The change in the job market after months of remote working has opened up a whole host of new options for employees, empowering them to find a work environment that suits their personal needs – on top of their professional ones – prompting the Great Resignation.
According to Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index, over 70 percent of workers want flexible remote work options to continue, and 44% of people saying they’ll look for a new job in the next year. These stats should make organizations sit up and assess their recruitment and retainment policies, as is can take on average $4,000 and 24 days to hire a new employee. Outgoing employees also disrupt company routines, with their replacements needing more time and training to get up to speed than is offered.
Technology plays a heavy role in to provide a modern environment that potential workers are looking for. This can be a huge undertaking for businesses of any size, but you don’t need to go it alone. Engaging with a managed services provider can help provide the essential expertise you need, often at a lower cost than trying to do it in-house, and with greater capabilities and features as well to help you retain employees.
Here are the top three ways managed services helps retain employees:
1. Employee Effectiveness
A recent study by the Future Forum revealed that flexibility is now one of the top factors influencing attraction and retention at organizations. 93% knowledge workers want a flexible schedule, while 76% want flexibility in where they work. Companies looking to retain top talent must consider a model that provides flexibility both in locations as well as schedules.
The study found that the frequency with which teams communicate has a significant impact on employee satisfaction, and employees who use digital tools to communicate throughout the day have nearly three times the sense of belonging and over two times the ability to manage stress and anxiety than their counterparts who do not use digital tools to communicate.
Fortunately, remote working tools have become commonplace, with Microsoft Teams becoming integral to the workday and Microsoft’s new Windows 365 Cloud PC developed especially for the modern workplace.
But instead of leaving your employees to troubleshoot access issues or navigate around various technologies, let them focus on their actual jobs. With an MSP making sure your licensing, software and hardware are up to date, you are assured of an environment with maximum uptime. And if there is an issue, you can call your provider at any time of the day, and they will make it a priority to get you up and running in minimal time to reduce disruption.
2. Keeping staff engaged
With employees driving the job market, and as recent graduates enter the workforce, they expect a job that has the latest technology to aid them in their roles, accessible and secure from anywhere. According to research, only 20% of employees who feel they don’t belong are engaged versus 91% of those who feel they do. Conversely, just 26% of leaders surveyed say that employee engagement is a very important part of what they think about, plan, and do every day.
The Future Forum study also found that companies that invest in digital infrastructure see:
- Higher productivity (+54%)
- Higher sense of belonging (over 2x)
- Greater ability to manage stress and anxiety (over 5x)
Your MSP can help with employment engagement as well by:
- Making sure that managers and employees have the tools to do their jobs correctly
- Equipping your staff with the right tools
- Help you create a team development and learning platform
- Provide tools to better understand workflows to increase efficiencies
3. Employee Onboarding/Offboarding
Many organizations are now onboarding new employees without having to step into the office. Of course, this requires the HR department to rethink how to create an onboarding experience that is thorough, completes the necessary administrative tasks, and creates a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for the new employee – all from afar!
Technology is integral to making this process work smoothly, ensuring the new hires feel connected to their new workplace and can get the information they need. Onboarding software can also help automate many of the standard procedures (e.g. all the forms that need to be signed within the first couple of days), and make sure that information is available to other departments, e.g. Finance to simplify the onboarding process.
The new hire can also get to know their new organization via technology, e.g. with a learning management system to help with training required for the new role.
Behind the scenes, a Managed Service Provider can help your organization identify all the steps in your onboarding process, identify the repeatable processes that can be automated, and in turn save hours of valuable time by removing many manual tasks. The automated process can include identifying related tasks that include other departments, automated notifications and ticket status updates to help expedite steps such buying new equipment, setting it up and sending it to the new hire – all helping save time and increasing efficiency.
An efficient onboarding process also benefits the team as a whole, by not taking away time from another employee to conduct all the training, and ensures the new employee comes prepared with all the background knowledge needed to help give them a head start in their new role, setting them up for success from day one.
Set up your organization for success
Today, every company needs IT to function, and while every business has some level of IT expertise, it’s impossible for them to specialize in every area of IT.
SMB Suite’s Managed IT Services takes a team-based approach, whether you need full IT service or additional support to work alongside your in-house IT team. Set your employees, and in turn your organization, up for success with all the technology they need, when and where they need it. We have IT professionals to cover every specialization, to ensure your employees have the knowledge and tools they need to feel fulfilled and engaged in their roles.
We offer a full range of Managed IT services for businesses of all sizes. If you need full IT service or additional support to work alongside your in-house IT team, SMB Suite can help. Contact us to find out how we can help support your business.