Setting employees up with the right tech tools to be successful

The modern workplace is embracing a mandate to use technology to improve efficiency. In the age of AI, many companies are still unsure about what this looks like for their organization, what tools are available, how they might shape operations and whether they enhance or hinder existing roles. Businesses must understand the bottom line that providing employees with the right tools to be successful will not only enhance their day-to-day but also business operations and efficiency as a whole. Understanding what operational efficiency means for them, the tools that are available and how to encourage employee adoption are key to a successful transition. 

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Winds in the east, operational efficiency coming in
Businesses continue to navigate the rapidly evolving work landscape and there's a major shift underway in how leaders are approaching operational efficiency. One key area that is receiving significant attention is the investment in new platforms designed to help employees save time on routine tasks, allowing them to focus on more strategic initiatives.

The real value in automation strategies is in that focus. The debate is that automating repetitive tasks frees employees and eWeek agrees, explaining that jobs that require high social or emotional thinking remain human endeavors. New studies also identify that AI will add more jobs than it removes from the economy. 

Companies are increasingly realizing that empowering their workforce with tools that automate and streamline processes is not just a "nice-to-have" but a crucial strategy for boosting productivity and employee satisfaction. With platforms offering everything from workflow automation, specialized search engines and AI-driven project management, business leaders reap substantial returns in terms of both time saved and overall performance. Currently, more than 64% of businesses are banking on AI increasing productivity. 

Not only can AI platforms be deployed internally to assist with human resources, payroll, logistics and more, but AI delivers savviness to leverage external platforms for research, answers, trends and data also impact workers' productivity. 

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Not all hammers and nails 
As Maslow quipped, if you have a hammer, there's a tendency to see everything as a nail. Early AI thinking does trend toward applying the machine learning concepts to all possible spaces, but companies aren't adopting in that way. In a Census survey in 2023, current AI adoption trends are varied among sectors. An MIT report cites adoption rates as 12% of firms in manufacturing, information services and health care were using AI, compared to 4% in construction and retail.

Yet, generative AI seems to hold the fastest adoption rates: 74% of large national companies have adopted generative AI solutions and are already reaping the benefits. Customers are also very familiar with generative AI solutions quickly emerging with AI Agents or chatbots, service information, customer engagement and automation of HR resources in forms, inputs and data extrapolation. 

The success of AI adoption relies heavily on employee understanding and use and upskilling or reskilling are front and center in these business decisions. Yet before the enterprise locks in a new platform to reskill old habits and processes through a cloud-based network, AI services are a stronger jumping-off point for businesses to gain tangible efficiencies at a lower threshold of AI investment. 

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AI to enhance your approach
Many services are leveraging the power of AI without installing themselves in your enterprise. Software as a Service has long taught us that we can use the answers within our own processes. The same is true for data analysis and AI-managed information. 

Businesses like Company Search Incorporated (CSI) offer information you won't find on Google and provide platforms for business professionals to help them better understand the type of data that's being used in their organization's AI processes and optimize it for a better output. 

These types of services can better help employees search for and find the right information they need to be successful in their role quickly rather than sifting through huge piles of datasets, only to be turned around a million times with nothing to show for it. A McKinsey report found that employees spend nearly 10 hours per week on average searching and gathering information. With the right tools, these hours will no longer be wasted.

The question of whether or not an organization should be jumping on the AI wagon is already answered, and if companies aren't joining the movement, they're already behind. Business leaders must take the time to evaluate where this technology can be most impactful both for the business and its employees and pull the trigger on deployment. It will make for happy and more successful employees while simultaneously maximizing business output. It's a win-win.