Only 20% of Irish executives would describe their current digital experience at work as ‘good’, according to a new report published today by BT.
The report, based on a survey of 1,100 business executives and 600 IT decision makers (ITDMs) in 11 territories across the world (including Ireland), found the vast majority (nine out of ten) of respondents agree that mobile tools and collaboration services are improving productivity in the workplace. In Ireland, 94% reported greater productivity as a result of improving digital employee experiences.
Greater productivity is a goal for many digital transformation programmes and it has the support of employees. However, the report found that only 20% of Irish executives would describe their current digital experience at work as ‘excellent’. A majority (79%) said that if they were CEO, boosting productivity would be their priority (up from just 57% in 2015). Ninety one per cent of executives also highlighted security as a growing concern over the last two years.
The report suggests that there are five simple building blocks to better employee productivity: a more connected, video led workspace; easier working and collaboration away from the office; corporate apps, instant messaging services and better devices.
When asked what would help employees in Ireland work effectively at the office, 65% of executives said “better wi-fi” compared with just 30% who said “more meeting rooms”. Forty seven per cent said “interactive smart collaboration screens” and 22% said “video rooms”.
Seventy one per cent of Irish executives said “they would rather their IT department invested in better technology for use when on the move than at work” compared to a global average of 57%. When it came to tools that made Irish employees more productive, half (50%) of Irish executives used Instant Messaging (IM) over email.
Commenting on the research, Head of Unified Communications Proposition at BT Ireland, Joe Walsh said, "Our research tells us that Irish employees are fully engaged and ready to use new technology to digitally transform their business, but their digital experience needs to improve to facilitate this change and boost productivity. The good news is that there’s a straightforward way to boost workplace productivity. New, smart ways of working can be achieved through mobile and collaboration tools deployed as cloud-based services and backed by wireless connectivity."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
