Productivity and Information Technology: A Myth?
August 30, 2019
The IT department is the go-to department for new technology and innovative ideas. According to the IT Pro Portal article, “Workers Aren’t Convinced IT Departments Are Making Them More Productive” United Kingdom workers believe that their IT departments are not the centers of productivity (the title says it all).
Citrix conducted a poll of 1000 UK based workers and discovered that people are clinging to outdated IT workplace practices. The IT departments are also not updating to implement new technology. Many practices compromise security:
“Almost a third doesn’t share securely hosted files, but instead use email to share documents around, making multiple copies, confusing workers and generally hurting productivity. A quarter saves important documents on their desktop even though they know they should be using the secure cloud.”
Humanoid punching bags — I mean millennials — are blamed for violating company security, according to the poll. They work on unprotected Wi-Fi networks and use unapproved apps for communication, like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
It seems that Citrix responded to the poll with PR speak about the value of information technology as a sure fire way to improve productivity and employee engagement.
Do employees want to change their behavior?
Some IT workers have become complacent and resist change. But why invest? Perhaps this year’s “Citrix” crop does not satisfy like fresh squeezed information technology?
Whitney Grace, August 30, 2019
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One Response to “Productivity and Information Technology: A Myth?”
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Whitney, you are right. I worked as a inside sales processor of phoned in orders. Much of the time I spent typing in part numbers and product descriptions could have been saved through a simple automated order system. Of course, my boss was furious with me suggesting such an idea. He felt he would loose his job. However, the automation would have reduced input errors, both from our people and at the customer end. So often our customers bought the same material time and time again, but occasionally would error in what they had sent us. Automation could have cross checked each order, sent a notification to the customer buyer that things did not add up. That type of IT action would have improved through put immensely. We used an antiquated computer system, then they went to a system based on an Excel spreadsheet. Crazy, so many limitations. I brought in my own laptop, when a customer asked for a product we did not have on hand, I would go on the net, look at another distributor’s inventory, ship direct to our customer often UPS next day air. Our customers loved the service I alone provided. No one else would take the initiative to do such a thing. It was not in the operating manual. On top of that, I typed notes into my own spreadsheet for every incoming call I worked. This record was 12 years old when I left. A customer would call me and say, “Some time ago we bought a list of parts for a job. We cannot find any record of what we did. Do know what we bought?” My answer was almost always, “Oh yes.” I had instant access to every conversation I had had with the customer. Many repeat sales resulted from my methods, it was a priceless resource.