5 tips for leveraging technology to power your people

In a remote-first world, smart, scalable technology is central to success. While core business operations are a part of that, the priority should be on how that technology better serves the employee experience. Because when employees work more intuitively, with less cognitive burden, they feel better doing their work and pass that experience along to whomever the business serves.

The decision to upgrade, switch, or build the tech tools a company uses can be made clearer by approaching the change from a few different perspectives all while keeping the end user — the employee — top of mind.

Consider IT’s role

Companies need the IT infrastructure that will support remote work — tech tools and capabilities for IT to troubleshoot and resolve problems that employees run into virtually. From a system maintenance standpoint, businesses need a centralized and virtual approach to managing software versions. And having that hardware reside elsewhere means that the system must be easy to learn for even the most novice tech user since employees are working remotely.

Making the IT experience and all of its touch points work well, not just for business needs but also for employees, in a remote-first world is essential to maintaining productivity and engagement.

Evaluate the process, not just the tool

The first step when auditing existing technology is to evaluate the holistic process, not just the tools. It’s easy to get caught up in time spent on tasks, the number of clicks, or other detailed metrics of productivity, but what if that tool isn’t needed at all? Or, what if a flawed process is requiring use of a tool at the wrong time or by the wrong person? It’s helpful to periodically audit the organizational goals and how they’re achieved. For companies without a dedicated user experience staff, basic UX activities can be learned and adapted by anyone with the right mindset.

Another possible major yet common pain point is internet speed and quality from an employee’s home. To the extent possible, tech deployed to employees should not demand ultra-high-performance equipment since bandwidth and connectivity vary wildly.

Prioritize employee UX

Technology is embedded in literally every business function, and that’s especially true in a remote-first business. Confusing, slow, or buggy tech is deeply frustrating for employees, causing inefficiency and taking precious time away from their core duties, or even their personal time.

This is why a well-thought-out user experience is important, especially for repetitive work, to increase efficiency and productivity and to also reduce stress and increase satisfaction for employees, who in turn, deliver better experiences to whom the company serves.

When a company considers new tools, it’s important to first listen to employees. Understanding how work is going is important, sure, but more importantly, how does it feel for them? The wrong tools drain employees of their energy and cause disruption. This can be even more true in a remote world where employees function on a technological scale — with everyone at varying stages — and where troubleshooting cannot be done as easily.

Tech enables employees to do their jobs; the right tech should make those jobs easier.

By upgrading employee-facing technology, employees will be more productive and feel their employer is investing in their success by providing the tools they need. Ultimately, making the lives of employees simpler through technology pays back benefits in engagement and retention, which is always good for business.

Choose the right software

With the employee experience top of mind, companies should first look for a tool that does what’s needed. Using familiar and well-designed technology lessens overall costs, including training costs, and can be simpler to onboard. Especially if standard software has the capabilities that companies seek, it is usually better to license than to build.

With that though, it’s important to not fall into the trap of adopting new tools that don’t quite fit requirements and trying to use them in unintended ways. When doing so, the tool never really helps the way it should, and both the company and employees experience more interruptions and frustration by trying to force something than saving any time at all. Off-the-shelf software should be used for what it was built for.

While proprietary software can provide competitive advantages, it is a significant investment and one that can be assessed based on thinking through some of the earlier points.

Work incrementally

Part of good software development habits is to work incrementally. Companies can set a broad vision, but research and test cycle builds should be done in small pieces to course correct throughout the process and to help the organization consume change at a reasonable pace

Most complex projects can’t be completed as a single delivery; it’s too easy to miss details, do something wrong, or over-engineer part of the solution. And this is true whether it’s a technical build or a process change. Instead, small, incremental updates with room to change direction based on midstream learnings helps support success.

This incremental approach to work provides necessary stage gates to ensure updates are doing as they should and working as intended so the technology, in all of its iterations, better serves employees.

Related: 5 things you’re not getting from your benefits technology provider

Throughout the process of upgrading any technology, companies must remember that it is meant to be a tool, and in a remote-first work environment especially, how that tool serves employees is the first question. The right talent will help assess and implement these tools over time. The correct understanding of what’s critical will help the employee experience overall. When a business has the right tools for the right people, that’s an investment in their success, and consequently, the company’s.

Stephanie Copeland Weber is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Ruby.