Give Your Employees the Latest Tech Tools, or Else!!

Does your small business have the right stuff to attract qualified employees? Technology stuff, that is. Almost three-fourths (72 percent) of workers in a recent Workplace Options survey say that the better the technology tools a company provides to its employees, the more attractive it is as a place to work. 

That number soared to 92 percent among workers aged 18 to 29.

How important is technology? Half of all workers and 75 percent of those aged 18 to 29 say they assess the level of technology a workplace offers when they’re looking for a new job. A good computer doesn’t cut it, either—employees consider that a given these days. What they really want are smartphones, tablets and presentation tools.

It’s not all about them, either. Some two-thirds (65 percent) of employees in the survey say providing employees with current technology is crucial to a company’s success. But less than half (45 percent) say their employer provides up-to-date technology to all its workers.  More than half (53 percent) say that up-to-date technology is essential in order to do their jobs properly. Interestingly, older employees (in the 45 to 65 age range) were more likely than younger workers to say that up-to-date technology was essential both to their jobs and to their employers, and women were more likely to say so than men.

Employees feel so strongly about technology that more than one in five (22 percent) say they would quit or change jobs if their employers didn’t provide the latest technology. That figure was highest among employees age 29 to 44, with 29 percent saying they would quit for this reason.

Nearly three-fourths of employees (72 percent) say their reliance on technology has increased over the past five years; almost half (46 percent) say it has increased “significantly.” Employees in the 29 to 65 age group were the most likely to say their reliance on technology has grown.

What do these figures mean to you?

 No matter how old your employees are, you can’t assume they will be happy to get by with less than the latest technology. While younger employees in the survey cared more about the latest tech tools, they were also less likely to quit over the lack of them. It’s the workers in their prime years—those who are most valuable to your business—that you stand to lose if you’re making them struggle with inadequate technology.

Today, cloud computing, subscription software and lower hardware prices are all combining to make technology more affordable than ever for a small business. There’s no excuse for not upgrading—not when it can make your employees more productive and your business more successful.

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New Technology Makes Small the New Big in Business

In the past larger businesses have had access to all the best tools and resources and consumers have been faced with an impossible choice. Large companies can be faceless, disinterested, and difficult to deal with. However, they have traditionally been able to offer simple, easy solutions that smaller firms could not. From simple things like the ability to contact a firm 24 hours a day, or the ability of a company to take card payments, the big boys had it all. However, the bigger they come, the harder they fall.

Fast Movers

Small companies are now in the strongest position they have been for years. In some senses this is a bit of a no-brainer; if there’s only one of you it’s easy to increase your workforce and productivity by 50 per cent. If there are five thousand of you, then chances are you’ll be looking to shave a few thousand off that figure at the moment. Big firms can’t move quickly when it comes to downturns; their commitments and legal requirements make changes and responses slower, just by virtue of their size.  However, they still have, or had, the edge when it came to technology. Cloud computing and mobile communications have done for that!

Online Solutions

Cloud computing offers a whole range of big business solutions for small firms, from online document storage and back up to online accounting software. The main benefit to most small businesses with cloud computing is that it offers reliable access to their business documents and records at the click of a mouse – and from any computer with an internet connection. Fatal computer crashes could potentially kill a small business a few years ago; today they are nothing more than a small blip – if that.

Easy Pay Solutions

Accounting and payment solutions have also been an area that has been costly and cumbersome for most small businesses. However a number of solutions have started to enter the market. In the past, taking payment from a customer was not always straightforward. It often meant the archaic use of checkbooks or, worse still, cash! For small businesses the hassle involved in the process included large amounts of paperwork, trips to the bank and yet more paperwork. Multiply that by several customers and the whole process could involve more time than it was worthwhile.

It has taken some time but now, at last, all you need in order to take payment on delivery is a mobile phone and a handy little card reader. While mobile card readers have been available for a while, they have come with a not so mobile fee structure.  Today, all that is changing; Intuit Go Payment from a market leading online accounting firm is one good example. With a free, small attachment for your mobile device you can simply swipe your customer’s card and, well, that’s it.  This eminently simple solution is suitable even if you run your business off the back of bicycle. Indeed, it’s this type of technology that’s making running a business off the back of a bike a real possibility. Overheads? What overheads?

On Your Bike David

This type of technology levels the playing field considerably for small and large businesses. For clients, a small firm is often a first choice, and being able to offer the convenient features that were previously the preserve of the big firms, means that first choice is no longer a hassle for customers. As Goliath-like firms struggle to negotiate their way through these troublesome times, the small David-like firms are speeding ahead; even if they only have a bike to do it on.

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