Survey: Digital disconnect hurts productivity, job satisfaction and the bottom line

Dive Brief:

Disjointed digital communication tanks employee morale, lowers productivity and impacts customer satisfaction and the bottom line, according to 89% of respondents in a new report by CITE Research from RingCentral, Overcoming the Digital Disconnect: How Disjointed Communications Technologies are Letting Customers Down — and How to Solve It.
Three-quarters of respondents said disjointed communications tech complicates how they collaborate with colleagues, frustrates their productivity and makes them unhappy at work. Half said this frustration follows them out of the office, making it more likely that they would be rude toward loved ones.
As a resolution, 92% of employees said a seamless platform would allow them to connect to and communicate with co-workers and customers, which would raise job satisfaction. Eighty-six percent said such a platform would raise a company's profitability and 83% said it would entice them to stay longer at a company.

Dive Insight:

Studies have noted a correlation between up-to-date technology and employee engagement. Employers that don't update their digital systems risk not only frustrating workers, but also impeding their ability to do their jobs well and possibly forcing them to quit. According to a Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report, more than half of the employers polled said that their technology offerings factored into candidates' decision about whether to work for them.

Employees with personal tech platforms that are more up-to-date than their employer's are bound to feel frustrated at work. Employers that don't update their platforms may encourage employees to use personal devices to perform work tasks that are too cumbersome to do on employer-issued devices. This can create grave security risks, according to recent research.

HR professionals can team up with IT to assess workers' technology needs and propose whatever updates will keep them productive, satisfied and on board. HR can also work with IT on training employees to recognize and prevent cyber breaches and draft cybersecurity policies to monitor the use of personal devices.