4 Important Ways Technology Can be Used to Boost Employee Wellbeing

When we talk about IT strategy, we often think about technology benefits for small businesses. From enhanced small business processes, reducing business costs and improving workplace productivity. 

What often isn’t discussed, is how technology can be used to boost employee wellbeing. 

Yet today's businesses are required to focus on their team’s health and wellbeing more than ever before. With the ongoing challenge of the labour shortage, as well as an increasing number of teams working remotely, companies must put the wellbeing of their employee’s first if they are to hire and retain the top talent in their industry.

Employee satisfaction and team loyalty is now a crucial component of a productive workforce - and technology can help.

Why technology is important for employee wellbeing

When we think about business technology, one of the first few things that come to mind is artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. The fear is how these new technologies will one day replace humans in the workplace, and that fear drives the discussion of the relationship between business technology and humans.

What we don’t discuss, however, is how these technologies (and others) will be used to complement the work humans do. 

Technology isn’t something that we should fear in the small business workplace. It’s something that we can leverage to improve the productivity and success of our team, and, in turn, improve our employee’s health and wellbeing. 

This focus is more important than ever. According to figures quoted in a report from McKinsey, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some 42 percent of employees globally have reported a decline in mental health - and symptoms of burnout are increasing among both employees and leaders.

This can all have huge impacts on a business, manifesting in workplace absenteeism, presenteeism and a loss of productivity. 

But technology in the workplace can help. A report from Deloitte, states: 

“Technology and work today are inextricably intertwined, calling for technology leaders to fulfill vital roles in supporting organizational resilience and performance - including how people and machines engage to get work done. There’s a growing need for tech leaders to join forces with HR, well-being, and business leaders to ensure that the enterprise remains distinctly humanistic by designing and executing a holistic strategy that embeds well-being into cultural norms, workflows and processes, and technology decisions.”

How technology can be used to boost small business employee wellbeing

While some large organizations are making huge investments to introduce technology solutions that are designed specifically to enhance and promote wellbeing in the workplace, such as activity trackers and meditation apps, small businesses can improve employee wellbeing through indirect technologies. 

Here are a few of the top technologies that small businesses can implement to improve employee wellbeing, and, in turn, improve workplace productivity and success:

Technology has changed the dynamic of the workplace in recent years. An increasing number of organizations are now more flexible, with employees working either remotely full-time or at least some of the week. 

Cloud technology has made working from anywhere more streamlined, helping to facilitate a healthier and happier workforce that can work from wherever they are most productive. This working model must be used correctly though, without the right management techniques it can lead to a working culture where your team feels like it’s ‘always on’.

No team member enjoys completing those time-consuming and manual tasks. While they are necessary in some cases, in most they can be automated. Tasks associated with invoicing requirements, marketing initiatives, internal operations, sales processes and quality assurance can all be automated successfully. 

When you automate manual tasks, you enhance the role of your employees. No longer are they spending hours a day focused on manual tasks, instead they are working on tasks that are truly rewarding and valuable to both your employees and the business at large. 

One of the biggest challenges associated with a remote workforce is the risk that team members will begin to feel isolated and lonely. No team member should feel like they are working within a silo. It’s important that they understand how their job contributed to the wider goals of the organization, and how valuable they are to your team.

Thankfully, small businesses now have a huge amount of options when it comes to collaboration technology - which will fill the gap of in-person communication for remote employees. Take a look at video conferencing, team messaging, and unified communication technologies that all bring your team closer together.

Did you know that technology can be used to help your team members better make the most of their workdays? Being more productive, communicating quicker and accessing information faster can reduce stress levels for your employees. 

Project management tools can be used to help employees manage their time and workloads better, giving them more control over their busy lives and reducing the stress associated with being unorganized. 

Interested to learn more about how technology can help your small business improve employee wellbeing? Get in touch with OT Group today. Our team of IT experts located across Southern Ontario would love to help.