Time to upgrade – or your staff will walk, bosses told

Ageing PCs on scrap heap

Almost half of office workers would be tempted to work for another employer if they offer better apps to make their working lives easier.

That’s according to a transatlantic survey commissioned by an enterprise productivity operating system provider which spoke to 1,500 in the UK and a similar number in the US.

Researchers found that Americans were the most fussy when it came to their tech: six in ten would consider making a leap, as opposed to half of those in Britain.

At the heart of it was the fact that many were not happy with the apps provided by employers to do their jobs and collaborate with colleagues during the pandemic lockdowns.

The survey highlighted a lack of training from employers with many saying they had access to less since working from home.

The vast majority of them said that the apps, tools and tech were important, while one in five in the UK put “being provided the right apps and tech tools to succeed in my job” in the top three most important factors impacting job satisfaction.

with many employees likely to work on a hybrid basis going forward, it is an important moment to invest in our people

The research adds weight to concerns about a “Great Resignation”, with almost a quarter of workers claiming they are actively planning to change employers in the coming months, according to a separate survey of 6,000 workers by recruitment firm Randstad UK.

Adam Toms, CEO-Europe at the survey’s authors, OpenFin, described this as a “wake-up call for employers” indicates that the software and tech tools provided to employees are at the heart of both staff retention and productivity.

He said: “Now that there is potential light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, and with many employees likely to work on a hybrid basis going forward, it is an important moment to invest in our people.

“This means considering the application, software and training needs of staff, supercharging employees with the right data in their workflows and decision making to make them more efficient, more effective and much happier.”

The research did reveal that working from home during Lockdown had a positive effect on working relationships, with almost half stating they actually improved while working from home.

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