learn what they want or need the most, and set a schedule of updates that fits into your budget. Not only will it help you adhere to your technology upgrade goals, it will boost the morale of your employees as they find they have something to look forward to.

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