Archives for May 2012

You know that a satisfied employee is a loyal and productive one. But what is the key to maintaining a high level of employee satisfaction? Surveys and studies across different industries consistently find that factors other than compensation are most important. One is so-called “work-life balance” – the employee’s feeling that he or she has both a rewarding career and a satisfying family and home life.

For many, this means having the flexibility to work part time or even full time outside the office. By adopting some proven technologies, you can help these valued employees maintain the sometimes elusive balance between job and family obligations.  The ability to work remotely one or more days each week can even be used as a performance reward to an employee with a long commute.

 Here are just a few relatively simple and inexpensive options to consider.

Wherever their non-work obligations take them, employees must have secure access to data. There are many established vendors and programs that enable employees to connect securely to your office’s network – whether hosted on-site or in the “cloud” – from a home computer or laptop.

Most phone systems can forward office calls to an employee’s phone or ring both simultaneously. An employee can tend to a sick child or wait for the plumber while appearing to be at his or her desk. For outbound calls, a computer dialing system can make the office number appear on the recipient’s caller ID, allowing employees to make business calls without disclosing personal phone numbers.

Remote employees can be challenged by their lack of “face time” with colleagues and supervisors. Video conferencing allows these employees to remain a part of the local team by being able to interact face-to-face even if they live in a different city, state, or country. Video conferencing can also be a huge benefit to your sales team and anyone who works with clients.

In addition, a conferencing system that allows you to share documents can reduce travel time to client meetings while maintaining the “personal touch” of a face-to-face conversation.

These are just a few examples of basic technology that can enable you to offer your employees flexibility in their schedules and locations. Have these or other technology solutions helped your employees improve their work-life balance?

With the rapid advances in technology and growing enterprises phasing out legacy, or old systems, it is possible to still see old and obsolete technology in today’s offices, waiting to be put out to pasture.

1. Produced for commercial use in the mid 1960s, fax machines are large communication devices that take more space and are far less efficient than they are made out to be. With organizations moving toward paperless operations and electronic fax or eFax technology, these unnecessary machines are a costly extra in any office. eFax providers offer pay-as-you-use plans that save paper and keep faxes legible and paper-free.
2. Once the symbol of an efficient office, paper documents in filing cabinets are one of the most obsolete office systems still in use. While posing a significant and obvious fire risk, paper documents also take up space. With the advent of remote data backup, online and offline storage and disaster recovery planning, important documents and client data are accessible just a few hours after a fire or disaster.
3. While it is still considered proper office etiquette to route certain calls through the office receptionist, being available directly to clients and other stakeholders is replacing the need for the receptionist. Most returning clients prefer to speak directly with your staff after the initial interaction and the receptionist’s time can be directed to more productive tasks.
4. Wireless internet connections are convenient and do not require you to remain at your desk while you work. The only problem is that their security is still under development, making them prone to hackers and data thieves, and the wireless security of today is less sophisticated than the threats of data theft from them. Wireless internet is ideal for home connectivity but is a significant risk when your company and customer’s data is exposed to loss and theft. No company wants to be liable for millions of dollars on account of lax data security. Video conferencing is a great cost-effective way to interface with clients around the world. However, a high definition (HD) video with a T1 internet line to support it is not.

Technology, when used wisely and economically, can deliver significant cost savings and make interactions with customers productive. With the necessary data security safeguards, these solutions can help you add immense value to customers and stakeholders.