Investing in IT can yield significant cost savings and opportunities to make company-wide improvements for organizations. And, given that in today’s economic climate, 92% of leaders are concerned about budgets and headcount, it’s vital to make every penny count and optimize ROI on technology investments.
Here’s a closer look at how organizations can achieve tangible ROI through strategic investments in their IT teams:
Employee satisfaction and retention
In today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape, the equation is simple: a seamless IT experience = more satisfied employees. And more satisfied employees translate to improved retention, productivity, and cost savings. This interplay underscores the importance of focusing on employee satisfaction as a pivotal factor in achieving broader organizational success.
According to insights from Forbes, the average turnover rate attributable to resignations stands at 2.5%. What’s more, a staggering 40% of employees who decide to leave their positions do so within the first year, with a significant portion departing within the initial 90 days. The financial implications of this high turnover rate are noteworthy, with Forbes reporting that it costs around 33% of an employee’s salary to replace them. Beyond the direct financial impact, turnover costs encompass a drop in overall productivity and the expenses associated with the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes.
This begs the question: How can businesses optimize their IT to enhance employee satisfaction and, consequently, retention rates?
Enter digital employee experience (DEX) facilitated through the IT organization. Ensuring that employees remain engaged from a digital workplace perspective is a strategic move with far-reaching implications. As highlighted by ServiceNow, “engaged employees are more likely to stay longer, contributing to reduced turnover rates.”
What does this look like from a technology perspective? Two key areas of IT innovation to focus on include:
Automation
Automation can help to streamline repetitive tasks, save money on operating costs, increase workflow efficiency, and allow employees to focus on more engaging work. Relieving employees of mundane and repetitive tasks can help boost morale and attract and retain top talent.
According to Juan Perez, EVP and CIO of Salesforce, “those that invest in automation are poised to reap significant cost savings and productivity benefits, while also increasing job satisfaction, work-life balance, and employee retention.”
Automation can be introduced to manage endpoints, to enhance the service desk, and even for self service. The proof is in the pudding when it comes to how investing in IT automation can create ROI when it comes to employee satisfaction and retention:
- 90% of workers say automation solutions helped increase productivity
- 85% of workers say these tools boosted team collaboration
Virtual Desktop Experience (VDX)
Virtual Desktop Experience (VDX) is another area of IT technology where the ROI and benefits extend to employee satisfaction and retention. VDX provides end-to-end visibility of the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) estate and facilitates proactive issue identification and remediation.
From an employee perspective, if they are losing between one and five hours of productivity per week due to digital issues, this will lead to frustration, demotivation, and possibly challenges to performing the job. This, in turn, will contribute to turnover, as research reveals 52% of employees say poor digital experiences make them more inclined to leave their jobs.
Organizations that optimize their IT infrastructure to provide exceptional DEX are not only investing in the well-being of their workforce but are also strategically positioning themselves for sustained success by mitigating turnover costs and fostering a culture of engagement.
Operational efficiency
Investing in IT benefits operational efficiency on an organization-wide scale, not just within the IT department. How? IT teams can leverage technology to streamline processes, enhance communication, and make data-driven decisions. Ultimately, this leads to improved operational efficiency for other departments.
Let’s take observability, as an example. 64% say that the ROI of observability investments have exceeded expectations. While it is technology used by IT teams, the impact of observability solutions is felt by all. As Splunk’s State of Observability report highlights, observability solutions have positively impacted everything from application security to alignment between different teams.
“For leaders, observability—and the visibility it affords—is entrenched in their organizations, resulting in a richer picture of interwoven ecosystems, fewer outages, faster issue resolution, greater innovation and an easier time recruiting top talent.”
More efficient endpoint management capabilities can also yield ROI for operational efficiency across your organization. By providing your IT org with better endpoint visibility capabilities, such as 1E for Device Refresh and 1E Software Reclaim, you can help them make informed investments, reduce operational expenses, and improve efficiency for everyone. E.g., proactive hardware asset management helps to decrease costs and disruption associated with device lifecycles with real-time data and recommendations. When IT teams can make data-driven decisions around whether to retain, replace, repair, or retire devices, organizations will see decreased user downtime, costs, and environmental impact.
Customer experience (CX)
There’s been market-wide recognition of the impact IT can have on customer experience (CX) and a shift toward a customer-centric IT mindset. This means moving away from delivering product requirements and toward delivering customer outcomes.
Providing internal customers with a great digital experience courtesy of IT means they can serve external customers more efficiently. When you optimize employee experience, you create a virtuous cycle that also pays dividends in your customer experience efforts. The CX ROI of investing in IT will translate into customer ratings, profitability, productivity, shrinkage, safety incidents, and quality.
