Workers demand tech solutions for productivity
dubai — Staying connected when working can be difficult if you have a large workforce. However, an easy way to get around the problem and boost productivity is by utilising mobile communication solutions to collaborate more efficiently.
According to the Technology@ Work Report, commissioned by Avaya and conducted by YouGov, office workers across the UAE are catching on this trend with 55 per cent of respondents wanting independent access to calling and data packages. In addition, 50 per cent want mobile e-mail access. That compares to just 37 per cent who expressed a desire for internal calls and voice-mail access — the same number that wanted remote access to file servers and databases.
A recent Gallup report found that disengaged employees cost an organisation about $3,400 for every $10,000 in annual salary. It was also found that disengaged employees cost the American economy somewhere between $450 billion and $550 billion in productivity annually. Several studies have discovered a measurable link between a mobilefirst work environment and an increase in employee engagement.
While examining the benefits of a technology-assisted work environment, the ability to be more productive was the most cited benefit by UAE employees, with 58 per cent believing this to be the case. UAE workers are also pioneers in video conferencing, being more likely than the global average to use video to collaborate with colleagues, partners and customers.
The Avaya report also found that while most UAE employees were satisfied with the collaboration and communication solutions available to them, more than one in five said they didn’t have access to the right tools, with mobile packages and mobile access to e-mails again leading demand. In addition, 44 per cent of respondents said their ideal technology environment would build communication and collaboration abilities into existing enterprise applications, such as a click-to-call facility in e-mail, or being able to join conference calls through their calendars.
“Digital transformation’s key objective is speed and agility to an enterprise’s culture. This is a new perception of technology adoption; how to facilitate highly mobile, dynamic teams to collaborate with each other virtually and still deliver a closed meeting-room experience,” says Savio Tovar Diaz, director of sales engineering at Avaya, Asia, MEA and Turkey. “Very often, the collaboration and communication capabilities of employees are limited to basic connectivity solutions.”
Several companies across the UAE are already putting a mobile-centric approach at the top of their agenda, especially in light of the efforts being made by the UAE government to facilitate digital transformation. Digital transformation could generate $16.9 billion in extra revenue each year for companies in the Middle East from 2017 to 2021, as well as $17.3 billion in annual cost savings and efficiency gains, says PwC.
— rohma@khaleejtimes.com