Why Employees and Not IT Are Driving the New Technological Revolution

Why employee input on workplace technology is important

Getting employees’ input and buy-in when implementing new technology is essential for the following reasons.

1. Employees can help you select the right technology to improve operations.

Technology can be a workplace game-changer or an expensive albatross for your team members. Employees are essential for ensuring you purchase and implement the right digital tools to enhance operations — not weigh them down.

For example, business leaders may know they want to implement one of the best CRM software solutions to streamline customer interactions. However, numerous options exist with wide-ranging features. So, involving the company’s sales and support staff in the decision-making process is critical. These employees interact with customers daily and know what features would be most helpful, such as automation tools or integrations with other business software. Their input can help management choose a CRM to streamline workflows, improve customer response times and enhance overall productivity.

Employees understand the unique pressures in their workplace and are well-suited to identifying operational bottlenecks and productivity barriers. Their insights are vital for choosing solutions that increase productivity, improve efficiency, and reduce frustrations for both customers and team members. For this reason, involving employees in the decision-making process when investing in new technology is a no-brainer.

2. Tech adoption is smoother when employees have input.

Digital tool adoption is much more seamless when employees are on board with, enthusiastic about and have agency over the technology they work with.

Paul DeMott, CTO of Helium SEO, saw this firsthand when the company decided to implement new project management software; he invited team leaders from different departments to test options and share what worked for them. “Because they had input, the transition was much smoother, and people felt empowered to use the new system right away,” DeMott recalled. “This kind of involvement boosts morale and ensures we’re getting the right tech solutions for our business.”

Alan McNabb, VP of internet marketing firm Image Building Media, cautioned that not involving employees early on in tech decisions is a common mistake that causes friction. “I’ve always believed that employees are the ones who know what their day-to-day work requires, and if their needs aren’t considered, adoption rates suffer,” McNabb explained. “I remember one client who implemented new software without consulting their team, and it ended up being a mess — people just went back to their old ways, and the investment didn’t pay off.”

3. Involving employees in tech decisions improves engagement.

Getting your team involved in tech decisions is an excellent way to improve employee engagement; such an improvement can boost overall business productivity and workplace morale. In fact, according to a Freshworks study, 82 percent of employees surveyed said the technology they work with significantly impacts their workplace happiness and engagement. When provided with tools that meet their needs and exceed their expectations, employees are more likely to feel valued and motivated.

What can involving employees early in the selection process do for businesses? It can ensure they choose solutions that align with team members’ day-to-day needs and preferences and boost engagement.

4. Giving employees tech input helps you attract and retain top talent.

Competition for talent is fierce, so businesses must create an appealing atmosphere. This practice can attract top-level job candidates and retain valued workers.

Business technology is a significant but often overlooked element of employee retention and satisfaction; it can help you attract and retain excellent team members. It’s particularly important if you manage a multigenerational workforce with tech-savvy younger workers. In fact, according to CompuCom, half of American workers reported that they’ve either switched jobs or are thinking about doing so because of frustrations with workplace tech. Additionally, according to Scalable, 29 percent of workers blame poor digital experiences for wanting to leave a job.

Involving your employees in the tech decision-making process helps ensure they have the right tech tools to do their jobs correctly; this involvement boosts their job satisfaction and gives them another reason to stick around. Staffing your business and interviewing promising job candidates? Then sharing that employee input is valued when tech decisions are being made signals that your business fosters an empowered company culture that respects autonomy.

5. Employee input on tech decisions improves the customer experience.

Your employees can offer valuable perspectives on the products that best meet your business’s needs while positively impacting customer satisfaction. For example, software integrations are critical to modern businesses — particularly workforce management apps that connect to CRM systems and HR management tools. Employees who use these tools daily can provide insights into how integrating them helps manage inventory levels. They can also create schedules that align with customer demands, efficiently manage staff support lines and schedule deliveries. These integrations ensure customers receive timely and effective service.

Additionally, employees can be instrumental in creating and populating web knowledge bases and FAQs. This enables customers to find quick solutions to their problems and improves the overall customer experience.

6. Employee input can guide AI usage for better employee and customer outcomes.

Successful onboarding and employee training can be more challenging in hybrid work environments, which are increasingly common today. Consulting your team can help you determine whether an AI-powered app is the right solution to customize and improve training in a hybrid setup.

AI-driven apps can train staff in real time during customer interactions. For example, if a new employee is handling a customer complaint, on-screen prompts can offer suggested responses based on the customer’s input. This way, the employee can learn and build experience on the job. Employees involved in choosing these tools can ensure they meet a business’s unique practical needs and are user-friendly — accommodating the team’s varying tech skill levels.

Additionally, employees can provide valuable insights into common customer inquiries. This can inform how AI-driven apps handle and route queries via email, SMS, phone, social media or messaging platforms. When employees are involved in designing and customizing AI-driven apps, response times improve and customer satisfaction rises.

Best practices for involving employees in technology decisions

Understanding the distinct needs of various departments in a company can be challenging for business owners and leadership teams. If they impose a solution without gathering input, it’s unlikely to succeed. In contrast, involving staff members in the technology selection process ensures everyone is on board and on the same page.

Here are some best practices for gathering employee input in digital decisions.

1. Proactively ask employees what tools they need.

According to CIO Insight, two-thirds of American workers spend up to two hours a day on nonproductive manual tasks. To minimize this resource waste, meet with employees and ask them which activities take up much of their time without delivering added value. They may cite tasks like handling emails, directing calls, streamlining accounting entries and chasing unpaid invoices.

Next, brainstorm with your IT team and other employees. Look for ideas on tech tools that could automate these processes and free them to tackle assignments that bring more value to the business — and more satisfaction to your team. Your IT team can even present ideas that can streamline processes and improve employees’ daily work lives.

McNabb emphasizes the importance of regular feedback sessions and open communication channels between IT and the broader team. “I’ve seen success when companies create pilot groups made up of employees from different departments to test new technologies,” McNabb noted. “It makes everyone feel heard and results in better choices.”

2. Ask employees for feedback on integration opportunities.

Business software integrations can improve customer outcomes while streamlining employees’ jobs. Ask your employees for input about the following integration opportunities and determine together the best course to take:

• Integrate your merchant account dashboard with your online accounting software. The best merchant account services integrate with top accounting software packages; this allows you to easily sync data instead of manually downloading and uploading it between systems. Ask your bookkeeper and other appropriate finance team members for their input on specific solutions. For example, as our Clover review explains, this platform integrates with QuickBooks and Xero — creating separate entries from merchant account settlements and fees.
• Integrate your e-commerce store with your inventory management software. Check with your web development team and other appropriate employees about integrating your online store with inventory management tools. This integration will allow team members to automatically remove items when they’re out of stock to avoid disappointing customers.
• Integrate your call center software with your CRM tool. Ask your sales and service teams how integrating your call center software with your CRM platform can help them better serve customers. They can advise you on the channels this integration should support to increase the likelihood of first-call resolutions.

3. Consult remote employees on their tech needs.

Remote teams are often left out of tech implementation decisions and discussions. However, this is a mistake. As of 2023, 12.2 percent of all U.S. workers were fully remote, and more than 4.7 million U.S. employees worked remotely at least half the time. With such widespread telecommuting, ensuring your remote and hybrid teams can access the appropriate technology is crucial.

Ask your remote employees what they need in terms of access to your company CRM, broadband internet, call center software and more. Make it a priority to ensure your remote team has the tools they need to do their jobs effectively.

4. Work with your employees to launch new technology and implement proper training.

Gathering employee input isn’t over after you’ve purchased new technology. You’ll need their insights and guidance as you and your IT team work to implement that technology and set up employee training.

Many companies use an agile development approach to introduce new technology — starting with a minimum viable product (MVP) before rolling it out. Be sure to train your team members on how to use their part of the system. You could do this through classroom sessions, instructional videos or an internal knowledge base. Proper training ensures that employees will use the new technology appropriately; it also provides an opportunity to gather their feedback on the new system.

5. Test new technology for user experience and accessibility.

Your employees’ input on a tech tool’s usability and user-friendliness is crucial. Any technology you implement must be workable for its intended users, whose technical expertise may vary. If team members find a new tech tool challenging, they may become frustrated. This can lead to decreased productivity.

For the best results, use free trials and demos to ensure a product is a fit with your team. Conduct testing in small groups to assess its user-friendliness, accessibility and to identify any issues. Max Shak, founder and CEO of web solutions agency Nerdigital.com, stressed the importance of gaining buy-in from potential users in various departments. “Engaging employees from different departments in pilot programs is a great way to gather hands-on feedback before a company-wide rollout,” Shak advised. In other words, ensure the system is as user-friendly as possible before rolling it out.

6. Continually gather employee feedback to improve your tech stack.

According to Shak, gathering employee advice and input on current and future technology is a continual process. “Having an open forum for regular feedback is crucial,” Shak noted. “Employees need to feel empowered to share their opinions without fear of being overlooked.”

While no tech tool will be perfect, adding new functionalities and making existing features easier and faster will help keep your workforce satisfied and reduce costs.