Legacy tech is losing businesses employees and customers.

In a study cited in the Harvard Business Review, 78% of employees said a more supportive work culture motivates them to stay with their employers¹. Another study by PWC stated that 1 in 3 consumers will walk away from a brand they love after one bad experience². Technology is playing a key role in these experiences today, companies who want to attract and retain clients and employees need to immediately start thinking about ways to ensure they’re ahead of the competition.

Taking stock of the technology in your business and the impact it’s having on all your stakeholders can help to reveal problem areas. Many organisations are looking to address such problem areas by setting a strategy to become a modern workplace. What is a modern workplace? In short, it is an organisation that embraces digital collaboration as the new normal and is willing to invest in technology and tools to make it happen.

Let’s have a look at some common workplace issues that can be addressed with new technology. Take for example the meeting room.

Ask yourself some of these questions, and if the answer to any of them is yes, then there are probably solutions that can provide a better customer and employee experience.

Do you still have projectors in your meeting rooms?
Do you still use conference phones or use conference call numbers?
Do you still use whiteboards in hybrid meetings?
Is everyone in your meeting room able to see remote participants?

The reality is that the real cost of having outdated technology is losing customers and employees. By replacing it, a business can potentially reduce the complexity of its IT environment and the cost of supporting it. Most importantly, replacing outdated technology is likely a small cost compared to the potential lost revenue from losing clients due to poor meetings or presentations. It is also small in comparison to the possible loss of reputation due to employees leaving and taking with them valuable knowledge all because of legacy technology that created a poor employee experience.

Other challenges that can be addressed through implementing more modern workplace practices:

Meeting in a hybrid working world - 34% of all employing businesses have staff currently teleworking³, creating distance between employees in the office and those working remotely. Previously simple activities, like gathering in a meeting room for a weekly brainstorming session with your team, can become complicated without the right technology in place.
The real cost of legacy technology – Just because technology ‘works okay’ doesn’t mean it’s serving your business well. The same rules apply to your meeting spaces technology, the costs are unlikely to be isolated to just ongoing equipment maintenance. Equipment downtime may affect your employee’s productivity and take your IT team away from more important tasks, interrupting projects, causing missed deadlines, and impacting business results. It doesn’t have to be this way, by looking at modern and integrated solutions you can help set your business up for success and minimise risk.
Attracting and retaining clients – First, second and third impressions matter. Whether you are presenting to a client for the first time or the ninth time, it’s important to put your best foot forward and engage your audience, but if you are not careful, technology can let you down. Anyone that’s been in the workforce for long enough has probably witnessed a presentation go wrong – common problems include the internet dropping out, the microphone not working, the inability to swap presenters or presentations seamlessly and the list goes on.
Technology shouldn’t be so complex, right? - Ensuring all your meeting room necessities are integrated can sometimes feel like you need a degree to do so. There can be traditionally up to 7+ different pieces of technology (camera, microphone, speaker, whiteboard, phone, display, and PC.) in any given meeting space, creating office clutter, frustration amongst users, and wasted time. The tools within your meeting space being ‘plug and play’ can help minimise fuss or expertise required.
Employee retention – While factors like pay and benefits, leadership, and future direction are important when it comes to employee retention, so is arming your workforce with the right tools to effectively do their job. Ineffective technology and clunky processes may lead to disengagement within your workplace. Implementing or upgrading the technology within your meeting spaces can go a long way in helping your employees have more efficient meetings, complete tedious tasks quicker, and collaborate with ease. A recent KPMG study stated 33% of organisations are investing in new technologies to enhance the workplace environment and employee experience⁴ to address concerns of this nature.

Talk to us today

At FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia, our experts work with you, applying our 60+ years’ of experience, we can decipher your unique business challenges and help you address them. You can rest assured that you are working with a partner that can support your needs and has the solutions to assist in addressing the business challenges you may face in your working environment.

References

1: https://hbr.org/sponsored/2022/11/give-your-employees-the-tools-they-need-to-be-productive
2: https://www.pwc.com/us/en/advisory-services/publications/consumer-intelligence-series/pwc-consumer-intelligence-series-customer-experience.pdf
3: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/business-indicators/business-conditions-and-sentiments/latest-release
4: https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/au/pdf/2021/digital-fuel-digital-transformation-forrester-research-2021.pdf

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